Rick Middleton will become the 11th player in Boston Bruins franchise history to have his number retired Thursday night, 30 years after his retirement.

Honouring Middleton has opened speculation about who could be the next Bruin to have his name raised to the rafters, with some pointing to Stanley Cup-winning goaltender Tim Thomas.

When asked about Thomas, Bruins president Cam Neely did not rule out retiring his No. 30, but said it's unlikely due to the goaltender's short - though successful - career with the club.

“There’s no question, that team in ’11, what it meant to Bruins fans and New England. Timmy, what he did in that playoffs, not just in the finals but all of the series, was pretty impressive,” Neely told The Athletic. “I don’t want to rule anything out, but you look at some of the guys up there, they have a bigger sample size of what they did throughout their career in Boston.”

Thomas appeared in 378 games during his eight-year tenure with the Bruins, posting a 196-121-45 record. He won two Vezina Trophies during his tenure and was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy while leading the Bruins to their first Stanley Cup in 39 years in 2011.

He owns the best career postseason save percentage of any goaltender in NHL history at .933 and backstopped the Bruins to four straight playoff berths upon taking over the starting role in 2007.

Of the 11 players who have their number retired by the Bruins, Lionel Hitchman appeared in the least games, also at 378, though his number was retired in 1934. The seven Bruins to have their numbers retired since 1975 (Bobby Orr, John Bucyk, Phil Esposito, Ray Bourque, Terry O'Reilly, Neely and Middleton), all appeared in more than 500 games with the franchise.

The Bruins have never retired the number of a goaltender, despite alumni that include Hockey Hall of Famer Gerry Cheevers who backstopped the team to two Stanley Cups. Cheever also wore No. 30 for the Bruins.

“I also have to look at the history of who was put up there, why, and who hasn’t been,” Neely said. “There has to be reasons why, long before I had the opportunity to make decisions like that.”

Thomas' time with the Bruins came to an ugly end when he elected to take the 2012-13 season off, leaving the Bruins with a $5 million cap hit. The team traded his rights to the New York Islanders at the trade deadline in 2013, though he never played in a game with the Islanders.

He returned to the league for the 2013-14 season and appeared in 48 games with the Florida Panthers and Dallas Stars before announcing his retirement. He also drew headlines for his decision to skip the team's visit to the White House in 2011.

“Tim’s a unique individual,” Neely said. “I don’t have anything bad to say about him. Everybody’s got their own views and values — things going on within their own lives that you may not understand. For me, it’s more about what did you do on and off the ice, mainly on the ice, for any length of time if you were a player for the Bruins.”