| Christopher Reina. 1st May, 2008 - 4:57 pm
 Payroll: $37.7 million
Record: 34-40-8 (76 points, 28th)
Cost per point: $496k
GFA: 2.52 (22nd)
GAA: 3.24 (29th)
GDIF: -0.72 (30th)
Bob Hartley was fired very early in the season, and when it became clear that Marian Hossa would not be retained, he was shipped to Pittsburgh for Colby Armstrong, Angelo Esposito, Erik Christensen, and a 1st round pick.
The Thrashers also hosted the All-Star Game only to have that party crashed by Marc Savard, who had, of course, defected to Boston after the 2006 season.
GM Don Waddell has a ton of work on his hands as the Thrashers had a tough time finding non-Kovalchuk goals and had an even tougher time stopping them when Lehtonen was out. They had the worst goal differential in the entire NHL and were lucky to finish this nightmare of a season with 76 points.
Click here for more information about the IIC and the Reina Value
Player - IIC - Rank - Reina Value
- Ilya Kovalchuk: 48th, 123, -4%
The Thrashers had very little by way of goals beyond Kovalchuk, who scored 52 and assisted on an additional 35, which means he had a hand in 42% of their 207 goals.
His ranking here is hurt by his -12, which you can't blame much on him and is the lowest +/- of any player in the top-50. He had an 18.4 shot percentage but just two short handed goals.
- Kari Lehtonen: 59th, 111, +118%
Lehtonen was injured early in the season and missed all of November, but he had four shutouts and the highest save percentage of his career (.916). He is certainly talented, but he needs to stay on the ice better next season.
- Tobias Enstrom: 151st, 65, +293%
The 23-year-old Swede defenseman had an excellent rookie season, scoring five goals and assisting on 33. He and Niclas Havelid make up a very nice blue line and was probably the club's most positive silver lining.
- Todd White: 188th, 54, +19%
White, who came over from Minnesota, scored 37 points (14 goals, 23 assists) but is certainly a long way away from being Savard.
- Eric Perrin: 194th, 52, +233%
The longtime minor leaguer proved to be a worthwhile and affordable ($775k) free agent acquisition for Atlanta, posting 45 points (12 goals, 33 assists). He had ten more assists than in his first full NHL season a year ago with Tampa Bay.
- Colby Armstrong: 206th, 47, +96%
The former 21st overall pick in the 2001 draft came over in the Hossa trade and scored four goals and had seven assists in 18 games with the Thrashers. He shot at a 13.8 clip, which was an improvement of his 10.7 with the Penguins but quite a distance from when the right winger had 40 points in 47 games and shot 18.6% as a rookie in the 05-06 season.
Armstrong went from being Sidney Crosby's best friend on an exciting Pittsburgh team to this rebuilding situation in Atlanta where he will end up being asked to do too much.
- Slava Kozlov: 234th, 43, -39%
How long could the Thrashers expect the uber-veteran to continue to produce 80-point seasons? In the first season of a three-year, $11 million contract, Kozlov followed his 28 goal, 52 assist season a year ago with 17 goals and 24 assists.
- Johan Hedberg: 251st, 41, +57%
Hedberg had to play 36 games, the most ice he's seen since his last season in Pittsburgh in 2003. He had the worst GGA of his career (3.46) and only saved .892 of the shots he faced.
- Mark Recchi: 253rd, 41, +1%
The Thrashers claimed Recchi off waivers from Pittsburgh in December and played much better in his 53 games in Atlanta, increasing his shot percentage from 5.6 up to 14.1, scoring 12 goals and notching another 28 assists.
- Niclas Havelid: 401st, 17, -64%
Havelid was the only regular with a positive +/- this season and made up a nice line with Enstrom.
- Bobby Holik: 448th, 11, -79%
Holik replaced the retired Scott Mellanby as Thrashers' captain this season and improved with five more points but a miserable -14.
- Bryan Little: 466th, 9, +0%
In his rookie season, Little had 16 points and a -2 in 48 games and has shown promise but still needs a ton of seasoning.
- Erik Christensen: 580th, -3, +0%
Christensen was hurt for much of the season but could be useful for Atlanta next season.
- Alexei Zhitnik: 641st, -10, -80%
Zhitnik was acquired in 2007 as they made their playoff run in exchange for Braydon Corburn, who had a great season in Philadelphia. Undoubtedly, this is a trade Waddell would like back. He had 14 points in 18 games last year and just eight points in 65 games this year.
- Jim Slater: 671st, -16, -13%
The speedy center had just 13 points this season.
- Christopher Reina is the executive editor of RealGM and the creator of the NHL Reina Value. |
