| Jeff Cargerman. 22nd December, 2008 - 9:04 pm
 Just 18 months ago, the Atlanta Thrashers were playing the best hockey the franchise had ever seen. It all changed in a blink of an eye after getting positively dismantled in route to getting swept by the New York Rangers in the 1st round of 2007 Eastern Conference playoffs. Hopes were high for the Thrashers. They had one of the top scoring lines in hockey, Ilya Kovalchuk, Marian Hossa, and Slava Kozlov and had acquired All-Star Keith Tkachuk in a trade deadline deal.
Ultimately, the Thrashers’ offense was not able to get enough goals against Ranger goaltender Henrik Lundqvist, and since that series, the franchise has been wallowing at the bottom of the standings.
With Hossa since being dealt, Tkachuk going back to the St. Louis Blues via free agency, and now franchise player Kovalchuk immersed in trade rumors, Thrashers’ General Manger Don Waddell certainly has his work cut out for him. Waddell has been GM of the Thrashers since the team’s inception in 1998, and the franchise has made the playoffs only once the past 10 years.
With the exception of superstar Ilya Kovalchuk, there is little to be excited about in Atlanta. Last year’s pickups in the Marian Hossa deal, Colby Armstrong, and Erik Christensen, have 12 and 8 points, respectively. The Thrashers have started 3 different goaltenders in net this season, all of them being equally terrible, giving up an abysmal average of 3.65 goals a game.
This season, the Thrashers are competing not for a playoff spot; rather they are competing for the worst record in the league along with the Tampa Bay Lightning and New York Islanders. The Thrashers currently stand 3 points ahead of the tied Lightning and Islanders from the bottom of the NHL standings. The winner of the race for last place will certainly take 18 year old Canadian Junior League superstar John Tavares with the top pick. Tavares already has the talent and size to make an immediate impact with a hockey club next year, ala Patrick Kane last season with the Blackhawks.
With Kovalchuk’s contract ending at the conclusion of the 2009-10 NHL season, Waddell and the Thrashers have major decisions coming up soon to be made. The chances of the Thrashers turning things around this season and making the playoffs are about as good as me lacing up the skates and playing right wing for the Chicago Blackhawks. So, will GM Don Waddell choose to move his best player in superstar Ilya Kovalchuk by the trade deadline, or will he hold onto him in hopes that playing with a young gun like Tavares will keep Kovalchuk in the Peach State?
After last year’s debacle that was the Hossa deal, Waddell might be hesitant to trade a superstar talent like Kovalchuk this season, fearing the haul in return will just set the team back even further. Instead, the more likely scenario is Waddell will hold onto his talented winger this season and see if next year, hopefully with some talent around him and the addition of a credible goaltender, the Thrashers can play well enough that Kovalchuk will decide to stick around and sign a new contract with the club.
- Jeff Cargerman can be reached at cargs21@ksu.edu |
