Nothing earth-shattering, so sorry if you got excited there. Mike Knobler has shed some light on the Ilya Nikulin situation. Basically, he'll be taking a sizable pay cut to come and play in the NHL. There are official league restrictions on how much we can pay him, and honestly, there's no real reason for Nikulin to come and play in the NHL as he's getting Russian oligarch mega-rubles as a defenseman for Ak Bars Kazan. Yes, that's the team Kovalchuk played for during the lock-out. The Kazan Snow Leopards...beautiful name.
The main reason for Nikulin to play for the Thrashers is, of course, the Czar. Not only do they have Ak Bars in common, but they've played together on the Russian national team in the last three World Championships. Including the one this year where they won the Gold Medal (compliments of Kovalchuk, I.).
If Kovy can convince his fellow Ilya to play for Atlanta, I think we're quite set on defense. He'll have Kovy and Kozzie to make feel as at home as possible, and he'll be in the same division as the a man who calls him his "friend:"
If we get Nikulin, we're set on defense.
In other news: Bogo is a beast.
If we get Nikulin, we're set on defense.
In other news: Bogo is a beast.
In other other news: Our first pre-season home game? Against Hossa in Red.
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