Atlanta Thrashers (seller): Havelid, who will be unrestricted free agent this summer, will be one of the hottest defensemen in the market place. Center Marty Reasoner could also be moved, and possibly Eric Perrin. GM Don Waddell has also received calls about his goaltenders Kari Lehtonen and Ondrej Pavelec, but he's not likely to make any goalie moves at this time. This week, he will start to talk to Lehtonen's agent about a new contract
Interesting to say the least, in regards to Kari. I do like that vanReimdyk a lot, but we are seriously lacking in defence at this time. Honestly we are doing pretty well in regards to our offense right now, and Kari is playing excellent. Maybe his injuries will go down. You never know.
Our young defence is getting better. They maybe just need time. Look at LA. They are so young in defence but have one of the best PKs in the league. Maybe Kulda will eventually come up as well as Postma. Also there is that young Russian prospect Andrei Zubarev who is supposed to be eventually good. Postma and Zubarev, if we can get Zubarev out of Russia, will need to go to the Wolves obviously and do their time to grow. If for maybe a year or two we could acquire a solid shut-down guy to help out, that'd be great. Maybe the blueline just needs time, and it will grow into something nice.
PS
This is what he had to say about Philly to give a better picture on that rumor.
Philadelphia Flyers (buyer): The Flyers have reviewed their goaltending options, and even made a call or two about availability. But they aren't likely to find any attractive options at the deadline. They have shown some interest in acquiring a puck-moving defenseman.
4 comments:
I'll play GM for a second here. Not so much as to who I want to get, but more of who I want to trade. UFA's Havelid and Perrin go. Try to sign Reasoner to an extension in the next week or so. If he doesn't sign, trade him, too. Trade Pavelec, NOT Lehtonen. I understand Kari would bring more in return, but he can be brilliant. He just needs some consistency. Plus, it seems like he is used to being bombarded with 40+ shots night after night. Trade Kozlov. I know, he's an important part of this team, but he's old. Realistically, by the time the Thrashers are contenders, Kozlov will be sipping Coronas on a beach somewhere. Sell high on him and get young assets back in return. Pittsburgh? Rangers? Bruins? Canadiens? All these teams need scoring and have assets to trade in return, whether it be young players or picks. Exelby must go. He seems more and more like a liability. I would be just fine with Bogo, Oystrick, Valabik, Hainsey, Kulda, and Hedman as my top 6 defensemen going into next year. I'm torn on White. Trading him this year would definitely be selling high on him, but he's not that old and he does seem to have a good chemistry with almost anyone he's put with. Kovalchuk, Bogosian, Little, Lehtonen, Hainsey, Armstrong, and (gulp) Christensen are the core I would build around. I haven't given up hope on Christensen yet.
Jay-
I actually don't mind having Christensen around.
As much fun as I've had at his expense this season, he seems a lot more confident, and I don't think it's at all a bad idea to use him as a third-line center. Hey, he scored last night.
Meanwhile, I agree with all of your trade ideas. Like you said, try to sign Marty the Party to an extension; if he doesn't want to, trade him now and see what we can get.
If Havelid, Perrin, and Pavelec aren't gone at the trade deadline I'll be most upset. They're all good players that could bring us something in return. I'd like to trade Exelby, but somehow I expect him to stay forever.
Slava has a no trade clause.
I would think that Slava would be ok with leaving to go to a contender at this point in his career. It's been awhile since he tasted even the second round of the playoffs.
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