Dudley Gone, Ramsay...Who Knows?

What about Rick Dudley?

Rick Dudley, who was the general manager of the Atlanta Thrashers last season and signed a four-year extension in February, is out as general manager.

Not that surprising. And what of Craig Ramsay?

The decision to remove Dudley has to make head coach Craig Ramsay a little uneasy.

Ramsay said Saturday night that he has been contacted by True North saying there will be a discussion about his future coming up. However, his thoughts were with Dudley on Saturday night.

“It’s very sad“,” said Ramsay. “(Dudley) is a top flight hockey person and a long time friend.”

Ramsay certainly warrants an interview at the least, but Manitoba Moose head coach Claude Noel is certain to garner consideration for the job as well — if permission is obtained from the Canucks.

Haha, "Claude Noel." He'll probably turn down the job because his year-round Christmas shop takes precedence.

"The Balkan" Is Some Guy

(updated below continuously)

Forget Lil Jon. John Kincade has finally revealed the identity of his shadowy "Balkan":


Yeah, we've never heard of him either. A quick Google search turns up a bearded, affable-looking "J.B. Smith" who teaches music at Arizona State University (presumably not the same guy) and a "J.B. Smith" who manufactures "oil country tubular fittings, swages, and bull plugs" (who the fuck knows?).

I don't want to be rash, but I'm going to assume the reason we're now hearing this is because he's given up.

Oh, wait, apparently this J.B. Smith runs an equity firm called Equity 11. The more you know! Actually, he's no longer involved with Equity 11. IN FACT, Equity 11 doesn't even exist anymore.


Apparently this same J.B. Smith tried to purchase invest in the Steelers a few years ago. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article about it here.

INSTANT IN-DEPTH ANALYSIS: Your TBC editor isn't sure that this is necessarily something to be ecstatic about. No one knows for certain what's going on behind the scenes, but it certainly seems that the Atlanta Spirit have gone from wanting to sell all three of their possessions to wanting to unload just the Thrashers. Apparently this Smith character wants all three, while True North are interested in only the Thrashers. You can see where this is leading.

UPDATE:...and then there's the question of just how much money Smith's group actually has. Craig Custance summarizes the situation here:

An NHL source told Sporting News that the belief is Smith doesn't have the necessary financial backing to make such a significant purchase, and questioned the validity of Smith's group. In 2009, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Smith announced that he would be a major investor in the NFL' Pittsburgh Steelers but sources later told the paper that there were never negotiations between Smith and the Rooney family.

SOOOO this guy might not have the financial backing to pull this off. And he never even negotiated with the Steelers-owning Rooney family? Strange.

UPDATE: AJC reporting that the Spirit are definitely trying to sell the Hawks and the Thrashers, but separately, so as to maximize profits. Apparently "the Spirit and outgoing San Diego Padres owner John Moores are in an exclusive negotiating period regarding the Hawks and the Philips Arena operating rights." Fancy!

YET ANOTHER UPDATE: In the most bizarre turn of events in this whole Balkan saga, that Jay Clemons guy is suddenly (?) working for Smith. To be precise: he's quit Sports Illustrated to handle all of Smith's dealings with the media. I'm sure everyone in the Thrashers Twitterverse will now take everything he says with a grain of salt, not allow themselves to be taken for a ride by a PR man, etc. Right?

ANOTHER: This Winnipeg Free Press report is probably worth considering. Apparently all of J.B. Smith's money is "in China."

???????????

Oh, and now True North is appealing to the Manitoba provincial government to assume some of the debt on their arena so they can free up more money to buy the Thrashers. In other words: If the team does move to Winnipeg, they'll probably end up just as comical a money-suck as the Thrashers. OR who knows, maybe they'll benefit from the relative strength of the Canadian economy, with its moose-shaped bathtubs full of loonies.

GAME DAY: Devils

Tonight, Ilya Kovalchuk, Mike Krzyzewski and the New Jersey Blue Devils come to town. This means that drunk and bitter Thrasher fans will boo our former Fearless Leader, which continues to make no sense to me. As much as living in New Jersey can't be much better than living in, say, Winnipeg or Kansas City, I'd move there for $10-12 million a year myself.

Anyways, New Jersey has won 45 games in a row coming into tonight's game, mainly due to the goaltending of 2010 Veizna Trophy winner Johan "Moose" Hedberg. The Paul Postma-Era Atlanta Thrashers are coming into tonight's game riding the first back-to-back wins that this team has seen in 2011. Also, the Thrashers hopes should be bolstered by reports that budding NHL SuperDefenseman Zach Bogosian found a lucky penny at the mall yesterday. No reports as of yet as to whether it was a regular penny or merely a commemorative penny, but I'll keep my eyes on Twitter and make sure to update you, the loyal TBC readers.

Also, Jacques Martin is the exception to the rule of all teams with "Devils" in the nickname having tyrannical and polarizing coaches. Duke has that Mike guy I already mentioned once, Manchester United has Sir Alex Ferguson, and Jacques Martin just kinda comes across as a limo driver who somehow found himself on the bench, but knows more than he's letting on.

So let Mr. Gayfish himself tell you a thing or two about Devils. Happy Friday, folks.



Go Thrashers? Since Georgia Tech's out and baseball hasn't started yet, sure, what the hell.

"This happiness corrupt political shit." GAME DAY: New Jersey Goddamn Devils

So this isn't Ilya Kovalchuk's first game in Philips Arena as part of another team. If you want your Chronicle's take on the "Kovalchuk Returns" theme, click here and here.

Nothing has changed this year. I won't boo the man; he's given me too many great memories for that. But many of you are ungrateful titty babies and/or consumed by resentment, so you'll boo him as if your lives depended on it. An empty way to live and think, but there it is.

Should be an exciting game. But then again, maybe not. Maybe it'll just be an easy win for the Thrashers, because the Devils suck VD-corroded cow balls. Either way we'll be drinking!



***

Oh yeah, MOOSE will be back. Now that's something to get excited about. You folk know what to do when he's introduced.

Actual Swedish Chef's Take

An actual Swedish Chef (well, he's Swedish, and I assume he can at least cook toast or something) had this to say about the Thrashers' making Andrew Ladd captain:

"Atlanta Thrashers har utsett dubble Stanley Cup-mästaren Andrew Ladd till ny lagkapten.
Ladd har inlett säsongen bra, med 18 poäng på 19 matcher, men Babyhawks går oväntat trögt, bara en 11:e plats i Eastern Conference så här långt. [Editor's note: Bork, bork, bork, huunn de moose]"

The best part is that he calls the Thrashers "Babyhawks." I don't know if that's actually what Swedes call a brown thrasher, or if that is a commentary on our offseason makeover.

The rest of the interview can be seen below:

Game Day: Sabres

Hey, remember when the Atlanta Thrashers used to play games IN ATLANTA? Well tonight it happens again. The Boys in Blue take the ice in Philips Arena to take on the Buffalo Ryan Millers.

Will a "goal scorer" put one past the reigning Vezina Trophy winner? Or will we once again be delighted by the lamp lighting antics of Anthony Stewart and Chris Thorburn?

Buffalo is always an entertaining opponent because the Thrashers and Sabres are very similar teams. This year the similarities are even more striking, as both lineups consist of role players who are asked to go above and beyond to make up for the lack of superstars.

Alas, the moose humping a buffalo statue will never be as apropos as it was in the past now that Hedberg is in hell, but don't think that'll stop us.

I'm still trying to start a trend of mispronouncing Byfuglien's name upon a goal or big hit just so we can all yell By-Foooooooooog-lee-in! I don't care how much of a stretch it is, I just want it to sound like we're booing when we're really cheering.

Chris Mason Has Beard, Mask

It would look very nice on a parallel-universe 1970s Thrashers team. We like the RESURGENS seal on the back, with the phoenix flapping its way out of the fire. True story: it's long been a secret dream of your TBC editor's to start an Atlanta alt-weekly called The Phoenix. It would put Creative Loafing to weeping shame.

Also: Mason is asked things, and responds.

P.S. The best goalie mask in Thrashers history was Kari Lehtonen's Kill Bill mask. Carry on.

UPDATE: Razor has reminded me that the ACTUAL best goalie mask in Thrashers history was Johan Hedberg's Indiana Moose extravaganza. We regret the error, etc.

Day 2

First off, let me say that after somewhat trashing our friend Dudley in a post earlier in the week for his work on the big trade and draft day, let me say that I am pleased with both moves made yesterday.

Mason will be an upgrade over our beloved Moose. God bless that animal.

I like the Ladd trade, both in what we got and what we gave up. Very nicely done.

I HATE the fact that Day 2 starts out with Kubina signing in Tampa for two years. Come one Duds/ASG. WTF? Reports I saw said we were off on both term and dollars. Are you kidding me? We couldn't offer Kubina a 2 year deal??? Had we signed him you've got the makings of a pretty solid team. Now, in my mind, there is still a big hole to fill on the blueline.

It's not October yet, but I have a feeling we are pretty much done with big moves. Hopefully not.

And the Frenzy Frenzies On

We like the Mason/Ladd business. But we want at least one more guaranteed top-six forward. Alexander Frolov would do nicely.

Meanwhile, Johan Hedberg has gone to New Jersey. Martin Brodeur will never have a better back-up, so hooray for Moose!

***

Q: You know what's eerie?

A: Except for Volchenkov, all the Russians are silent.

IMPORTANT CORRECTION: As Razor Catch Prey points out, Sergei Gonchar is, in fact, a Russian. Your TBC editor is more negligent than Lindsay Lohan.

Chris Mason Is Your New Goalperson

Yes he is.


Goodbye forever, Moose. Where will he land?

Also, what does "Chris Mason is our new goaltender" mean?

Let the Madness Begin!

Yes, it's that time again friends. The first day of free agency. A day so exciting Canada made it a national holiday.

Where will Kovy end up?

Will Rick Dudley do anything brilliant/insane/none of the above?

If you're too lazy to range all over the 'Tubes to find out what is going on then stick with us here at TBC as we consolidate all the info on the big moves.

9:30 am- Keven Allen says Atlanta will be making another effort to sign Moose and will be looking for a forward this afternoon.

Gonchar is officially going to the open market.

Dan Ellis is NOT going to sign with Montreal before noon today. Time to start a campaign: "IF NOT MOOSE, THEN ELLIS!"

10:25 am- Apparently the Flames are expecting something to happen today. They have their press conference podium up and ready to go already. But it's not a stretch for any team to expect to have SOMETHING to address the media about today.

What do we still have we can give up to get Jarome Iginla?

10:35- Custance: "Hedberg and Thrashers still talking, but no agreement yet. Other options for the Moose include NYR, MTL, NJD..."

REALLY don't want to see Moose in any of those sweaters. Pay the man, Dudley!

Eklund shamelessly pandering to crazy Leafs fans by saying that he "thinks the Leafs will be in on" Kovy.

11:00- A funny: TheFourthPeriod I would not be surprised if FLA makes pitch for Kovalchuk... just like I would not be surprised when he says 'no thanks'

11:35- Posts will get a little bit sparser over the next little while. I have errands to run but will be watching everything on my Droid (which I call 'Whistler' and have an R2D2 ringtone for) and posting when I can.

12:00- And Marty Biron to the Rangers is the first deal done. Good solid backup but a little pricey for the role.

Kevin Allen says Dudley is still awaiting an answer from Moose.

12:10- Eklund says Moose talking to Habs. IF NOT MOOSE, THEN ELLIS!

GONCHAR TO SENS. First big move of the day.

Erik Christiensen signs with NYR. Have fun with that.

Gonch 5.5 mil per year. NTC.

Coburn re-signed by Flyers.

12:30- Lots of Savard for Regher Bos-Cal talk. Both players have NTC.

Army talking to the Leaf. I really hope he goes West. Don't want to play him often.

Interesting tweets between Ben Wright and John Manasso about Savard and Peter Bondra.

1:20- been on the road for last half hour. St. Louis signs extension in Tampa for 5.5 mil/ year.

Z. Michalek to Pit. Paul Martin was rumored to be going there. Now who knows?

1:50- Army a Leaf. How many Thrashers' bones will he break next time plays Atlanta?

Nittymakii to the Sharks. Good to see him out of the East.

What Holes to Fill?

As I was waiting for the Coyotes/Wings game to start today, I let my mind wander to the Thrashers' needs for the upcoming season. What does Rick Dudley have to work with in his first season as GM? What weapons will the new coach have at his disposal? What does Dudley need to go get in order to put this franchise on the right track?

I will get back to my four part series as the playoffs continue, but for now let's take a look at what's in the cabinet.

As C-Viv has informed us, both Maxim Afinogenov and Pavel Kubina want to come back. Hopefully Dudley can find the right price for both of them; it sounds like Kubina is very happy to see Dudley in the GM seat. I would be surprised to see Colby Armstrong re-signed after a 15 goal season. He was pretty invisible over the last 20 games or so and his on-ice contributions would be easily replaced for cheaper. If he comes back it will be for his locker room presence, but his salary could be better spent keeping Kubina and Fins.

Do we even need to discuss Slava Kozlov?

The top line of Bergfors, Antropov, and Little performed well over the final stretch and I would expect Bergie and Lits to get their RFA contracts worked out and see them line up together in training camp. Continued progress from Bergfors and a rebound from Little would go a long way to extending the Thrashers 10-11 season.

Evander Kane really stepped up in the last stretch of play. Hopefully he will work hard over the summer, put on a little bulk, and come back stronger and smarter. Put his grit and skill on a line with Rich Peverly and a re-signed Maxim Afinogenov and you've got a very potent second line.

If Todd White isn't traded for a draft pick in late June, he will probably be penciled in on the third line to play wit Jimmy Slater, who was the hardest working Thrasher this year and fully deserved the Dan Snyder Award. If Jimmy isn't re-signed, I will personally throw a fit on this here blog and call Rick Dudley all sorts of unfriendly names. I don't foresee a rebound year for Todd White, but then again I didn't expect to see 20 goals from him in 08-09 either.

Personally, I would re-sign Jimmy and trade Todd White for a draft pick. This would allow Jimmy and Marty Reasoner to battle it out for a spot on the third line and would make room for two youngsters to play there as well. Fighting for those places would be Tim Stapleton (impressive work in his short tryout at the end of the year), Joey Crabb (great year in Chicago and he proved he can hold his own last year), Spencer Machacek (20 goals and 68 pim in Chicago this year), Jeremy Morin, and Patrice Cormier.

The checking line was just as good if not better than last season, and I see no reason to change it. In fact, I have no idea why Artuykin was brought in at all. Let the big guy go sign somewhere else. Bring back Eric Boulton who knows when and when not to drop the gloves, and has worked very hard on becoming a better all around player this year. Chris Thorburn already has a contract and can play with Boults and the loser of Jimmy and Marty's battle for third line ice time.

The defense is looking pretty solid with Bogo (due to rebound after a sophomore slump), Enstrom, Oduya, and Hainsey (really stepped up after the Kovalchuk trade). Re-signing Kubina would make this corps very impressive and would leave one final roster spot to be won by either Boris Valabik, Arturs Kulda, or Ivan Vishnevskiy.

The Thrashers need a very good goalie coach who can shape Ondrej Pavelec into the goaltender he could be. Either re-signing Moose (my preference) or bringing in another reliable backup would ensure a good foundation between the pipes.

Re-signing Afinogenov, Kubina, and Hedberg, then bringing up a couple of young guys itching for a shot in the NHL would ice a solid team for 2010-2011. Is it a playoff team? I doubt it. For the team I have described above to make the playoffs, we would have to see drastic steps forward from Kane, Bergfors, Little, the two third-line rookies, and Pavelec.

A lot can happen between now and the beginning of October. But take a look at that team described above, then think about how those younger players would look for the 2011-2012 season. Who do we want to give up in order to squeek into the playoffs next year?

You'll Never See Todd White, Pavel Kubina, and Nik Antropov Again

...for the rest of this bizarre season, which ends in 2 days. In Kubina's case, of course, it really could be Goodbye Forever.

In other news: Slava Kozlov will play at least one more game as a Thrasher. A good robust chant of "SLA-VA! SLA-VA!" on Saturday wouldn't be ungracious. Just saying.

P.S. Duh, just remembered Saturday could be Goodbye Forever for Moose as well. You know what to do.

Don't Jump Ship Yet

Yes, the Thrashers have been eliminated from contention for the 2010 playoffs. Finally. It is depressing to no longer have hope for this year, but as we have mentioned before, our stable of young prospects is very promising.

In an attempt to give us all something to look forward to, I thought I'd take a quick look at our potential roster for two years down the road.

Of course there's no way to know how accurate this will really be. Players don't develop the way you hope, prospects get trades, etc. But if minor league/junior coaches do their job well and we hang on to our young'uns, the 2011-2012 Thrashers look dangerous.

Forwards:

Kane, Antropov, Little, Klinberg, Morin, Peverly, Cormier, Bergfors, Machacek, O'Dell, Slater.

That's a lot of young firepower with veteran leadership on top with Antro and in the energy line with Slates (I'm assuming we re-sign Jimmy to a long term deal).

Defense:

Bogosian, Enstrom, Vishnevskiy, Kulda, Oduya, Hainsey.

Again, you have the young guns and the solid veterans. We may be a little heavy on puck moving defensemen and light on shut down guys.

Goal:

Pavelec, Manino, Carrozzi, Pasquali.

Apparently Italian goalies are the new Finnish goalies. Pav has a lot of potential and he's not as fragile as Kari. Give him two more years and he should be very solid. Especially if we keep Moose around to mentor and then hire him as a coach when he retires.

Take all of those players and assume that most of them develop the way that we expect. Swap a few out with free agents, trades, or the two first round draft picks Atlanta will have this year, and I think you'll like the product we put on the ice in October 2011.

I would almost advocate letting Army, Kubina, and Fins go in free agency this year and using next season as a youth-movement rebuilding year to get another high draft pick. Almost.

EDIT: Also, for your entertainment, take a look at my horribly wrong predictions for the Eastern Conference from September and compare them to the current actual standings.

I'm walking unknown territory/ Where the sun's not shining. GAME DAY: Carolina Hurricanes

Why, we played the Canes just the other day, didn't we? We would have done an official game day post for Saturday's game, but your Chronicle editor decided to abandon the Internet this past weekend (every now and then it's good to exile yourself from the tyranny of computer screens) and the other typists here are simple derelicts.

The Thrashers won, though, so hooray! Goals from just about everyone, plus a Moose shutout, as you might have seen. Like I've said before, every time I officially give up hope on the Thrashers, they manage to win. Therefore I'll give up hope for tonight's game and the entire rest of the season, for Victory.

The New Jersey Devils and their exotic new pet Ilya Kovalchuk could have helped a Thrasher out last night by defeating the Philadelphia Flyers, but they failed comically (5-1 Flyers, though Kovy did score that one goal). These days the Thrashers are 2 points away from being tied with the Boston Bruins for the 8th seed. That's if the Bruins lose tonight, of course; they play Buffalo. Hooray?

Retreat - The Rakes

We All Live in a Metal Cage. GAME DAY: Columbus Blue Jackets

So what's going on in the world of the Thrashers today? Playing the Hockey? Probably.

After checking my Hockey Atlas, I can confirm that the Thrashers are in Ohio, just cold getting ready to play the comical Columbus Blue Jackets. Chris Chelios has joined them there, and according to Chris Vivlamore:

Chris Chelios has taken to the ice for his first practice as an Atlanta Thrasher. He will be the second oldest player to appear in an NHL game, second only to Gordie Howe, when he plays tonight at age 48.

Eight Thrashers were not born when Chelios made his NHL debut. They are – Ondrej Pavelec, Zach Bogosian, Boris Valabik, Evander Kane, Bryan Little, Niclas Bergfors, Tobias Enstrom and Clarke MacArthur.

Ha! Neither was your TBC editor.

I would say the Thrashers have a good opportunity to get two whole points tonight, especially with Rick Nash out, but that would be self-incinerating hubris. Especially because the BJ's always seem to beat us. But you never know, comrades, you never know...

Despite my recent bitching, I don't think the Thrashers are out of it just yet. If we win tonight, we can hop to 9th place. Tomorrow's game against the Rangers, needless to say, is a must-win. But first we have to remind the BJ's that they suck.

God, that was terrible. I accept your death sentence for crimes against humor. It's very tempting to make jokes about the Blue Jackets' initials, but really, what is there to say?

"Uh, your name reminds me of oral sex. THAT'S LAME, right?"

Also: Per Kamal, Reasoner and Artyukhin are out. Kozlov and Boutlon are in. Moose in goal. Fancy that!

You Can Listen, You Can Talk -...

Kovy the Devil

Ok, I've seen comments from Shooter and Morty about this below two threads and thought that it deserved to be its own topic. Besides, some glitch with my network at work won't let me post comments most of the time.

So the assertion from a lot of people lately has been "the Thrashers are better off without Kovy."

Their points:

1) Kovy has only scored 3 goals with the Devils.

2) Bergfors has scored 6 goals, including 2 game winners, for the Thrashers.

3) The Thrashers can gel more as "A TEAM" now.

Big Shooter and Morty have countered those points.

1) Kovy is not the leader who is relied upon to score goals for New Jersey.

2) Bergfors is a rookie who is excited to be here and will level off.

3) After a brief surge, the Thrashers are now mired in a 3 game skid and cannot find any offense.

So are the Thrashers a better team without Kovalchuk? Are the Devils a better team with Kovalchuk?

My thoughts:

1) The Devils have 4 players other than Ilya Kovalchuk with 15 or more goals (Langenbrunner, Parise, Zajac, and Rolston). The Atlanta Thrashers have 4 players with more than 15 goals (Fins, Bergie, Pevs, and Antro) plus two more at 14 (MacArthur and Kane). So the Devils traded to get Kovy's 34 goals-to-date versus Bergfors' 19 goals-to-date. Yes, it's true that the Devils have one other 30 goal scorer on their roster, it's obvious that Kovalchuk WAS acquired in order to light the lamp. He's done that 3 times so far, with one of them being a game winner. The fact that Bergie has gone on a tear and scored six in the same time period doesn't mean a whole lot. You need a bigger sampling to make judgments.

2) Yes, Bergie will certainly taper off his nearly goal-per-game pace. However, he has shown us that he has tremendous potential. With Bergfors, Little, Kane, Bogosian, Vishnevskiy, Morin, Klinberg, Macachek, Kulda, and Leville, this team looks a lot like the LA Kings of three years ago. That's a pretty favorable comparison.

3) The Thrashers have crashed back to earth after the pre-and post-Olympic mini-surge. Any hope for the playoffs is also plummeting through the atmosphere like a meteor. Part of that is the fact that a team of 20 goal scorers either needs one 40 goal scorer or an 80 assist guy who can make thing happen if they want to win the majority of their games. Another reason is that while Moose is good, he's not what you want as your Number One goalie. Ondrej has been disgustingly sub-par in the past several starts, so he can't be relied upon in this stretch run.

I think that this team has a very solid foundation of youth and role players. In order to be a playoff team next year, management has to spend like crazy on two of a) a legit 40-50 goal scorer (I hear NJ has one who will be a UFA in July), b) a set-up wizard, or c) a REAL number one goaltender (Turco or Nabokov, or in a pinch, Nittymaki). Either a) or b) will increase goals for by a margin of 30 or 40, and c) will reduce goals against by a margin of about 50. Do those two things together and you're looking at a secure post-season berth and a nervous first-round opponent.

Oh yeah, and hire the amateur goalie scout who worked for either Anaheim or San Jose in the 90's.

A Look Ahead to the Offseason

With the trade deadline behind us and the roster frozen (except for waivers and free agency signings) through the end of the 09-10 season, let's take a quick look at DW and Dudley's summer job. No, they won't be shagging balls at Lake Lanier Islands, they will be trying to ensure that the Atlanta Thrashers continue to improve for years to come.

Loyal readers know I like to look at things as a depth chart, so let's do that now. Here's what our current roster looks like for forwards:

Bergie-Antro-Lits

Kane-Slates-Army

Sparky-10Gallon-Fins

R2-Party-Thorbs

With Kozlov, Boulton, and White in the press box.

Kozlov, Armstrong, Slater, Afinogenov, Artyukhin, and Boulton will be unrestricted free agents at the end of the year. Little, MacArthur, and Bergfors will be restricted free agents. For those who don't know, UFA's can sign with anyone for any price. RFA's, after being offered a minimum "qualifying offer" from the Thrashers, can only sign with another team if Atlanta declines to match the other team's offer. In that case, the other team has to compensate Atlanta with draft picks for poaching the player. That very rarely happens.

So with eight roster spots filled with players currently under contract or RFA's, Waddell and Dudley have to fill four more spots. They may do so by re-signing some or all of those UFA's, bringing in new UFA's, trading for players, bringing up prospects, or drafting NHL ready players.

We all know that NHL ready players are very rare in the draft. Especially once you get past the first five or six picks. The Thrashers don't project to have a top six pick this year, so even a draft like this one that is supposed to be "deep" won't likely produce someone you can plug right into your lineup for 2010-11.

I would expect Waddell to make strong pitches to Armstrong (who is rumored to want out, but his wife is a native, so don't discount him yet) and Fins. With the way Jimmy Slater has played in the latter half of the season, I would also expect him to be offered a deal, and can't imagine him leaving. If you could Jimmy as staying with the fold, then you need to fill 3 forward spots with some combination of pending UFA's Fins, R2, Boulton, or Armstrong, an outside RFA, trade, or prospect.

Teams don't like to keep their youth down in the minors without trying them out on the big squad, and Atlanta is looking stacked as far as forward prospects go. HockeysFuture.com ranks Atlanta's stable the 6th strongest in the NHL. Between Cormier, Macachek, Leville, Morin, Klinberg, Crabb, and Postma, somebody is going to get a shot next year to fill one of those slots. Those are all guys who are expected to light the lamp in the NHL, so they won't be brought up just to occupy a spot on the 4th line, but 3rd liners get significant playing time in John Anderson's system.

With the in house UFA's and that crop of prospects, I wouldn't expect Thrashers' management to dive too deep into the free agent market for forwards this summer.

On to defense, here is the hand we're currently holding:

Bogo-Toby

Hainsey-Kubina

Oduya-Schubert

Moose

Ondrej

Kubina is a pending UFA, as are Schubert, Popovic and Chelios. Kulda looked good before the Olympic break and I would expect him to have a home in Atlanta in October. Kubina will receive a lucrative offer, but I have no way to gauge whether or not he'll be receptive to it. If he leaves, you can move Oduya up to his spot in that depth chart, put Kulda on the third pairing and look outside to fill the last spot and add some depth.

Vishnevskiy will also get a close look at training camp and might fit into that last roster spot, but we will still need an insurance defenseman for the inevitable injuries, suspensions, and the flu.

Trading away the obsolete Todd White, perhaps packaged with either a forward prospect or draft pick could bring in someone useful to bolster the defense as well.

Assuming Moose re-signs with Atlanta, which I absolutely expect he would, he and Ondrej will continue to tend the crease with MacIntyre coming up in emergencies.

It's not a daunting task for DW and Dudley this summer. Draft well and develop the young'uns, and this team's future looks bright.

For the Chronicle, I'm Razor Catch Prey.

Huuune de Bergfors, Hunne de Moose!

In honor of the Thrashers Swedish SWAT Team (Enstrom, Bergfors, Oduya, and Hedberg), we present TSN's recap of last night's game translated into Swedish Chef speak. Thanks to the Firefox Add-on "Borkborkbork."

ST. PEOoL, Meenn. -- Zee Etlunta Threshers knoo zeey vere-a geefing up plenty ooff scureeng vhee zeey treded Ilya Kufelchook tu Noo Jersey.

Oone-a ooff zee pleyers zeey gut in retoorn hesn't beee tuu shebby heemselff.

Neecles Bergffurs scured zee veenner meedvey thruoogh zee thurd pereeud und zee Threshers beet zee Meennesuta Veeld 3-2 oon Freedey neeght.

Ifunder Kune-a und Neek Untrupuf elsu scured fur Etlunta, vheech hes vun tvu ooff three-a. Juhun Hedberg mede-a 36 sefes und zee Threshers beet Meennesuta in regooleshun fur zee furst time-a in neene-a ell-time-a meetings. Pefel Koobeena hed tvu esseests.

Bergffurs tuuk a pess frum Bryun Leettle-a et zee Meennesuta blooe-a leene-a und beet Neekles Beckstrum et 11:05. Zee perffectly pleced slepshut frum zee reeght curcle-a vent oofer zee gueleee's reeght shuoolder und under zee crussber.

Oone-a ooff three-a pleyers ecqooured in zee Kufelchook trede-a oon Feb. 4, Bergffurs hes guels in three-a streeeght gemes. He-a deedn't scure-a a guel in hees feenel 16 gemes es a Defeel oor hees furst es a Thresher, boot hes beee better thun zee scureeng sooperster ierly in zee trede-a. Kufelchook hes scured oonce-a in feefe-a gemes veet Noo Jersey.

"I gut a noo stert cumeeng here-a, noo teem und iferytheeng," Bergffurs seeed. "Su fer it's beee fery guud. Zee tvu gooys I'm pleyeeng veet ere-a greet pleyers su it mekes it iesy."

Untrupuf hes tvu guels und fuoor esseests in zee lest three-a gemes und Leettle-a hes tvu guels und tvu esseests in hees lest three-a.

"Ve'fe-a beee loocky eeuoogh tu hefe-a heem mesh vell veet Neec und Leets. It seems leeke-a zeey'fe-a beee pleyeeng tugezeer a lung time-a," Etlunta cuech Juhn Undersun seeed.

Undroo Broonette-a und Undroo Ibbett scured fur Meennesuta, vheech lust its secund streeeght et hume-a effter getting pueents in zee neene-a prefeeuoos gemes et Xcel Inergy Center. Meekku Kueefoo hed tvu esseests.

"I thuooght ve-a pleyed a lut herder und deed theengs better thun in zee prefeeuoos geme-a, vheech is vhet ve-a set oooot tu du, boot ve-a ceme-a up oone-a shurt," Veeld cuech Tudd Reecherds seeed.

Etlunta hes pleyed a leegooe-a-heegh 35 oone-a-guel gemes, gueeng 14-12-9. Meennesuta hes 34 oone-a-guel gemes, felleeng tu 19-11-4 in thuse-a gemes.

Zee Threshers bloo a tvu-guel leed in zee thurd pereeud Vednesdey und lust in oofertime-a et Culuredu, und edmeetted zeere-a ves sume-a ixtra fucoos tu pley vell. Zeey eetered zee neeght fuoor pueents oooot ooff zee feenel Iestern Cunfference-a pleyuffff puseeshun.

"Ve-a hefe-a a pleyuffff menteleety reeght noo. Ifery geme-a is impurtunt, und ifery geme-a zeere's tvu pueents et steke-a und ve-a need thuse-a pueents," Kune-a seeed. "Ve-a telked ebooot zee seex pueents oon thees rued treep und ve-a vunted tu get et leest feefe-a ooff zeem. Ve-a hefe-a a beeg geme-a et Cheecegu tumurroo."

Etlunta gefe-a Meennesuta a guldee ooppurtooneety lete-a vhee Kune-a vent ooffff fur interfference-a veet tvu meenootes remeeening, boot Mertin Heflet ves vheestled fur a cruss-check 24 secunds leter tu sqoounder zee mun edfuntege-a.

"Yuoo gu oooot zeere-a und yuoo vunt tu veen, und ve're-a nut eble-a tu du zee jubs und get tvu pueents. It's tuoogh. It's nut eeuoogh tu gu oooot zeere-a und pley OoK," seeed Beckstrum, 1-4-1 in hees pest seex sterts.

Kune-a gefe-a zee Threshers a 1-0 leed meedvey thruoogh zee furst pereeud vhee he-a tuuk a pess frum Culby Ermstrung und beet Beckstrum veet a vreest shut frum zee reeght dut.

Broonette-a tied zee geme-a a leettle-a oofer tvu meenootes leter veet a pooer pley guel, knuckeeng a rebooond pest Hedberg.

Un eggresseefe-a pley by Ibbett mede-a it 2-1 Meennesuta.

Kueefoo intercepted a pess in zee Etlunta zune-a und pessed tu Cel Clootterboock, vhuse-a shut frum zee lefft curcle-a ves stupped by Hedberg. Hooefer, Ibbett creshed zee net fur un iesy rebooond guel.

Untrupuf tipped in a slepshut by Koobeena tu tie-a zee geme-a oon zee pooer pley veet 13.6 secunds lefft in zee furst.

NOTES: Ierleeer Freedey, Meennesuta treded D Keem Juhnssun und zee reeghts tu 2009 furst-ruoond peeck Neeck Leddy tu Cheecegu fur D Cem Berker. ... Etlunta D Ertoors Koolda und Meennesuta C Cudy Elmund mede-a zeeur NHL deboots. .. Broonette-a hes neene-a pooer-pley guels tu metch lest yeer's tutel. Hees cereer heegh is 11 veet Culuredu in 2005-06. ... Thees is zee oonly meeting ooff zee seesun betveee zee tvu teems. Zeey hefen't met seence-a Ooct. 14, 2008.

Game Day: Colorado Avalanche

The Avs have been one of the biggest surprises this season. We'll get to see a big piece of the reason why as Craig Anderson is expected to start in net against Moose. The Avs also have great veteran leadership from Adam Foote on the blueline and a group of forwards that looks very similar to the one on the Thrashers' roster. Hejduk, Stastny, Duschene, etc. Should be a good test for Atlanta's solid defense as well as the new team oriented offense.

Today's In Praise Of: The Falconer's efforts putting together a "Grade Your GM" worksheet for the past two years.

Approach it however you want. Obviously if you're only looking at the transactions for the last two years, moves in which DW got rid of dead weight look good, but you have to keep in mind that he brought that dead weight into the organization in the first place. That being said, the moves are overwhelmingly good over the past two years. Too little, too late? Maybe.

We all bristle when we hear the GM say that "we've got a good core of young talent" after trading away Kovy. However, the statement does have a lot of truth to it. If you look at the guys who are poised to be leading this team two or three years down the road, the future looks pretty bright.

Kane
Bergfors
Little
Cormier
Morin
Crabb
Machacek
Klingberg
Leveille
O'Dell

Bogosian
Enstrom
Postma
Kulda
Vishnevskiy

Pavelec
McIntyre

Add two more first round picks for this year and it's a pretty darn impressive stable of talent. Now we just need to hold on to them all, develop them responsibly, and add veterans through free agency and waiver pick ups.