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Home > Jeff Schultz > Archives > 2008 > June > 18
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Waddell skates, minuses pile up
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It has been 10 years almost to the day since Don Waddell was hired as the Thrashers’ general manager. If we learned anything about the man, it’s that his proclamations ring as hollow as some of his draft picks.
As Waddell said after landing in Atlanta, fresh off a Stanley Cup in his one season as an assistant in Detroit: “Right off the bat, our players have to understand what our commitment is to winning. By the time we start this thing in 1999, expansion is gone. We’ll be a first-year team that’s expected to win. Expansion is not a reason for losing.”
It was a nice pep talk. Unfortunately, it didn’t come with a guarantee or a freshness date.
The Thrashers’ 10th draft under Waddell is Friday night. Expansion is long gone, but they continue to compile reasons for losing. Waddell hasn’t accumulated a solid core of players to build around, developed young talent, guessed correctly in free agency, grown the fan base or created an identity for the franchise, other than league punching bag.
The result is seven non-playoff seasons (and no wins) in eight years. If reports of the general manager’s death have been exaggerated, the skeletons surrounding Waddell haven’t. Relative to others in the profession, he is Lazarus.
Why mention this now? Because there never has been a more important draft or offseason in team history. Because this is not a destination coveted by NHL players. Because you couldn’t give away a pair of season tickets with a new set of pots on QVC. And because Ilya Kovalchuk is checking his watch.
In six seasons, Kovalchuk has scored more goals (254) than any other player and ranks eighth in points (466). He will be an unrestricted free agent in two years. Then he’ll likely be somebody else’s treasure.
Kovalchuk would never say this. But it’s clear his frustration with the franchise grew last season. He’s tired of the losing, tired of the failed promises and, much like the departed Marian Hossa, money’s not really the issue because any team will pay him.
If the Thrashers retain any hope of keeping Kovalchuk, they will have to wow him this season. That means it’s less about draft picks who won’t play in the NHL for two or three years, if ever, than it is about actual roster players. This period, beginning with pre-draft trades, is when a team is formed.
But, realistically, how much progress should anybody expect, given the backdrop? Unstable ownership (which influences players and agents), a general manager with tenuous job security, a team with no coach in mid-June — it doesn’t foretell greatness.
“Ilya wants to win,” said Jay Grossman, Kovalchuk’s agent.
And this is when Grossman begins to choose his words carefully. Feel free to read between the lines.
“He’s going to play hard for the Atlanta Thrashers for two years, and then we’ll address his situation,” Grossman said. “He has a commitment to live up to, and he’ll live up to that commitment.”
As to whether improvement this season would significantly impact Kovalchuk’s decision to re-sign, Grossman said: “Obviously the organization needs to pick a coach, get other players and do the things they need to do to get to a level of winning. But that’s not Ilya’s job. Ilya’s job is to play. He’s committed. He’s grown a lot since you first covered him when he came into the league at 18. But clearly when you’re committed and you have special talent, you want to win.”
Waddell fired coach Bob Hartley eight months ago. He has yet to hire a replacement. A draft Friday night and no coach yet — it’s deja blew-it all over again. In 1999, he didn’t hire a coach before the team’s first amateur draft and expansion draft. So much for working in concert with a coach and a system.
Asked in ‘99 why he hadn’t hired a coach, Waddell’s response was: “What do I need a coach for? I don’t even have any players.”
Bottom line: It was his team then. It’s his team now. It’s his mess. We’ve just stopped listening to the promises.
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