Thrashers

By ranallo10

February 9, 2007 05:16 PM | Link to this

Rucchin is out, but Kapanen is coming back in his absence — cue the wrath of the AJC bloggers…

By michael

February 9, 2007 05:24 PM | Link to this

Maybe Wadell is with Rucchin holding him like a baby. At least the idiot is scouting players.

Hockey gods please let Wadell make one good decision as far as our franchise goes and help him find the right player or players for once.

By Dog

February 9, 2007 05:29 PM | Link to this

NHL? What’s that? Oh, I remember…..those greedy numbnuts who cancelled a season looking for NFL caliber salaries when their sport was not that popular to begin with. Real smart guys. I see your popularity is really coming along with the worst franchise in America- the Hawks- getting 5 times the attention you get. Soccer or bowling will eventually knock the NHL out of contention in America and it will not bother me one bit. Go disappear with Waddell you greedy jacklegs!

By Bob

February 9, 2007 05:31 PM | Link to this

Rucchin is the lesser of two evils, get healthy soon Ruch! Kapanen again, ugh.

We now know that Waddell has not been Fiddling while Atlanta burns, he’s been running up frequent flyer miles.

Get ‘er done, Wad

By Brian

February 9, 2007 05:41 PM | Link to this

Dog . is about as smart as one. people forget that NFL was locked out by greedy players, MLB was locked out by greedy players. The only sport that hasn’t been stopped by labor is NBA. Speaking of, according to NBA and NHL attendance figures, the Thrashers draw more people to games than the Hawks. So get your facts right before you open your mouth and prove your ignorance.

By Leviathan

February 9, 2007 05:49 PM | Link to this

I thought Hedberg was going to get the next start?

By pondscum

February 9, 2007 05:50 PM | Link to this

Hey,what about Steve Reinprect of the Coyotes? Yanic Perreault? I don’t think the Wings would be moving anyone (Lang?) out unless it would trigger another deal to be made for them by getting cap space (Forsberg?).

The Wild,Rangers,Preds,and Canes all made moves today to tweak their rosters today. With Rucchin getting hurt,it’s time to make a move and not wait for the left overs.

By pondscum

February 9, 2007 05:51 PM | Link to this

And oh yeah, GREAT GAME by Metro last nite,keep him with Hossa and Kozlov.

By Craig Custance

February 9, 2007 05:56 PM | Link to this

Leviathan — Bob has said that Hedberg will play during this road trip. I think it’s safe to assume that it’ll be Sunday, the second of back-to-back games between Vancouver and Edmonton. But nothing is in stone.

By Brendan

February 9, 2007 06:27 PM | Link to this

I’d be really surprised if Moose didn’t start the Oiler game. The following is purely speculation on my part, but as the Thrashers and Flames don’t play each other very often, I’m sure Kari is looking forward to a “showdown” with his fellow Finn, Miikka Kiprusoff. While I have no idea if his rivalry with the Kipper is anything like what he and Niittymaki have going, it’d be great to start one!

Keep an eye out for Calgary. In preseason, I picked the Flames to win the Northwest division, amid chuckles from this message board. It very well could happen. “Nostradamus” I am not, however. If it happens, it happens.

By Brendan

February 9, 2007 06:45 PM | Link to this

I know there are some “disbelievers” out there that Jim Rutherford is an upper echelon GM, but look what he just did. He drafted Vasicek, 91st overall, back in 1998. Not too shabby, as far as 91st overall picks go. I doubt that he especially wanted to part with him, since Vasicek had played a decent part in the 2002 run at the Cup, but he got Scott Walker from the Preds. Now, he’s got them both! Which is, I think, what he really wanted all along.

Yeah, I hear ya. But he doesn’t have Jack Johnson, the top-rated blueliner of his draft class, that he moved to the L.A. Kings to get Belanger (who he just traded to Nashville) and Gleason. Well, that’s true. And I’m sure Rutherford made that move (the Jack Johnson trade) in “desperation,” as he very much wanted to make a defense of their Stanley Cup title. He felt that moving Johnson was the best way.

Vasicek scored an overtime winner in Game Five of the opening round of the 2002 playoffs vs. New Jersey. It was a critical moment of that series. Vasicek was a +6 in the 2002 playoffs and had three (3) goals and two (2) helpers, for five (5) points in 23-games. He helped the ‘Canes win the Cup in 2006. Carolina only has to pay a fraction of his $1.3 million contract.

By michael

February 9, 2007 07:24 PM | Link to this

Forsberg had 3 assists last night. In his last 5 games he has 2 goals and 6 assists. Seems like he finally got his boot fixed, that is what the reports are.

By Leviathan

February 9, 2007 07:35 PM | Link to this

There is all this talk about trades. Is there any talent in the minors that could give the Thrashers a boost?

By Thrasher_Ed

February 9, 2007 07:47 PM | Link to this

Mostly Defenseman the would be ready to play if we needed them with Coburn, Popavic, and Andy Delmore. Haydar is with the Thrashers now and appears to be doing well, although he is yet to score. Sterling and some of the kids maybe a year or so away! Short answer is players in Chicago are mostly if we had a rash of injuries!

By michael

February 9, 2007 07:51 PM | Link to this

Craig, in yesterdays blog you responded to Lee that you couldn’t mention anything about trades because it would be an unsubstantiated rumor. Can you just tell us who you think might be a good fit for this team? We won’t tell. It’s eating me alive, like a little kid waiting for a christmas present.

By LAC

February 9, 2007 08:03 PM | Link to this

Bob,is 100% correct, about dumb dog… Who gives a —— about the national BORING asooc… just the pits, watching Weather Channel reruns should score higher !!!

But what can we the Fans of Atlanta expect from waddell, I am afraid to say little if anything, and that is too bad, since two or three good trades for some GOOD players, could, could really make up a ture CUP threat, But likely we will have more stupid trades, where we get more of the same or drop slightly.

Why can waddell, not be like Cliff Fletcher was for The Flames, he stole players, made DAMN good trades and drafted EXCELLENT in the later rounds, something waddell knows NOTHING about, gee Cliff want a job back in Atlanta ?… We could use his solid advice now.

P.S. Look at Nashville, running away with the west, David Poile is the GM, and who did he start under…Cliff Fletcher right here in Atlanta… He knows how to draft and make SMART trades… If we had David instead of worthless waddell…well we might be holding the Cup… But we have THE WORST GM in the NHL… still look for the Hossa to someone for a 4th round pick…just waddell’s worthless style… Thanks don for being a nothing for the team and not wanting to WIN !

By Tom

February 9, 2007 10:01 PM | Link to this

Where’s Waddell?

Where’s Iceman?

Has anyone noticed they shut down comments on his blog?

Is that taps I hear in the distance? Is Waddell Iceman? Stay tuned Thrasher Fans For the facinating conclusion of

“The Iceman Leaveth”

“Tune in tomorrow — same Thrash-time, same Thrash-channel!”

By Dog

February 10, 2007 12:04 AM | Link to this

Hey knumbnuts… I mean Brian. I guess with your high school education it is difficult for you to understand that the big money is in TV REVENUE not attendance. I can guarantee the Hawks are blowing the Thrashers away in that area. Besides, if you look at the PAID attendance, the Hawks and Thrashers are pretty close. Additionally, if you were to listen to sportsradio in Atlanta or read these blogs on AJC, you would see that there is typically 3 calls/posts on the Hawks for every one on the Thrashers. Sorry to burst your bubble but Atlanta is not buzzing over hockey.

You are correct in saying both the NFL and MLB have had strikes. The big difference is that both those sports were #1 and #2 in popularity heading into their respective strikes. They had leverage- get it? The NHL striking was like an employee already on notice going to his boss asking for a raise.

By The Falconer

February 10, 2007 02:41 AM | Link to this

TAC touts Davild Poile as a great GM. I’ll grant you that NAS is a good team but I don’t think Poile is that great on draft day. Here are his 1st round picks as GM of that team. I would point out the Poile had a lot of busted 1st rounders when he was in Washington DC as well.

David Legwand (disappointing career so far for #2 pick) Brian Finaly (bust) Scott Hartnell (NHL role player) Dan Hamhuis (solid NHL, no All Star) Scottie Upshall Ryan Suter (looks like a soild NHL D) Alex Radulov (could be a star scorer)

Poile’s hasn’t done anything spectactular on draft day.

Thrashers 1st rounders so far: Patrick Stefan (NHL role player) Heatley (All Star) Kovalchuk (All Star) Lehtonen (potential All Star) Coburn (likely solid NHL D)

I think I know which GM I’d rather have making my 1st round selections.

By pondscum

February 10, 2007 03:15 AM | Link to this

Um Falconer……

Legwand vs. Stefan.

Legwand-1999-2000 Predators 71 13 15 28 -6 30 4 0 2 111 11.7
1999-2000 United States WC-A 6 1 1 2 4 0 0 0 6
2000-2001 Predators 81 13 28 41 1 38 3 0 3 172 7.6
2000-2001 United States WC-A 9 2 4 6 4
2001-2002 Predators 63 11 19 30 1 54 1 1 1 121 9.1
2002-2003 Predators 64 17 31 48 -2 34 3 1 4 167 10.2
2003-2004 Predators 82 18 29 47 9 46 5 1 5 165 10.9
2004-2005 Basel Swiss-2 3 6 2 8 2
2004-2005 United States WC-A 7 0 1 1 4
2005-2006 Predators 44 7 19 26 3 34 0 0 5 109 6.4
2005-2006 Milwaukee AHL 3 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 0
2006-2007 Predators 53 19 27 46 27 24 1 1 5 102 18.6

NHL Totals: 459 98 168 266 33 260 17 4 25 949 10.3

Stefan-1999-2000 Thrashers 72 5 20 25 -20 30 1 0 0 117 4.3
2000-2001 Thrashers 66 10 21 31 -3 22 0 0 1 93 10.8
2001-2002 Thrashers 59 7 16 23 -4 22 0 1 0 67 10.4
2001-2002 Chicago AHL 5 3 0 3 3 0 1 0 0
2002-2003 Thrashers 71 13 21 34 -10 12 3 0 2 96 13.5
2003-2004 Thrashers 82 14 26 40 -7 26 3 2 2 110 12.7
2004-2005 Ilves Finland 37 13 28 41 47
2005-2006 Thrashers 64 10 14 24 3 36 2 0 3 81 12.3
2005-2006 Czech Republic WC-A 9 1 0 1 4
2006-2007 Stars 38 5 6 11 5 10 0 1 1 39 12.8

NHL Totals: 452 64 124 188 -36 158 9 4 9 603 10.6 Advantage Legwand

Hartnell-2000-2001 Predators 75 2 14 16 -8 48 0 0 0 92 2.2
2001-2002 Predators 75 14 27 41 5 111 3 0 4 162 8.6
2002-2003 Predators 82 12 22 34 -3 101 2 0 2 221 5.4
2003-2004 Predators 59 18 15 33 -5 87 5 0 3 154 11.7
2004-2005 Valerengen Norway 28 17 12 29 103
2005-2006 Predators 81 25 23 48 8 101 10 2 8 211 11.8
2005-2006 Canada WC-A 9 1 0 1 4
2006-2007 Predators 56 19 14 33 17 80 9 0 2 137 13.9

NHL Totals: 428 90 115 205 14 528 29 2 19 977 9.2

Not bad for a 3rd liner power forward.

Then throw in Shea Weber( who was a 3rd rounder in 03’) and Martin Erat who was a lower round selection…..yes Poile has Waddell beat hands down in drafting.

Heck,Poile drafted the new NHL ironman Karlis Scratchins.

Waddell and POile both have good showings in the first rounds,but it’s not even close in the later rounds really.That’s where Waddell fails as a GM.

By drew

February 10, 2007 09:16 AM | Link to this

All of you old Flames fans will remember this headline. It pretty signalled the end of the Flames in Atlanta. I’d be careful to say that Poile is some sort of genius for his tutlelage under Cliff Fletcher:

Atlanta traded Lysiak, Pat Ribble, Greg Fox, Harold Phillipoff and Miles Zaharko to Chicago in exchange for Ivan Boldirev, Phil Russell and Darcy Rota on March 13, 1979. The eight-player deal was the largest (in terms of players involved) in NHL history to that point.

And by the way - SCREW YOU TOM COUSINS FOR SELLING THE FLAMES TO CALGARY!!!!

By JS

February 10, 2007 09:50 AM | Link to this

Puppydog, actually, your argument (rising salaries, low revenue) was the reason the Owners Locked the Players Out. The owners wanted a salary cap, ill-advised players did not. Players union thought the owners would cave, they didn’t.

You don’t like hockey, fine. Go watch Superbowl replays, the NBA and wait for MLB to come back (spring training just weeks away). And, I’m sure you follow - NASCAR!!!!

It’s okay that you don’t have the critical abilities to appreciate the speed and skill of hockey. We pity your lack of discernment, but you need not let it turn you into a bitter, abusive troll.

Go back to your usual haunts, go back to the other sports boards where you can bask in the glow of huge TV revenues, knowing that millions of others love those sports, just like you do.

By Dog

February 10, 2007 10:54 AM | Link to this

JS- thanks for your comments. After limited consideration, I have decided to post where I want as often as I would like to- even if that means on your sacred Thrasher board. If you had any kind of a following, my posts would get lost in the 100’s that should be out here. Mock NASCAR all you want but it happens to be the 4th largest sport in America behind NFL, MLB, and NBA. It also happens to be broadcast on MAJOR networks. You don’t care about the popularity? The NHL will not survive as it operates today if they only attract the hardcore fans. Without larger scale popularity, the lower revenues will translate into lower franchise values and lower player salaries. Mock TV ratings all you want but those very ratings drive the largest revenue producing area for the league. I’m sure the NHL has a 3-5 year plan following the strike where they are willing to operate at lower revenue levels but you can rest assured they need to reach a much higher level of popularity in the latter years for their plan to work. Bang on the popular sports world all you want but don’t be surprised when you get the cold shoulder as your league circles the drain.

By The Falconer

February 10, 2007 11:00 AM | Link to this

Pondscum: I’d catagorize both Legwand and Stefan as very disappoiting high picks. Nashville organization has been very frustrated with Legwand most of his career.

Neither Legwand nor Hartnell have scored more than 50 points in one season. Heatley and Kovalchuk both did that their very first NHL season. Atlanta has gotten impact players while Poile has only found complimentary/role guys in their draft. Radulov MAY turn into an impact player.

If you want to count things past 1st round picks then Waddell has Exelby, Nurminen, Brian Pothier, Jim Slater on his side.

By Bob

February 10, 2007 12:04 PM | Link to this

Falconer, ok, you lost me again. I had hopes for you, but you’re thinking Waddell is a better GM that Poile? Please say it ain’t so, you seemed like a new guy that had some knowledge.

Poile has run circles around Waddell’s performance. I know, who hasn’t.

NashVegas is one of my pick’s in the West. Frankly, we’re lucky we’re in the East, the West has some real scary teams this year, Buffablow is the only one that really scares me in the East this year, would not want to meet them in a 7 game series.

By LAC

February 10, 2007 01:07 PM | Link to this

AWFUL TRADE, SIMPLY AWFUL…This CLEARLY shows DUMB, and I mean DUMB waddell has NO clue.

We trade a GOOD defenseman for a NOTHING CENTER WHO WAS JUST TRADED, NUTS, Simply NUTS, This guy is NOTHING and will continue to be, while Vish may win the cup… Great trade waddell, I just WISH we could ship YOU out of town ASAP to prevent another DISASTER from taking place, David Polie used his Cliff Fletcher tricks to FLEECE THE WORST GM IN PROFESSIONAL SPORTS… You SUCK waddell, simply SUCK at your job… You need to be FIRED NOW, just wish you worked for me… You could not even clean the toilets of my offices in a proper manner…

Yes tom cousins you DO SUCK for selling the FLAMES… we would have had the CUP 8 years later…

By ranallo10

February 10, 2007 03:19 PM | Link to this

Leave it to Bob to “pick” the best team in the NHL. Let me guess Bob, your other picks are Detroit, Anaheim, and Buffalo?

However, when the playoffs hit I can definetly see you saying “yeah, my ORIGINAL picks were the Penguins and Senators” just because they’re in contention.

By The Falconer

February 10, 2007 03:21 PM | Link to this

Bob:

I never said one GM was better than another. You’re the one who said that Poile was better at drafting. I don’t think the facts really support that claim.

I would give Poile the advantage in roster construction skills. He did a better job in his expansion draft (Vokoun and Dunham) than DW did and his free agent acquisions have worked out well for the most part. Nashville has also been better coached than ATL from day 1. But when it comes to scouting and drafting I’d rather have DW.

You also have to bear in mind that Nashville wanted a competitive team from day 1 to attract fans in a non traditional market. I know for a fact that ATL wanted to finish low so that they would draft high picks like OTT did. NAS pursued the Florida strategy of being competitive as quickly as possible. In the long run that didn’t turn out very well for Florida.

ATL has superstars that they can build around, NAS has drafted zero superstars. Now NAS lucked out that the new CBA made them more competitive and they were able to sign Kariya, but under the old CBA Kariya was not likely to have ended up in NAS.

By Bob

February 10, 2007 04:27 PM | Link to this

Falconer, that wasn’t me that said Poile was a better drafter, I believe that was LAC you were arguing with?

I simply piped up as you seemed to be a new guy with some hockey sense around here and that was good to see, as opposed to a couple other goofs (cough), so I was giving you the “say it ain’t so” as I think that hindsight belies any thought that Waddell can hold a candle to what Poile has done.

What you call Nashville following a Florida model has certainly worked out better for Nashville. I’d trade our lineup straight up for theirs today and they’ve been much more competitive, in a tougher Conference, for much longer than Waddell has been able to do. Tampa was another one that did what you call a Florida, and Tampa already retooled from that and won a Cup. Waddell has Hossa for what, one more year and then he’s a UFA? Kovy’s a UFA at the end of his current contract. Waddell’s no skill approach to tank and collect #1’s hasn’t worked out too well, no banners hanging anywhere but lots of spinning of wheels. He finally has it going a little better this year, but that’s due not to his drafting, but free agents, something he should have done a long time ago. But that’s history, let’s hope he’s got more up his sleeve this year than just what we saw today, or we’ll be lucky to win a round, and then he has to completely retool the team for next year (look how many UFA’s and RFA’s we have on this roster and how old it is).

ranallo, I am sorry I kicked sand in your face. I’m sorry I picked on you. Really. Virtual handshake, go Thrash, we’re on the same team. I shouldn’t have picked on you, it was not nice. Now let’s let that go and get on to making a playoff run, ok? No sense eating our own.

For the record, Brendan has us do preseason picks around here, I think mine in the West were Anaheim for best club (but who didn’t?), I called Minnesota for the most improved club (that looked good after the first 15 games, but then the injury bug killed them, but they’re not out yet), and my picks in the East were Buffablow, and the most improved club being, wait for it ranallo, the Pens. And my pick for biggest drop off team in the East this year, ranallo wait for it, the Flyers.

But just like last year, I think this year’s playoffs will be wide open and there’s probably 4 clubs from each Conference with a good shot at the Finals. We can be one of them if Waddell can make the right moves here in the next two weeks. Crap, the Canes started hot last year, hit a wall, Rutherford made two good moves, they threw a new goalie in the net in the playoffs, and voila. The freaking Oil come out of the West? Unreal, it can happen with the right moves. I refuse to believe Waddell’s done here, he’s just addressing the PK situation for now as they finally gave up on Kapanen and THE JPVJ is out (just kidding ranallo, come back off the ledge), Belanger is not our top line center come playoff time, I refuse to believe that.

By The Falconer

February 10, 2007 05:15 PM | Link to this

Bob re: Kovy and Hossa as leaving as UFA. That is true now, but when DW picked a strategy that was NOT true then. You had there rights until age 30. You can’t fault a GM for not predicting the new CBA would be so different. My gut feeling is that I expect both of these guys to resign in ATL, but I could be wrong.

If I were a GM of an expanion team I’d try the OTT model rather than the FLA approach under the old CBA.

True about TB trying to be competitive right away, but that franchise had only one or two competitive seasons and then there just terrible for several years. I think you can make a case that the core of the current TB squad was obtained by sucking really bad (Lecavalier, Richards).

re: me. I’ve been around from season 1, but I used to only post at www.smirkinchicken.com and my blog. I’ve been hanging out here more lately.

By BG33Brown

February 10, 2007 05:18 PM | Link to this

LAC, Vish was at best a marginal defenseman, when he wasn’t tripping over his own feet.

You probably said the same thing about McCarthy last year. Or about Metro and Sim earlier this year.

The fact is you can’t win with the salary cap by just aquiring $5/year players. Just ask the Flyers and Bruins.

We NEEDED a face off winning center and we got one.

Maybe you should give some credit to the man who has put this team together. For this move, I say BRAVO to Waddell.

By Brendan

February 10, 2007 08:50 PM | Link to this

I was a fan of Waddell in the early years. I was “totally aboard” with Waddell, and his “let’s build through the draft” strategy. Things changed for me, in the Summer of 2002. (Certain players weren’t re-signed that appeared to be pieces to the puzzle, and I lost confidence in his ability to keep moving the team incrementally forward. They actually took a step backward, one season.) When he didn’t “bluff” Florida and Columbus that his intended draft targets were Bouwmeester and Nash, potentially extracting a 2003 1st round pick from either for passing on them, I got discouraged. If it had worked, Atlanta would still have Lehtonen, but not Jim Slater, and probably someone like Thomas Vanek (4th overall, 2003) instead. Bygones.

Since then (Summer 2002), I’ve viewed him as the “lesser of several evils.” In Don’ defense, many things really weren’t his fault. We all know what they are/were. And, you allllll know my stance on high 1st round drafts. I don’t praise GM’s for them, nor do I blame them when they turn out to be “busts.” And why?? Because everyone else would have done the same thing. It’s something of a rarity when Central Scouting and the Hockey News list their top five picks and all over them get selected after the 5th overall pick. It just doesn’t happen. C’mon. You know that’s true. You woulda passed on Thornton, Lecavalier, Heatley (DiPietro), Kovalchuk, Nash, Ovechkin, Crosby, or Malkin? No. No way. I don’t believe you. Maybe you trade the #1 overall pick for a slew of players. I can see that as a strategy, too. Don rejected Montreal’s 5-player deal to go pick Kovy with the 1st overall pick in 2001. I remember that morning well. My Aunt Bertha, who to this very day, has seen a grand total of exactly one (1) hockey game, read the morning paper and said she thought Atlanta should take “some Russian fellow,” whose name she cannot pronounce.

Well, does she have as much hockey knowledge as Don Waddell? Laughing. No, obviously not. But she and Don both came up with Kovalchuk on draft day. Ya know I lova ya, Auntie. But you’ll never have my support for GM of even my least favorite hockey team.

By The Falconer

February 10, 2007 09:16 PM | Link to this

re: I’m not sure I understand what you’re saying about 2003 draft. The Thrashers did get extra picks not to take Nash and JayBo. I’m not sure it is realistic to think we would have gotten a 1st rounder—then again the CBJ GM is pretty stupid. In retrospect, I think we took the best player of the three. Jaybo looks like a solid defensive Dman but he’s not as good as Chris Pronger. Rick Nash had a great rookie year but he increasingly looks like a 30-35 goals scorer not a 45-50 type of guy. I think Kari will be a top 10 goalie once we get some better d-man in front of him.

re: blown draft picks. I think a GM deserves credit for not blowing it. Look at NYI taking DiPietro when he should have taken Heatley and kept Luongo. Dumb.

Don’t forget there were people who claimed that Spezza was better than Kovalchuk. (If fact there was one Thrashers scout who claimed that Chistov was better than Kovalchuk!! I’m glad DW didn’t listen to that person.)

By Brendan

February 10, 2007 10:54 PM | Link to this

Falconer, I think you understood it (2002 draft) perfectly. Who knows what a “bluff” brings unless you try it.

When Rick Dudley (Florida’s GM in 2002) approaches Don to inform him that he’s made a trade with Columbus to swap picks, (1st to 3rd,) what prevents Don from saying, “Congratulations Rick. Who ya gonna pick, 3rd overall?” When Rick replies, “Jay Bouwmeester.” Don shakes his head and says, “No ya won’t. We’re taking Bouwmeester with our #2 overall selection. You’ve seen our blueline! We’re desperate in that regard.” At that point, Dudley says, “You’re takin’ Bouwmeester??” Don nods and smiles, “Yep.” Then waits. And waits. And waits. If Dudley says, “Hey, tell ya what. If you pass on Bouwmeester, I’ll give ya my 1st round pick next year.” Then Don shakes his hand, selects Lehtonen, and then, via lottery draft, selects 1st overall (!!!) in 2003.

If Dudley does not offer a 1st round pick, then it’s understood that Florida will decline the trade with Columbus and take Bouwmeester 1st overall. At that point, Columbus’ GM, Doug McLean, goes into coronary thrombosis, frantically running to the Thrashers table to discuss “options.” When Doug says, “Tell me you’re taking Lehtonen?” Don says, “Nope, we wanted Bouwmeester. But Florida’s gonna take him. So, we’ve got our sights squarely set on the big power forward, Rick Nash.” Doug clutches his heart. Don offers him a glass of water. Then says, “I can’t bear to see you like this. I’m a nice guy. You’ve seen our team. We stink out loud and need everything. I tell ya what, Doug. You give me your 1st round pick in 2003, and I’ll leave Nash’s name up on that board.” Doug says, “You’ve got to have a 1st round pick?” Don says, “Doug, it’s my job to look out for the investors, the fans, the owners, and the City of Atlanta. I’ve got to do what’s best for them. Rick Nash is a big piece of the puzzle for us, along with Heatley and Kovalchuk. You can see what a great line that would be, can’t you, Doug?”

Doug agrees, and surrenders his 1st round pick for 2003. Columbus picked 4th overall. Fertile ground for snaring Thomas Vanek, for example. If Doug says, “You drive too hard of a bargain, Don. I won’t do it.” Don says, “Suit yourself. Then waddles up to the podium and selects Nash as his newest Thrasher.” That, or his “bluff” is called, and he takes Lehtonen, because that’s who he really wants.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. “Hindsight being 20/20, right?” Plus, many feel Kari might be the goaltender of his generation, so Don did the right thing. Time will tell on that one. I hope that’s true. There were plenty of free agent goaltenders available between 2002 and 2003 (Khabibulin, Kiprusoff, Cujo, Hasek, Belfour, etc.). Tell me you wouldn’t have salivated over Heatley, Nash and Kovalchuk for a few seasons. Bygones.

Some seem to think that Atlanta got Kozlov as part of the the “compensation” we got from Florida not to pick Bouwmeester. I’ve never seen anything that substantiates that claim. Here’s what I did find. Detroit traded Kozlov and its 1st round draft pick, 30th overall, to Buffalo in exchange for goaltender Dominik Hasek.

In a separate, unrelated deal, Buffalo traded that 30th overall, 1st round pick, to Columbus. Columbus then traded it to Florida when they moved up on draft day to go get Nash. Florida then offered that 30th overall pick to Atlanta as “inducement” not to pick Bouwmeester. Don accepted that inducement and the net result is the Jim Slater is here today.

It’s not like … had Waddell REJECTED the Florida’s “inducement” that Kozlov wouldn’t be here. The Kozlov deal, as I’ve seen it described, is as follows: Kozlov and Buffalo’s 2nd round pick were traded to Atlanta at the 2002 entry draft for Atlanta’s 2nd round pick. Buffalo then traded what was Atlanta’s 2nd round pick to Edmonton. (Edmonton took Jeff Deslauriers.) The 2nd round pick that Atlanta acquired via this Kozlov trade with Buffalo was then traded to Columbus. The Blue Jackets took Joachim Lindstrom.

By The Falconer

February 11, 2007 01:24 AM | Link to this

Brendan: I’m just not convinced that either FLA or CBJ would have parted with their 2003 1st rounder to get the player they wanted. Both teams had to figure that the 2003 pick would be a top 10 pick and I don’t think any smart GM would pay that much—even Doug McLean! I can’t prove this of course, it is just my opinion.

I think the Thrashers compensation for taking the player they wanted all along was about as good as they were going to get.

One additional factor is that the compensation pick was from FLA’s GM Dudley. Dudley and DW are good friends from way back and in fact DW hired Dudley when he was let go by another organization. My guess is that Dudley may have known all along who DW wanted to pick so bluffing Dudley may have been a tougher sale than bluffing McLean would have been. FLA didn’t trade the 1st overall until they had the agreement with ATL in place to pass on JayBo. DW could have refused FLA’s offer and gambled that CBJ would offer him more. He might easily have ended up with nothing to show for that gamble as well.

As far as the Kozlov acquisition goes my memory of exact details are fuzzy. I was in Toronto for the 2003 NHL Draft. The bad thing about being there in person is that you don’t get as much information as you do watching it on TV. So we learned about the Kozlov trade and the compensation picks via annoucements from the podium.

I vaguely recall hearing from someone at the Thrashers draft table that Atlanta needed the 30th pick in the 1st round because they had reason to think that another team was going to take Slater if they didn’t move up and get him. DW was very excited about Slater prior to the draft mentioning that there was a college player with a great work ethic that he really liked.

By Brendan

February 11, 2007 01:46 PM | Link to this

I absolutely see your point, Falconer. It’s a good one. Don could have come away with absolutely nothing. And well, “something” is better than nothing. You’ve heard me say that a lot recently. But, I still think Don has to bluff ‘em. They wanted these players very badly. I doubt Dudley would have walked away from the 2002 Draft without Bouwmeester. Who knows, right? But I believe, even stronger, that McLean was absolutely dead-set on Nash. Doug McLean was actually stupid enough to admit, on television or in the print media, that he was taking Rick Nash. He didn’t hold his cards close to his vest. When you tell your constituents and season ticket holders that Nash will be a Blue Jacket, it leaves him a little “red faced” if it doesn’t happen. We’ll never know, but I suspect there was no way McLean was leaving that draft without Nash, no matter what the price.

Nash and Lehtonen are both great young players. Any organization would do well to have either of them. If Nash were a Thrasher, how many of us would really be crying about it? Especially with the plethora of big-name free agent goaltenders that were available back at that time frame. Atlanta would have been fine. Atlanta might have even attracted more free agent interest between 2002-2004.

Speculation being just that, I can’t imagine a Heatley, Nash, Kovalchuk and (pick one) Khabibulin, Cujo, Hasek, Belfour, Kiprusoff netminder, along with Kozlov and Ferraro, would have missed the playoffs all these years.

While it’s true that good things come to those who wait, in general, lost playoff revenue still reflects profits (dollars) that the owners never tasted. That sort of is … the bottom line. Well, if you’re an owner.