AJC > Sports > Thrashers > Blog > Archives > 2007 > May > 31 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USThrashers signing their draft picks
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
UPDATE: Alright, it’s official. The Thrashers will be announcing later today that they have signed goalie Ondrej Pavelec, defenseman Chad Denny, forward Tomas Pospisil and forward Myles Stoesz.
I’m still awaiting confirmation on Tobias Enstrom, but his current team in the Swedish Elite League is confirming reports from a Swedish newspaper that he has signed with the Thrashers. They may have agreed to terms, and may still be hammering out final details.
I’m not hearing anything on Ilya Nikulin and Andrei Zubarev, but since Russia didn’t sign the agreement with the IIHF there isn’t the pressure to get things wrapped up by 5 p.m. on Friday.
Along these lines, I wanted to point out an interesting Q and A with Thrashers’ Director of Amateur Scouting and Player Development Dan Marr done by Ben Wright at atlantathrashers.com. Highlights include:
- Despite not picking until the third round in the upcoming draft, Marr is confident that if there’s a player the Thrashers like, Waddell will make a deal to go up and get him.
- Riley Holzapfel, a second-rounder in 2006, has impressed the team.
- Andrei Zubarev plays a heck of a lot like Alexei Zhitnik
Comments
By Jamie Fehr
May 31, 2007 12:07 PM | Link to this
Good deal that Denny and Pavelec are signed. I do believe your swedish is correct CC and Enstrom looks locked up.. also a good deal
By Buzilla Baby Blues
May 31, 2007 12:07 PM | Link to this
word
By Hockey is dead
May 31, 2007 12:25 PM | Link to this
Signing draft picks won’t matter because the NHL will be insolvent soon. The NHL Finals have received miniscule ratings and basically nobody outside of the cities involved even cares. Jeff Schultz wrote that the NHL is sending game summaries to the newspaper outlets in hopes of getting some coverage.
Betteman has made one critical mistake after another following the strike year. He should have given the coverage to ESPN last year for free to get fans interested again. Now, many past fans have replaced their interest with something else. You know what they say about customers- it’s twice as expensive to get a new customer than it is to keep an existing one. The post-mortem on the NHL will note greedy players and an incompetent commissioner as the reasons for its failure.
By Craig Custance
May 31, 2007 12:28 PM | Link to this
Feel free to continue the strong free agent debate here. Hockeybuzz.com speculates that the Thrashers may be interested in players like Kyle Calder, Erik Rasmussen and Jeremy Roenick.
By Bob
May 31, 2007 12:36 PM | Link to this
Roenick? No thank you, he’s a shadow of his former self. Rasumussen mabye.
That was a colossal mind boggling bad decision by Bettman to go with VS instead of sticking with ESPN. Everyone gets ESPN, both of their main channels are in high definition. They really had a chance to open up the flow of the game, get it on HD on ESPN and really get this game going with new fans. But no, no one is watching, no one cares, all over what, a $70m contract with VS? That’s a little over $2m per club, they really shot themselves in the foot with that brain dead decision. We’re relegated to be a niche sport with some diehard fans that’ll pay for it through our ticket prices.
By The Falconer
May 31, 2007 12:44 PM | Link to this
I don’t like VS/OLN all that much. But the simple fact is that the NHL has ALWAYS received much worse ratings than NBA, NFL, MLB. So saying the NHL will be insolvent is just grossly wrong. The league makes a ton of money on the Canadian TV contract and some local teams (NY area) make decent coin. Locally I’ll bet the Thrasher make next to nothing given how bad the rating are. That’s why ticket sales and corporate sales are so crucial to most clubs. Nashville never received the level of corporate support that the Thrashers do and that is why the Predators will be leaving that city.
By Legion of thrash
May 31, 2007 12:52 PM | Link to this
Roenick? it would not suprise me if Wadell signed him. Every year he makes two or three signings that are utterly ridiculous.
By Shoot it
May 31, 2007 1:27 PM | Link to this
I would prefer we have all rookies than those three.
While I don’t think “hockey is dead”. It is on life support and the owners better get a commissioner who can generate interest in the league.
By Russian
May 31, 2007 1:51 PM | Link to this
Are They going to Farm Club? Will they play in a Team?
By Buzilla Baby Blues
May 31, 2007 2:32 PM | Link to this
“It’s not so much me as it is Roenick”
movie?
By Blueliner
May 31, 2007 3:06 PM | Link to this
Roenick? After his very public sulking on Waddell for not picking him for the Olympics? We don’t want someone who has a me-me-me attitude
By GaVaHokie
May 31, 2007 3:09 PM | Link to this
Buzz… Swingers! The scene where they’re playing Sega hockey.
I’d like to know what the big deal is with Enstrom. He had 28 points in 55 games in the Swiss Elite league, which is decent… that’s on par with Dick Tarnstrom’s Swiss league numbers.
By GaVaHokie
May 31, 2007 3:22 PM | Link to this
As far as Roenick goes… you’re paying for the name, not the play. A chance to get a marquee “name” for a budget price. One of the biggest media darlings this sport has. The man demands attention, he’ll certainly keep the AJC on it’s toes. Plus, if he chips in 30 points, it’s all gravy.
By Buzilla Baby Blues
May 31, 2007 4:06 PM | Link to this
He is pretty damn funny….
Good call Mr. Hokie
VICEX BABY!
By The Falconer
May 31, 2007 4:48 PM | Link to this
The only way I see us signing Roenick is to be a color guy on a broadcasting team.
By The Falconer
May 31, 2007 4:48 PM | Link to this
The only way I see us signing Roenick is to be a color guy on a broadcasting team.
By GatorFan
May 31, 2007 4:53 PM | Link to this
Swingers. I thought it was Teamu Selanne?
By UpperDeck4Life
May 31, 2007 5:00 PM | Link to this
GaVaHokie here are some observations by a Modo fan, which is no more than any of us are with the thrashers, but at least he has seen him play.
*”I pray to god that Atlanta doesn’t sign Enström because I don’t want to lose him. He’s been our best defencemen this season by far together with Mattias Timander who was a giant for Philadelphia Flyers before he went back to Sweden again. The way Enström is playing right now I belive he has got a good chance to end up in the World Championship team aswell.
The guy is small but has got skating abilities. He’s so good at handeling the puck, he is very smart and is not afraid to hold the puck either in tight situations. And even if he doesn’t do it very often he sure can throw hits and for having such a small body he’s very, very strong.
Just look at this hit… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utQFRe-qh0o
He’s done several of open ice hits like that so he sure has got timing and they are clean hits. He got suspended for that one though, which is really just stupid.”
and
“Tobias Enström has been picked by Swedish team manager Bengt-Åke Gustafsson for the Swedish World championship team. There will be a few games before the Worlds which will decide if he will be in the final WC team. Bengt-Åke said “Tobias has been the best defencemen in the Swedish Elite Leauge during the whole spring”.
He won the playoffs in assists and was also the best scoring defencemen. MODO won the gold!”*
By GaVaHokie
May 31, 2007 6:07 PM | Link to this
Thanks UpperDeck… I just watched the video. The Swiss really hated that hit! Those whistles you hear aren’t for cheering, they do that when they’re mad at the physical play.
But the reason I brought up Dick Tarnstrom is, I asked Waddell last season how Tarnstrom was doing in the Swiss league, he said “he’s doing okay.” Which I translate to “eh, not so good.” When I looked at Enstrom’s numbers, I compared them to Tarnstrom, so that’s why I wondered what the big deal was. I guess if he has a more physical game, than it’s all good.
By Brendan
May 31, 2007 6:25 PM | Link to this
Jeremy Roenick? Jeremy Roenick?? In the immortal words of former tennis great John McEnroe, “You cannot be serious.”
But it’s a move I wouldn’t put past Don Waddell. And what’s more, it’s right up Hartley’s “I like older players” alley. So does Waddell. I thought we were getting AWAY from the grey beard mentality. Think Rucchin, last year. What happened to the “youth movement?” That’s why these things are rumors, I suspect. There’s probably no truth to them.
For me, the best news I’ve heard all day is the signing of Ondrej Pavelec, our 2nd rounder from 2005. Good move. We might need him sooner than anticipated. We don’t have great history of longevity at the goaltender position. Both Hedberg and Lehtonen are in their “contract years.” That’s probably a good thing, as both should be motivated to put up good numbers this coming season.
It will be very, very interesting to see what kind of salary Kari’s agent will seek in the Summer of 2008, especially since the Thrashers will still have to re-sign Marian Hossa. And Hossa will be able to command $8.0 million, probably more. But, by then, Holik’s contract will be up. Who knows?, with this being Holik’s contract year, maybe he’ll start earning $4.25 million? I wouldn’t mind seeing that! We need centers to step up and deliver!
In conclusion, “Yeah Pavelec!!” Believe it or not, this kid might be the franchise goaltender. It looks very good for the future. The only thing troubling me is … Despite not picking until the third round in the upcoming draft, Marr is confident that if there’s a player the Thrashers like, Waddell will make a deal to go up and get him.
Why would that trouble me? What if he gives up Pavelec to get that player? Yikes. Hopefully, they’ll trade Rucchin to get that player. I know, that’s a hallucination. The players I see as potential “sacrificial lambs” on draft day might include … Steve McCarthy, Jim Slater, Shane Hnidy, Mark Popovic and Holik. Though, uhh … don’t hold your breath for any of that. Truly.
No one will take Holik’s contract. Of course, I said that last year about Modry, and DW found someone!! McCarthy is probably the strongest bet to be dealt on Draft Day. Hartley won’t play him and Waddell won’t have to go through the qualifying offer business if he can arrange a sign-n-trade for a draft pick. Keep in mind, with the qualfying offer to McCarthy, we’re entitled to a 2nd round pick from the team that signs him. So?
So, that’s probably what we’ll get. I doubt anyone would give up a 1st rounder for McCarthy, unless it was like, pick #30.
Shane Hnidy might fetch a 2nd round pick. It depends. His agent can argue that he’s due for a raise, playing on the top pairing for a playoff team. I’d like to keep him, if the money is right. We’re short on blueliners we can depend on.
Jim Slater … well … I don’t think Don wants to quit on this guy yet. But his qualifying offer would fetch a 2nd rounder, if some other team had interest. So, I wouldn’t be utterly shocked to see Slater, RFA, moved for a 2nd round pick. Atlanta got Slater, 30th overall, 2002, when it agreed to not select D-man Jay Bouwmeester, when Florida elected to trade the 1st overall selection to Columbus. Atlanta picked 2nd overall that year, and took Goaltender Kari Lehtonen.
How much DW wants to trumpet that move … may determine whether or not he retains Slater’s services. If he sees someone he really, really likes in the 2nd round, he does have Slater as an option to bait some other GM.
As it stands right now, be honest. Are you excited about a draft party at Jillian’s this year? We don’t pick ‘til the 3rd round. Barring trades. Who’s gonna give us a 1st round pick? And for what??
Thinkin’, thinkin’, thinkin’ … it’d have to involve a Hossa or Kovalchuk trade for Atlanta to be a first round selector. Who just yelled, “Holik!” Pfft yeah, some GM’s gonna take on his $4.25 million and cough up a 1st round pick in the process? How likely is that? Shakin’ my head. I love to see it!! Dump Holik ANNNND get a 1st round pick in exchange?? Done!!! Where’s the pen! Dear Lord, let it be filled with ink and plenty of it!!! Time is of the essence. They might change their minds!! Hurry!!!
By Rusty
June 1, 2007 8:40 AM | Link to this
The info on your blog is the kind of stuff I’d like to be reading with my Wheaties in the low tech version of the AJC…from this point one, I’ll junk the paper and read the screen. Kids move the milk…don’t want to get my keyboard wet.