AJC > Sports > Thrashers > Blog > Archives > 2007 > May
May 2007
No offer coming for Tkachuk
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Don Waddell confirmed what I suspected today, saying that the Thrashers won’t be offering forward Keith Tkachuk a contract before the July 1st deadline. After that the Thrashers lose exclusive negotiating rights to the big center who will be an unrestricted free agent. Even with that confirmation, Waddell said that he thought Tkachuk was a good fit in Atlanta and wasn’t against doing some negotiating after July 1st.
“I won’t rule anything out,” he said.
Waddell is leaving for Toronto today to meet with the agent of Andrei Zubarev to try and work out a deal for the Russian defenseman prospect. There’s less urgency there to make a deal since the team won’t lose Zubarev’s rights if the Thrashers can’t get a deal done and another year in Russia for Zubarev wouldn’t hurt the Thrashers.
The earliest the team will announce the signing of Tobias Enstrom is Friday morning because they are still officially waiting the fax of his contract. But there’s a lot of excitement about Enstrom’s possibilities with the team next year. Assuming the deal gets done, he’ll be in the top six.
“I’m excited about him,” Waddell said. “We need a puck moving defenseman. We need guys to move the puck to our forwards and not just move it around the boards.”
Some interesting stuff concerning Pavelec and his signing, but I’ll save that for my story for the paper.
Thrashers 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
Who is targeting Thrashers free agents?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
First, I’d just like to thank everyone who e-mailed and called about the Thrashers prospects series that ran last week in the paper. It was fun to do, plus I’m always looking for an excuse to go to Chicago. The Wolves were knocked out of the Calder Cup playoffs on Saturday night in the Western Conference finals. (see: Wolves’ season comes to an end) Hamilton took the series 4-1. Darren Haydar finished with 10 goals and 14 assists, to top all AHL players in postseason scoring.
To answer a few common questions I was asked about the prospects: 1. Why no Chad Denny or Ondrej Pavelec or Andrei Zubarev etc, etc.? We decided to focus on Chicago Wolves because it was also a way of acknowledging their Calder Cup playoff run, plus they have the most players close to helping the Thrashers next season. Also, the Thrashers still need to sign Denny, Pavelec, Nikulin and company. There is a June 1st deadline, so expect some action in the real near future regarding those players. If Don Waddell signs Tobias Enstrom or Ilya Nikulin this week, they immediately become the favorites to fill holes on the blueline over guys like Boris Valabik and Nathan Oystrick. I see Enstrom as a strong possibility and Nikulin a longshot since he has a healthy (read: expensive) contract in Russia.
The other question I was asked a couple times is who I thought had the biggest upside of all the players we featured. Based more on interviews than any live action I witnessed, I’d lean towards Bryan Little. There’s hope that he comes in and earns a spot on Thrashers in training camp, which seems like a little bit of a reach. He was a guy who played mostly on the fourth line as an energy guy and on the power play for Team Canada in the World Juniors this year so you have to wonder if he is ready now. But long term? He has all the tools, and everybody I talked to loved his work ethic and determination. The consensus was that he’ll be a good pro, most likely in the next couple years.
We’re getting close to the point where we can ramp up the off-season speculation about the Thrashers free agents. I’ve now read in multiple places where Slava Kozlov is being rumored to be on the Red Wings radar. Now, right now it is more media speculation suggesting he’d be a good fit with the Red Wings, but it’s not out of the question. Before he re-signed with the Thrashers in 2003, Kozlov was interested in returning to Detroit but the Red Wings never made an offer. If they’re interested in the veteran winger this time around, I think they’d have to be the front-runner.
More news regarding Thrashers and their free-agents-to-be:
Ross McKeon of the San Francisco Chronicle wonders if anyone will remember Keith Tkachuk’s stint with the Thrashers.
NHL.com’s Larry Wigge says that Slava Kozlov would be a nice replacement for Robert Lang in Detroit.
John Niyo thinks Kozlov would look good on a line with Pavel Datsyuk.
Andy Sutton should be near the top of Pittsburgh’s wish list, says David Pagnotta.
Don Waddell does some scouting during Memorial Cup tournament.
This is a little old, but Jim Matheson at the Edmonton Journal suggests Greg de Vries as a candidate to help Pittsburgh’s defense.
So who should the Thrashers target? It’s hard to say before we see which of their own free agents will stick around. It’s looking like many of the defensive holes will be filled by younger players, but they’d have to take a hard look at retaining guys like Shane Hnidy and Steve McCarthy if the price is right. Andy Sutton might cost more than the Thrashers want to spend, but I could envision a Thrashers blue line that looks like: Havelid, Zhitnik, Exelby, Hnidy, Popovic, Enstrom. If they do that, that frees up some money to spend on offense. I can’t see them in the running for the big names like Chris Drury, Scott Gomez, Ryan Smyth or Daniel Briere - not with a Marian Hossa extension on the horizon. They’ll need an affordable center, especially if Eric Belanger walks, a second-tier guy like Mike Comrie ($3 million last season), Jozef Stumpel ($1.75 million last season), or maybe a Robert Lang ($3.8 million last season) could be the answer.
Keeping track of the AHL playoffs
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Tough one for the Red Wings yesterday. They pretty much dominate regulation, then Andreas Lilja goes from hero to goat with an overtime turnover. ESPN’s Scott Burnside wrote a nice story on the game on the fine line between being a hockey hero and goat.
It’s also been a rough start for the Chicago Wolves in the Western Conference finals of the AHL’s Calder Cup playoffs. They lost in overtime for the second straight game on Sunday. The Wolves head to Hamilton for three straight games in an attempt to get back in the series.
So why should you care about the Wolves playoff run? It’s all about player development for the Thrashers. Take forward Jordan LaVallee, who many think might be a darkhorse to make the Thrashers next season. He scored his sixth goal of the AHL postseason on Sunday. Now for a guy who just turned 21 this month, that’s invaluable game experience — playoff experience at that.
It’s kind of like in college football, the big advantage schools who make a bowl game have over schools who don’t. Those programs have a ton of extra practice time for underclassmen - and that’s what is happening in Chicago right now.
We’ll be featuring big 6-foot-7 defenseman Boris Valabik in Tuesday’s paper. Unfortunately for the Wolves and Thrashers, Valabik hasn’t been able to capitalize on the AHL playoff run recently. He has missed the first two games of the conference finals, and I just spoke with Wolves coach John Anderson who said it was because of an injury. Anderson declined to elaborate on the injury, understandably so, considering Valabik still might be able to go at some point this series and he’s not interested in giving Hamilton any extra info. When I was in Chicago, Valabik said his ankle was 100 percent, so I don’t know if it is flaring up again or not.
Bryan Little also sat on Sunday, as Ben Wright pointed out on his blog at AtlantaThrashers.com. Little’s sitting has everything to do with the fact that he isn’t exactly in AHL game shape, while others on the team are. The Wolves have liked what they’ve seen from Little in his two games he’s played for them, but feel that they might get a little more production from other players on the team.
Other than that, things are pretty quiet right now. Those of you worried about the fact that the Thrashers haven’t signed any of their UFA’s yet (and that means you Brendan), I wouldn’t be too concerned. It’s not like a ton of guys are being signed, and the price of Pascal Dupuis is going through the roof. I know Don is working on signing guys like Chad Denny and Ondrej Pavelec, but he’s not ignoring his UFAs. As he said, “we can multitask.”
Finally, I’ll leave you with this. I was chatting today with somebody outside the organization who knows Waddell pretty well, and I asked about the criticisms we sometimes hear about the Thrashers lack of success building through the draft. Here was his response:
“That’s a crock of [bleep]. Don’s a brilliant GM. Look at Heatley, Kovalchuk, and that’s a pretty good goalie he drafted.”
As for the lack of late round picks on the current roster?
“Look at the number of those guys who do turn out [for any team], there’s just not that many.”
He also pointed out that there are a couple late-round picks on the verge of contributing to the Thrashers, most-likely next season. So there you go, thought I’d throw that into the fire.
Blogging with the Wolves
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Plenty to talk about in today’s weekly edition of the Thrashers beat blog. First, my impressions of the Chicago Wolves. They cruised to a win, and advanced to the next round of the Calder Cup playoffs. But for Thrashers fans, that’s not important. The debut of newly signed Bryan Little was the news of the night.
He didn’t play much, and he was playing out of position, but the biggest thing was that he fit right in. Here’s a kid fresh out of junior, making his debut in the middle of the playoffs and he played like he’d been there all season. At one point he used his speed on a breakaway, drawing a penalty. From my perspective, I thought it could have been a penalty shot but he told me that he was told on the ice that he didn’t have enough control of the puck.
He was also a perfect 3-for-3 on faceoffs, which is one of his strengths. Chicago coach John Anderson said he was thrilled with Little’s performance and said he won’t hesitate to use him moving forward in the playoffs.
Expect to see a lot of him during the exhibition season and depending on who the Thrashers sign during the offseason, he may get a serious look during training camp to make the team.
I was also curious to get a look at Brett Sterling, who had a big year for the Wolves. He scored a goal against Iowa and played pretty good. He spends a lot of time around the net, where he scores a ton. The knock on him is his size, but Thrashers GM Don Waddell doesn’t see that being a big issue for Sterling at the next level. He’s 5-foot-8 and weighs around 180 pounds.
Quite honestly, I couldn’t tell if he was getting his chances because of his linemates (Krog and Haydar are pretty darn good AHL players) but, as Don points out, you don’t score 55 goals without being pretty talented.
There could be openings for as many as three young D-men next season, and the Wolves have strong candidates in Mark Popovic, Nathan Oystrick and Boris Valabik. Just from the one game, it’s obvious that Popovic is ready to play in the NHL. He’ll be with the Thrashers next season. I liked Oystrick’s game too. He’s physical player that should get a long long during training camp. Valabik is big, but I wonder if he’s still a year or two away. He took a couple bad penalties, something he said he’s working on. But the team loves his work ethic, and sees a lot of upside in his game.
As promised, Jordan LaVallee and Colin Stuart showed flashes. LaVallee scored against Iowa, and Stuart was the fastest guy out there. Both will get a shot in training camp.
Thrashers GM Don Waddell also made the trip to Chicago for Little’s debut. He returned from the World Championships in Moscow on Thursday and made it to Chicago in time for the series clincher.
His priority right now is signing young guys like Ondrej Pavelec, Tobias Enstrom and Chad Denny before June 1st or else they’re back in the draft. He also is working to bring Ilya Nikulin and Andrei Zubarev over from from Russia, but the fact that Russia and the NHL can’t come to an agreement on transfers is hurting the cause. Nikulin is making good money in Russia and may not be able to get out of that contract, which complicates things for the Thrashers. I’ll keep you posted on his situation as things develop.
After watching Enstrom in the World Championships, Waddell said the Swede is ready to play in the NHL.
Little looks good for Wolves
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Plenty to talk about in today’s weekly edition of the Thrashers beat blog. First, my impressions of the Chicago Wolves. They cruised to a win, and advanced to the next round of the Calder Cup playoffs. But for Thrashers fans, that’s not important. The debut of newly signed Bryan Little was the news of the night.
He didn’t play much, and he was playing out of position, but the biggest thing was that he fit right in. Here’s a kid fresh out of junior, making his debut in the middle of the playoffs and he played like he’d been there all season. At one point he used his speed on a breakaway, drawing a penalty. From my perspective, I thought it could have been a penalty shot but he told me that he was told on the ice that he didn’t have enough control of the puck.
He was also a perfect 3-for-3 on faceoffs, which is one of his strengths. Chicago coach John Anderson said he was thrilled with Little’s performance and said he won’t hesitate to use him moving forward in the playoffs.
Expect to see a lot of him during the exhibition season and depending on who the Thrashers sign during the offseason, he may get a serious look during training camp to make the team.
I was also curious to get a look at Brett Sterling, who had a big year for the Wolves. He scored a goal against Iowa and played pretty good. He spends a lot of time around the net, where he scores a ton. The knock on him is his size, but Thrashers GM Don Waddell doesn’t see that being a big issue for Sterling at the next level. He’s 5-foot-8 and weighs around 180 pounds.
Quite honestly, I couldn’t tell if he was getting his chances because of his linemates (Krog and Haydar are pretty darn good AHL players) but, as Don points out, you don’t score 55 goals without being pretty talented.
There could be openings for as many as three young D-men next season, and the Wolves have strong candidates in Mark Popovic, Nathan Oystrick and Boris Valabik. Just from the one game, it’s obvious that Popovic is ready to play in the NHL. He’ll be with the Thrashers next season. I liked Oystrick’s game too. He’s physical player that should get a long long during training camp. Valabik is big, but I wonder if he’s still a year or two away. He took a couple bad penalties, something he said he’s working on. But the team loves his work ethic, and sees a lot of upside in his game.
As promised, Jordan LaVallee and Colin Stuart showed flashes. LaVallee scored against Iowa, and Stuart was the fastest guy out there. Both will get a shot in training camp.
Thrashers GM Don Waddell also made the trip to Chicago for Little’s debut. He returned from the World Championships in Moscow on Thursday and made it to Chicago in time for the series clincher.
His priority right now is signing young guys like Ondrej Pavelec, Tobias Enstrom and Chad Denny before June 1st or else they’re back in the draft. He also is working to bring Ilja Nikulin and Andrei Zubarev over from from Russia, but the fact that Russia and the NHL can’t come to an agreement on transfers is hurting the cause. Nikulin is making good money in Russia and may not be able to get out of that contract, which complicates things for the Thrashers. I’ll keep you posted on his situation as things develop.
After watching Enstrom in the World Championships, Waddell said the Swede is ready to play in the NHL.
Little to make pro debut tonight
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Chicago — First of all, Chicago is a great city. The last time I was here was for a eighth-grade field trip, so it’s been awhile. Arrived here last night, had some pasta at Harry Caray’s and a pint of Bass at a little pub next to the hotel. Good times.
But this morning, it was down to business. I went to the Chicago Wolves morning skate to interview some of the Thrashers top prospects. That’s where I learned that Bryan Little will be making his pro debut tonight against Iowa.
He signed with the Thrashers in late April, and the former first-rounder joined the Wolves shortly after that. According to Wolves GM Kevin Cheveldayoff, Little has been bothered by a shoulder injury but he’s finally ready to go. Everybody, including Cheveldayoff and Wolves coach John Anderson, is looking forward to seeing what Little can contribute to Chicago’s Calder Cup run.
His debut tonight caps an incredible year for Little, who helped Team Canada win the gold in the 2007 World Junior Championships. He finished sixth in the OHL with 107 points this season. He said he’s excited about playing tonight for Chicago as well as joining the Thrashers for their prospect camp this summer. I’ll let you know how he looks in his debut in Monday’s regularly scheduled blog.
The players we’re featuring in five stories in a couple weeks are Little, Brett Sterling, Boris Valabik, Nathan Oystrick and Mark Popovic. But I’m also hearing some good things about Jordan LaVallee and Colin Stuart. LaVallee may still be a couple years away, but more than one person said they expected him to be a regular in the NHL. Stuart, I was told, is playing as well as anybody on the team right now and that’s pretty impressive considering this team also features Jason Krog and Darren Haydar - a pair of forwards who saw NHL time this season.
Lastly, Wolves GM Kevin Chevaldayoff confirmed that he interviewed with the Phoenix Coyotes on Wednesday for the vacant GM position. He said he thought it went well, but that his focus now is on winning a Calder Cup with the Wolves. He’s widely considered one of the best executives in minor league hockey and will likely be running an NHL team sometime in the near future. According to the Hockey News, Chevaldayoff joins former Rangers GM Neil Smith as two of the most serious contenders on a list that the Hockey News speculated may also include Canucks assistant GM Steve Tambellini, Toronto Maple Leafs scout Craig Button and Anaheim Ducks director of hockey operations Bob Murray, among others.
Off to see the future of the Thrashers
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It’s playoff time, so I’m packing my bags tonight for a trip to watch some playoff hockey. Nope, I’m not headed to Anaheim or Ottawa or Buffalo — I’m going to Chicago. It’s time to get familiar with the future of the Thrashers, and the Wolves are making a nice run in the Calder Cup playoffs.
So sometime Tuesday morning, I’m packing the family minivan, grabbing the wife and kid, the two dogs and we’re headed up I-75. First for a stop in Detroit, where I’m hoping to catch Game 7 of the San Jose/Detroit series on Wednesday (assuming the Wings don’t finish things tonight) - then to Chicago where the Wolves will be playing against Iowa (assuming they don’t finish things in Iowa).
It’s a hockey road trip, and it should be fun. But really, I’m interested in getting a look at some of these Thrashers prospects. We know the Thrashers will be considerably younger next season and I’m curious to find out if they have the horses in their AHL team to make the successful transition. We’ll be doing feature stories sometime in the next couple weeks on guys like Mark Popovic, Nathan Oystrick, Boris Valabik, Bryan Little and Brett Sterling.
As usual, I’m curious to hear what you guys think. Of those players, who do you think will make the biggest impact on the Thrashers next season? What about five years down the road?
World Championship update: So how are the Thrashers doing over in Moscow? Well, since the last blog, Ilya Kovalchuk had a big game in Russia’s 3-0 win over Italy. Kovalchuk has six points in five games, so he’s seems to be playing pretty well. Kari Lehtonen allowed a weak goal in Sweden’s 1-0 win over Finland on Sunday. Marian Hossa has 1 goal and four assists in five games for Slovakia.
Other interesting reading
Defense a priority for the Thrashers during the offseason, writes Lee Wilson at Bleacher Report.com.
- Those who gave up prospects and picks for rentals like Keith Tkachuk, Ryan Smyth and Peter Forsberg, still have their jobs… for now, writes Eric Francis in Slam.com.
Responding to your responses:
Brendan: I agree with your concerns that hockey fans and season ticket holders deserve to know the length of the contracts for the GM and coach. Ownership says that contract length isn’t important, but at the very least, it signals the confidence ownership has in its key execs. The Thrashers extending Bob Hartley for one season versus five seasons sends two totally different messages.
ZAvalanche: After talking to the agents of some of the Thrashers potential free agents, it seems like it’s a little early yet for contract extension talk. In most cases, Waddell hasn’t contacted the agents yet, which may have everything to do with the fact that he’s in Moscow. Bruce Levenson said he expects Waddell to give him an idea of his offseason plans in early June. I’d expect some contract extensions around that time.
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