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Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Waddell: Nothing on the table I’m considering
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It’s a sinking feeling when you pull into the players parking lot in Duluth and Marian Hossa’s car is gone when everybody else is practicing. But, turns out, Hossa is just the latest casualty in the flu bug being passed around the Thrashers locker room. I’m pretty sure it started with Niclas Havelid and has now made its way to Hoss. But if the other players are any indication, it’s a quick-hitter and Hossa should be back on the ice for the morning skate on Thursday. Either that, or he’s traded.
Spoke with Don Waddell last night. First, it looks like not every edition of today’s story got a quote from him concerning guys like Bobby Holik and Mark Recchi. I added the quote for later editions and Waddell said: “I’m looking to keep all those guys. We have to deal with the Marian situation, but we don’t want to delete.”
Now that seems pretty conclusive, but then he followed it up with: “There are not that many players out there.” He didn’t expand, but that leads me to believe that there might be a lot of value in being a seller, so if Waddell is swept off his feet for another player, who knows?
But the most interesting thing from my conversation with Waddell is in regards to Hossa. He continues to say that keeping Hossa is a viable option, especially considering the offers he’s getting in Naples. He’s standing firm on his stance that he wants a player back who can help the Thrashers win games this year. He hasn’t mentioned specific players, but some of the names we discussed yesterday seem like a good place to start: Jonathan Cheechoo, Valtteri Filppula and you can add Chris Higgins to that list.
But right now, those looking to add Hossa to their team aren’t coming strong enough for Waddell’s taste.
“The talks are started, but I can tell you nobody stepping to the plate and saying, ‘I’ve got to have this guy right now,’” Waddell said. “Right now, there’s nothing on the table that I’m considering.”
If Forsberg really isn’t coming back, that helps Hossa’s price. But the situation to watch is Mats Sundin. If Sundin gets traded, then the attention turns to Hossa. Until then, teams might be in a wait-and-see mode.
Lastly, i know there are reports that Waddell would grant a team a 48-hour window to negotiate with Hossa and his agent, but I’m still being told that the Thrashers still aren’t at a point where they would grant that. Not right now, anyways.
Alright, I have to head downtown, big staff meetings today.
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