AJC > Sports > Thrashers > Blog > Archives > 2008 > December > 11
Thursday, December 11, 2008
If not Kovalchuk, then who?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Don Waddell made it clear again Wednesday night he has no intention of trading Ilya Kovalchuk.
“I don’t get any calls,” the Thrashers general manager said. “This is all driven by the media. I think teams realize our situation. He’s the face of our franchise. Nobody’s even called and said, ‘Are you going to trade Ilya?’ It hasn’t happened.”
Incidentally, coach John Anderson is in full agreement with his general manager. “Why do you want to trade him? Why roll the dice?” Anderson said. “You never know what you’re going to get back.”
So, if there’s going to be a trade involving the Thrashers, which players might be involved? One answer has been obvious for months, though it probably can’t happen until after the Christmas roster freeze. (There are no waivers or trades allowed Dec. 19-27.) The Thrashers have three goalies, and they need two. Kari Lehtonen, Ondrej Pavelec or Johan Hedberg could be dealt.
“We’ve always gotten calls from the summertime on,” Waddell said. “Everybody knew coming into the year that we have three capable guys. That’s an ongoing thing. Right now, our biggest thing is let’s make sure we get back healthy. Then we’ll make a decision where we go from there.”
Lehtonen hasn’t played since October because of a back injury but has returned to practice and might be able to play next week. If he’s the one to be traded, any team that was interested probably would want to see him play a couple of games to prove he is all right. If he’s not the one to be traded, the Thrashers won’t want to let go of one of the other two until they’re sure he’s OK.
Lehtonen is a restricted free agent after this season; Pavelec and Hedberg are signed through 2009-10. If the primary goal is building for the future, Waddell could hold onto all three goalies until right before the trade deadline, or even right before the draft. But if the goal is to try to get to the playoffs this season, he’d want to move fast enough to give any players he acquired time to help the team.
