Thrashers sign 2 goalies ..whats next?

If you scroll down just a little bit on this blog you will see a previous post talking about how the Thrashers have 3 goalies in the organization and my opinion on what should be done with them. Well... over the weekend THE WAD went out and signed two more goalies, Peter Mannino and Drew MacIntyre. So its has to be asked...What's THE WAD's game plan now?

Something has got to give. Too many goalies. Not enough nets to put them in. I will put it in a way that might be even EASIER to understand. My fellow "Word On The Bird" contributor Meek put it like this: "well you don't go out and buy more beer unless you plan on drinking the beer you have already". I know I can understand the thought process on that one.

So who is getting traded? Kari? Moose? Pavelec? If it was up to me it would be Moose. He has already reached his potential and he could be a solid back up for another NHL team. We already have the top 6 forward and top 4 defensive player everyone has been wanting. If it was me I'd trade Moose for a PK specialist. It is another one of the much needed missing pieces to the Thrashers "my first playoff win puzzle" that we've been trying to put together for 10 years now.

Something is about to happen...hide and watch...

Thrashers hire Associate GM

Just read on the Craig Custance blog that the Thrash hired Rick Dudley as Associate General Manager. He has been working with the Chicago Blackhawks for the last few years building what most would say is the youngest and most talented team in the NHL today. Seeing as its the direction we are heading in this could be a good sign of things to come with Free Agency around the corner. Click this link to read more info on Mr. Dudley.

Put me in coach...I'm ready to play?

The other day my friend and co-Bird is the Word blogger and I were discussing the recent playoff action. See I’m from Detroit and a big Red Wings fan (insert booing here), and one of the things that we were discussing is the large role some of the younger players on their team have taken on. Now anyone who has been watching the playoffs or paying attention undoubtedly has heard mention of Detroit’s ability to bring in these kids from the AHL due to injury in their lineup and still get productivity. Guys like Darren Helm, Justin Abdelkader, Ville Leino and Jonathan Ericsson were all playing in the AHL this year and are now in the Stanley Cup Finals. That’s 4 rookies who combined don’t have a full seasons worth of NHL experience. So how then is Detroit up 2-1 in the series with 4 rookies in the lineup? Well I thought it would be a good idea to compare Detroit’s approach on player development to Atlanta’s. Now I know some of you are already saying “How can you compare those two teams? It’s totally different”, and I agree but, I think the comparison needs to be made. If you want to be successful I believe it helps to study what has made others successful, and nobody can deny the success Detroit has had. So here goes.

Let’s get the obvious out of the way. Detroit has had the luxury of having a very good team for quite some time. This in effect has allowed them to leave a lot of their younger players down in the AHL and let them really develop. This fact can’t be ignored but, just because a guy plays for a while in the AHL doesn’t mean he’s going to be a good NHL player. One of the most important things I believe the Wings do starts in Grand Rapids. The players are taught the same system that is run in Detroit. That way when a player does get called up they know exactly what is expected of them whether it be positioning or the role they are asked to play etc. Now as mentioned being one of the best teams has allowed them the opportunity to not rush players into the NHL. This has also hurt them. When it comes to the draft we all know success means bad draft position. So the wings have had to find players late in the draft. I would argue that Detroit has some of the best, if not the best, scouts in the NHL. Couple that with Kenny Holland who is referred to as one of the best GM’s in all of pro sports and you have a formula for success. Take a look at some of the players they have and where they were drafted.

Henrik Zetterberg 1999: 7th Rnd, 210th by DET

Pavel Datsyuk 1998: 6th Rnd, 171st by DET

Johan Franzen 2004: 3rd Rnd, 97th by DET

Thomas Holmstrom 1994:10th Rnd, 257th by DET

Jonathan Ericsson 2002: 9th Rnd, 291st by DET

Nicklas Lidstrom 1989: 3rd Rnd, 53rd by DET

The Wings ability to find these players late has allowed them to stay competitive over the years. They keep their younger players in the AHL and wait until they are ready instead of forcing them into the lineup and making them take on a role they can’t handle. A lot of guys wouldn’t be patient and might try to play somewhere else (Pavelec anyone?), but the fact that they are successful gives them the benefit of having guys want to play for them, thus they are willing to wait until they get their chance. I’ve included an article that speaks about the things I’ve mentioned here.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/playoffs/2009/news?columnist=lebrun_pierre&id=4222564

The next part of my article brings me to the Thrashers. Let's take a look at some of the Thrashers draft picks and their status with the team. I've included a list of the teams complete draft history as well.

http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/draft/teams/dr001790.html

• 1999: Patrik Stefan (first overall) Gone
  
• 2000: Dany Heatley (second overall) Gone
  
• 2001: Ilya Kovalchuk (first overall)
• 2002: Kari Lehtonen (second overall) & Jim Slater (30th overall)
• 2003: Braydon Coburn (eighth overall) Gone
  
• 2004: Boris Valabik (tenth overall)
• 2005: Alex Bourret (sixteenth overall) Gone
  
• 2006: Bryan Little (twelveth overall)
• 2007: none
• 2008: Zach Bogosian (third overall) & Daultan Leveille (twenty-ninth overall)

By my count 4 of our 11 first round draft picks are no longer with the team. I think we'll all agree that Stefan never lived up to expectation. The Heatley situation was unavoidable. We're all still pissed about Coburn. The ironic thing is that I've heard many people say "well Coburn wasn't developing fast enough so we traded him". He was only 21 when we let him go. He played 91 games with the wolves and 38 with the Thrashers. How on earth is that enough time to tell if he's going to develop into the kind of player we're looking for? But I digress. Looking at the link I've provided above listing our draft pick history I decided to pick out the players that I thought we did a good job of selecting. Here's my list.

Name Selection# Round# Year

Exelby 217 8 1999
Heatley 2 1 2000
Kovalchuk 1 1 2001
Lehtonen 2 1 2002
Enstrom 239 8 2003
Coburn 8 1 2003
Little 12 1 2006

Now the disturbing trend that I see here is that out of 82 picks in our history I only feel like there have been 7 that had any real impact or help to the team. Let me say that again. 7 out of 82. I'm sure some of you will argue that there are other guys worthy of mention but I ask who? The large majority of our picks have long left our team or our system.

Another thing that bothers me is when looking at the players I've listed you'll notice that all but 2 were in the first round and our first selection. Personally I think that if you pick a guy with your first pick of the first round he should have talent. I know some might turn out to be a bust but you should have a higher percentage of success than failure in that round. Only 2 of these players were late round selections or "gems" if you will. Enstrom certainly falls in this category as it looks like he was a steal in the draft. I gave Exelby a mention since he's been with the team since we drafted him and overall has been an ok player but, I wouldn't look at him as a steal.

Now compare this to Detroits history of drafting and notice their ability to find special players late in the draft and our inability to do the same. Are they consistently lucky in this category? I actually think it speaks volumes about our scouts and or managements drafting decisions. Perhaps it comes down to the development of our players. I know there are some guys in Chicago that have been there for a while and I applaud Atlanta for not rushing them into action but, is it because they aren't ready for the NHL or that they just aren't NHL caliber players? I get the impression by looking at the ages of some of the guys in Chicago that they might not ever turn out to be consistent NHL players. Maybe it's not a lack of development but a lack of skill keeping them from cracking the lineup. Once again this comes back to our scouting and draft selection.

I talked before about how Detroits AHL team runs the same system as their NHL team. Why don't we do the same? Even Bryan Little talked this year about how having Anderson come in really boosted his confidence due to him knowing what was expected of him out on the ice. It's a huge advantage for younger players making the transition and I feel a big problem with our orginization. Unfortunately Chicago isn't directly controlled by the Thrashers. All in all I feel like we might be on the right track. Bryan Little has gotten his game going and has a chance to emerge as a very solid player. We've seen flashes of good play from the likes of Stuart, Pavelec and Oystrik. We brought in Anderson and he's running the system that many of our prospects are familiar with. One would think that could only help our younger players as they move into the roster. My only hope is that whoever we draft this year is given the chance to refine his game and build confidence before we shove him into the spotlight. Here's a quote that I think really typifies a lot of teams in the NHL including ours.

"We want to give guys a chance to grow and have a chance for success," McCrimmon said. "There's a whole bunch of teams where there's a lot of pressure to put in their draft picks, for marketing reasons, or because you don't have the depth that you can say you don't need that kid right now. All of a sudden, he's on the second line."

Let's not make the same mistakes. Give our kids a chance and build the team from within. Lord knows I can't stand another 9 years of this.

Thrashers Re-sign Salmela

Well it had been rumored for days but its official. The Thrashers Re-signed Salmela. As usual the terms of the deal were not disclosed but its supposedly a multi-year contract. It will be interesting to see what Mr. Salmela will bring to the team this year. Its rumored that the 24 year old signed a one way contract so he will be starting out with the Thrashers and not in the AHL like he did last year with New Jersey. "THE WAD" seems to be pretty big on this guy. I hope he can stabilize our shaky defensive corps.

For those still not that familiar with him here is a short video with some awesome cheesy music:

A tale of 3 goalies

I was recently on the Atlanta Thrashers message boards. I was reading a thread where people once again discussed the idea of trading either Lethonen, Moose, or Pavelec. In the past I've always been more of a either "trade Moose for whatever we can get for him and bring up Pavelec as Kari's back up to light a fire under Kari's ass'' or "trade Pavelec and prospects or picks in hopes of bringing back a REAL top 6 forward or top 4 stay at home defender" kinda guy.

See the rationale that I've read, even from Waddell himself, is that the Thrashers have depth at goalie and its a way we could trade for the talent we need to show Kovalchuk the Thrashers are going to do what it takes to be a serious contender. Now while I agree with getting more talent on the team not only for that reason but for just plain ''getting talent'' purposes go, I argue that trading away any of these goalies might hurt us in the long run.

The last thing I want to see the team doing right now is mortgaging the future for today. I hope we learned our lesson with the whole "Coburn fiasco of 2006". I would really hate to see us trade away our goalies for a minimal return that only leaves us up the creek when one or two of them gets hurt and we need a back up. Its happened before, had we more depth in goal in the 2005-2006 season we might have made the playoffs.

Also, and I give credit to the Atlanta Thrashers message board poster "Zim" credit for this: a number of elite goaltenders have struggled in the NHL at Pavelec's age and gone on to great success (examples include Broduer, Belfour, Hasek, & Nabakov). Do we want to see Pavelec move onto another team only to see him gathering 30 wins only a couple of years from now?

Another point would be that we need to stop rushing our prospects into the league and let them come up when the time is right and not always when we need them due to not enough depth. I know that Pavelec, or his agent, supposedly threw a fit earlier in the year about being sent back to Chicago but that is what happens to prospects. You get sent down until you are ready for the big show. He is going to have to get used to that. It would probably have happened on any other NHL team as well.

To me, and I've read something where Waddell said the same, the team would have to get another goalie who is NHL ready if they were to trade away any of the 3 goalies. You just have to have the back up plan in place should the worst case scenario occur.

If it was my decision, and I'm sure "THE WAD" will call asking for advice, I would keep all 3. Pavelec still has much potential and so does Kari. Moose is the guy everyone likes to have in the locker room and seems to serve as a good mentor to the younger players, which we have many of right now. I do not think the return we would get from trading any of them would justify the trade. Don't forget that Lethonen is still young. There is obviously the health issues but I say sign him for 1 or 2 more years and give him one last shot. If he is able to improve his focus and be the kind of goalie that we have seen glimpses of he could be our guy for a long time to come. He's just gotta stay off the IR for long enough to prove it. While I know that Atlanta has not been a major destination for free agents lately I really hope that Waddell is able to lure a couple solid players to the team. Hopefully, that will mean we don't need to give up any of them at all. Last but not least, don't forget this is the final year of Hedberg's contract and I do not expect for him to be resigned. One more year in the AHL could be just what the doctor ordered for Pavelec.

Unfortunately I view this as a "damned if you do, damned if you don't'' situation. If we do decide to trade Pavelec or Lethonen and down the road they end up playing great for another team then we'll be kicking ourselves. But how much longer can Atlanta fans sit around waiting for success?

Ilya Kovalchuk sends secret message...

After winning the World Championships and being named MVP, Ilya Kovalchuk decided that he wanted to celebrate a little and let everyone all over the world know that he thinks that THE WORD ON THE BIRD is the best Thrashers blog out there. I was a little shocked when I first noticed it too but if you don't believe that Kovy is behind our efforts 100% then just check out the obvious gesture that he is making with his left hand. He thinks we are #1!

Toby Enstrom injured in Switzerland

For those of you who don't know the IIHF World Championships are going on in Switzerland and there are a few Thrashers who are competing in them. One of them is Toby Enstrom. Well yesterday he took a hit that looks like the hockey equivalent to being ''curbed" by Martins Karsums (Tampa Bay). Reports of the extent of his injury seem to be conflicting but it seems he may require surgery. I wish him a speedy recovery and hope that he is back on the ice soon. Here is a video of it if you like seeing someone get his clock cleaned so bad that just watching the video will give you a headache...


***Update***

Just read this on the blueland blog:

Apparently Enstrom lost some teeth as a result of his collision with the boards and has a facial fracture below his orbital bone which is being surgically repaired today. He is expected to make a full recovery. All of this is from Kevin Allen at USAToday.

Brayden Schenn

To complete (for now) our focus on the possible picks for the Thrashers in the 2009 entry draft I'm going to talk about Brayden Schenn.

Most people know by now that he is the little brother of the young Maple Leafs stand out Luke Schenn. He plays an aggressive style game much like his brother. I have heard people compare him to being like Thornton and Cheechoo. He describes himself as a 2 way forward and he was named WHL rookie of the year in the 07-8 season. Schenn also led his team in points this year, was 7th in the WHL, with 88 points (32 goals, 56 assists).

I think he would be great on our team and add some much needed toughness in our top 6. I could see him playing on any line from our top line all the way to the 4th. Personally, I would love to have a kid like this on the Thrashers. He can put the biscuit in the basket and on top of that he hits like a freight train. If you don't believe me watch the videos below.



Showing more of his scoring and passing ability

Duchene, Paajarvi-Svensson or Cowen?

I decided to do a little write up on 3 possible picks for the Thrashers. I'll do them in order of who I would like to see us get.


First up is Matt Duchene.

This kid has great hands and possesses one of the best shots in the OHL, with a very quick release. He's labeled as a pure sniper. One of the best skaters in the 2009 draft he has the ability to accelerate and change gears instantly ala Kovalchuk and Ovechkin. Speed like that can back off defenders and create a lot of problems. Can you imagine Kovy and Duchene racing down the ice together? Although rumored to be a decent passer he has the ability to be a game breaker with his offensive talent. Offense aside he's said to be a solid 2 way defender. Something Atlanta poorly needs. At 5'11" and 198 and only 18 this kid could still get above 6' and around 210 easy. That's some pretty decent size to go along with that speed. His downside seems to be that he needs to learn to use his size to shield the puck a little better, especially along the walls. That's something that can be worked on and corrected over time. Personally I would love to see this kid Centering a line with Kovy and say Little on the wing.



Next up is Jared Cowen

Here's what I like about this kid. SIZE, SIZE and SIZE. At 6'5" and 218 pounds this kid is a beast and he's only 18. He's a very fluid skater and has an impressive wingspan that he uses to immobilize forwards. Aside from his stature his strong suit is his positioning and discipline. When a defenseman has good positioning they usually don't take a lot of penalties and it shows by his 45 PIM this year. Cowen likes to jump up into the play so he would fit nicely into our system. He isn't going to bring the same kind of offensive production that bogosian does but he's a big kid who plays very physical in front of the net. Often used to shut down the oppositions strongest player he could eat up a lot of ice time as well. This year he placed 3rd in hardest shot at the skills competition. That could bode well for playing the point on our PP. The down side is he's coming off of a knee injury and that could scare some scouts. Prior to the injury he had never missed a game due to being hurt and was often talked about as the number 3 pick in the draft. A good video can be seen here. www.whl.ca/whl-player-profile---jared-cowen-p126885/t-webTV





Last but not least. Magnus Svensson-Paajarvi

Magnus is an extremely fast and fluid skater. He's 6'1" and 200 pounds. He likes to use his size to attack the net and back up forwards. He has great hands and his offensive upside has been compared to Markus Naslund and Matts Sundin. Magnus has managed to work his way into a potential top 5 pick this year. Good on the breakaway and a tremendous playmaker he could be a great set up guy for Kovy. Downfalls are that he apparently shy's away from physical play and his defensive game needs some work. I'm not sure if we need another guy who can score but can't play in his own zone.

Evander Kane & the #4 Pick

Last night in the 2009 NHL draft lottery none of the top 5 teams moved positions. That means that the Thrashers have the 4th pick in the draft slated for late June. We at The Word On The Bird are going to assume that by then both of the assumed top 2 draft picks (Tavares and Hedman) will be gone. So we are going to bring you some of our half assed analysis of some of the best players who could possibly be available to select at that time. Don't worry Thrashers fans, there will still be plenty of talent left over when its their turn to pick. In this post I'm going to talk about a player and then Meek is going to give his thoughts on others. Hope you enjoy them...

Evander Kane

This season he was the 4th leading scorer in the WHL league with 96 points (48 goals, 48 assists). He is currently ranked 6th by the International Scouting Service and is expected to go anywhere between 3rd and 7th in the draft. Like the nearly undisputed first choice of the draft, Tavares, Kane has a great shot and great puck handling skills. But he is also a solid two way player and plays with an edge that the Thrashers sorely need. He will score, he will pass, he will hit, and he will fight. What more can you ask for? Evander has been compared to Iginla and that's not bad company. He likes to go into the corners and battle for possession and knows its his job to score. Not only does he know its his job but he wants the puck when the game is on the line. You gotta like that.

On top of all this it should be mentioned that he is African-Canadian (yeah funny word for us Americans to hear). Yeah, that's right, he's black. It's pretty obvious that could be a big deal considering the sizeable black population here in Atlanta is a giant untapped market by the Thrashers and hockey in general. He has even already interviewed with the Thrashers. Want to hear what he had to say about being a draw for the black community here?

“I did speak with Atlanta. And I suppose going to the United States, of course there are a lot of African Americans. But I would be happy to play anywhere in the NHL. If it were Atlanta, well yes, you’re correct on that note and I guess that’s all part of the job and I would be very happy doing it.”


With all the positives that I've written about him here you might wonder what his downside is? It seems to be size. Some sources have him listed as small as 5 foot 11 and 160 lbs. Others, which I assume are more up to date, have him listed as 6' 1'' and 185. Either way, he would have to put on some size to be able to continue to play the same game he has in the WHL. If we end up with him I hope he is ready to play next year because the Thrashers could use more grit in their top 6. On top of all this he is named after fellow Atlantan, Evander Hollyfield, which is hilarious.

Here is a highlight video of Evander Kane: