Atlanta Thrashers Preview

Departures
Garnet Exelby, Eric Perrin, Colin Stuart

Arrivals
Anthony Stewart, Tim Stapleton, Nik Antropov, Pavel Kubina, Noah Welch

Forwards
The Thrashers go about as far as Ilya Kovalchuk takes them. The former Rocket Richard winner had a great second half least season after being named team captain. The big question hanging over the team’s head is whether he re-signs with the club or if GM Waddell is forced to move his franchise player at the deadline. As for the rest of the forwards, the addition of Nik Antropov is sure to help and former first-round pick Bryan Little is coming off a career year. The Thrashers are hoping that Angelo Esposito will recovery quickly enough from his knee surgery to join the team for the start of the season. ’09 third-overall pick Evander Kane has bulked up a lot since the WJC in Ottawa and will make a strong push to crack the roster.

Defenseman
Pavel Kubina adds a much needed shot from the point on the power play. Unfortunately past him and ’08 first-rounder Zach Bogosian the back end is pretty thin. They have a lot of number five and six guys just not three or fours. Keeps scoring chances to a minimum is going to be a challenge again this year.

Goalies
When the Thrashers drafted Kari Lehtonen with the second overall pick in ’02 the sky was the limit for the Finnish netminder. However, injuries have slowed his progress and his consistency has been a concern at the pro level. Ondrej Pavelec and Johan Hedberg are capable back ups should Lehtonen fall to injury or inconsistency once again.

Strengths
-Kovalchuk is a threat whenever he steps on the ice. When he’s motivated he one of the deadliest players in the NHL
-Lehtonen is capable of putting up scary good numbers IF he’s healthy.
-With the addition of Kubina and Antropov the Thrashers will surely increase their goal production from last year.
-Surprisingly the Thrashsers had a failry balanced attack with five players scoring over 20 goals with Kozlov (26), White (22), Armstrong (22), Little (31) and Kovalchuk’s 41

Weaknesses
-The blueline is very shallow after Kubina and sophomore Bogosian.
-The Thrashers had the second worst GAA and PK last season and although Antropov and Kubina add offense they won’t help much preventing goals.
-Lehtonen is fragile and has only played a total of 84 games of the past two seasons.

Analysis
It’s going to be another long season for Don Waddell’s Thrashers. With only one playoff appearance in the 10 years of the team’s existence this could be the last season for Waddell. Especailly if he has to move Kovalchuk.

Prediction: 13th in the East