Well, its August and that means there's not a whole much of anything going on. That said, I'm gonna try and nail out 30 team evaluations before the preseason is underway.
Now, the Atlanta Thrashers
Team M.O.: This team has historically been considered underachievers and underperforming, yet you can hardly fault the players. This team continually seems to be involved in a perpetual rebuild and has only made the playoffs once in their history. Yet the young talent that is accumulating there is starting to be noticed throughout the league. Can these guys finally stop playing the spoiler role and finally become a playoff team?
Last Season: The team missed the playoffs, finishing 13th in the conference. However, they had a good stretch of play toward the end of the season and if they can build from that, they could be a surprise team from the Southeast Division.
Offense: Suffice to say that Ilya Kovalchuk is the franchise winger of this team and heven he's starting to get a little tired of watching the team underperform. However, Bryan Little's starting to blossom into a first line option while Nik Antropov is a better offensive option that someone who was on the team last year, like Jason Williams. Todd White had a career season last year, but will be he able to put those same kind of numbers next season? The bottom-six look pretty good, with Marty Reasoner and Colby Armstrong being decent third-line options. The forwards have no lack of toughness with both Eric Boulton and Josh Gratton on the squad. I could see them picking up one more top-six forward, but given that Atlanta isn't exactly a hot destination for free agents, they may have to do their work by either the waiver wire or through trade.
Defense: I think it's fair to say that the defense on this team is severely underrated and will be lethal when it matures and if it can stay together. Tobias Enstrom has been a pleasant surprise and is starting to resemble a sound two-way defenseman. Zach Bogosian will also be looking to have his first full campaign after being sideline with an injury early in the season. Ron Hainsey should be able to quarterback the power play while the newly acquired Pavel Kubina should act as a Top 4 mentor for these blossoming defensemen. Boris Valabik will get the Number 5 defensive spot as that phyiscal defensive d-man while Anssi Salmela and Nathan Oystrick will round out the pack. A few depth additions would be nice, but this is a legitimate group of NHL defenders.
Goaltending: The goaltending on this team looks great on paper but has been a disappointment on the ice. The only thing that's relatively stable about it as that Johan Hedberg has the honor of being the backup goaltender to whomever ends up the starter. The problem with the starter position is that the two guys who seem to be a lock for it can't grab it and stick with it. Kari Lehtonen is immensely talented and capable of being a supreme backstopper, but his penchant for being injured hinders his potential, and most signs point to his love of Quarter Pounders with Cheese as being the driving force behind that, not his physical limitations (I can't blame him but he's got three million reasons to give that habit up.) Ondrej Pavelec is also lighting the AHL on fire, but hasn't been able to do the same at the NHL level and hasn't accepted AHL assignments with the highest degree of maturity. One of these guys need to take the spot and stay there; otherwise its time for Atlanta to cut bait, let these guys go, and try to find a bonafide starter elsewhere.
Expectations: These guys just need to build off the chemistry they started to find last season. If they can sneak into the playoffs, that would be a major coup for the Thrashers and their very patient fans. If not, then it's time to give GM Don Waddell, who's been the only GM in Thrashers history, the pink slip and bring someone else in to build the team. This especially holds true if Kovalchuk walks at the end of the season.
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