Season Preview: Atlanta Thrashers

September's finally here. And given how slowly teams are coming together, we decided to put off the previews until September this time. We go in alphabetical order because hey, why not? We'll be doing this until September ends. With that said here we go.

And now, the Atlanta Thrashers.

Team M.O.: The Thrashers are perennial underdogs. They've only made the playoffs once in the ten seasons and have yet to win a playoff game at all (and people ask why hockey doesn't succeed in Atlanta.) As such, they've had problems attracting star players (see: Ilya Kovalchuk saga) because of the lack of winning and subsequent fan apathy. Nevertheless, the team has quietly assembled the right amount of tools and need a better toolbox to put them in so they can make "the jump."

Last Season: Tenth in the Eastern Conference and out of the playoffs. Yes they were second in the Southeast Division, but that's not much to talk about considering how weak the division was (save the Washington Capitals, but their first-round playoff exit suggests that capitalizing on that isn't always a good thing.)

Offense: There isn't so much a high-amount of "star" power as there are a group of guys who could collectively get their team over if they can play their game right. Nik Antropov was the leading point-producer for anyone not named Kovalchuk and showed a solid commitment to two-way hockey. He will now be joined by another two-way forward in Andrew Ladd and a quality power forward/defenseman/front-of-the-net power-play specialist Dustin Byfuglien; both of whom are coming over from the Stanley Cup-winning Chicago Blackhawks. Rich Peverley continues to be Marc Savard's reincarnate for the team, as his playmaking abilities led him to yet another career season with 55 points. Niclas Bergfors didn't embarrass himself as a member of the Thrashers after being traded in the Kovalchuk deal and should only improve as a full-time member of the Thrashers club. Evander Kane is young, but he's definitely emerging as a valuable power forward in all the right ways. Bryan Little suffered a pretty steep drop in points and needs to work hard this campaign to right the ship; he definitely has the ability to do so.

Going further down the depth chart shows more attention to defense and the grind but doesn't necessarily have the level of NHL experience you'd hope to have. In terms of NHL proven talent, Jim Slater provides the team with a speedy defensive winger while Ben Eager, Chris Thorburn, and Eric Boulton will no doubt do their jobs to supply the sandpaper. However, the next seven or eight players on the depth chart have a cumulative total of three NHL games played in all of last season (those three belonging solely to Jared Ross.) Moreover two of them, Patrice Cormier and Angelo Esposito, missed a significant amount of playing time due to discipline and injury issues, respectively. Save Alexander Burmistrov or perhaps Spencer Machacek, no one appears duly ready, rookie or veteran, to make the jump from minor-leaguer to NHLer (unless Jason Krog figures to stick with the team.)

I don't think it would be a disadvantage for the team to take advantage of any of the remaining available forwards and sign a couple who can play whatever role they need them to; there's plenty of versatility in this group of forwards for the team to do exactly that. Perhaps a veteran forward like Miroslav Satan, Bill Guerin, or Brendan Morrison could supply the team with leadership and some complimentary point production.

Defense: The defense on this team looks remarkably solid and really doesn't need any additional fine tweaking. Tobias Enstrom continues to rack up the points from the blueline and would be an elite NHLer if he could add more mass without sacrificing speed. Johnny Oduya (another benefit of the Ilya Kovalchuk trade) should give the team a mobile defender with supreme defensive smarts (and perhaps a little production if the results of last year's trade indicate anything.) Zach Bogosian had something of a sophomore slump last season but I wouldn't panic yet as to what he can supply the club once he puts it together. Ron Hainsey's a legitimately talented defender, but he needs to be able to find a higher level of consistency to his game if he's going to justify the salary he's earning. Brent Sopel provides the team a solid third-pairing defender who can play second-pairing minutes while a healthy Boris Valabik gives the team a solid physical defender that any team would want at Number 6 on their depth chart. The last spot will likely go Andrei Zubarev, who had an impressive campaign in the KHL last season that saw him thrive as a two-way defender, while Freddy Meyer figures to rack up the frequent flyer miles between Atlanta and Rosemont, Illinois where the Thrasher's AHL affiliate Chicago Wolves play. Not many teams will be better defensively than these guys.

Goaltending: Chris Mason was snagged from the St. Louis Blues and will compete with Ondrej Pavelec for playing time. Considering how many teams are successfully going with a Number 1/1A system over a starter/backup setup, these guys should thrive nicely in a platoon together. The team has sufficient AHL depth at goal so they shouldn't figure to add anyone else.

Management: Former GM Don Waddell was finally given a different role in the organization and Rick Dudley was brought in to act as the new GM. Formerly of the Chicago Blackhawks organization, the moves he's made have, so far, fortified the club with a solid core that will have to rely on someone to stand out as opposed to being build around a "star" player. Newly-crowned coach Craig Ramsay hasn't acted as a head coach in an NHL game since the 2000-01 season but wasn't shabby even then and has since acted as an assistant coach for some legitimate Tampa Bay Lightning and Boston Bruins teams. Should be interesting to see what he does.

Prediction: Fourth in the division and out of the playoffs.

On paper, these guys have a gutsy team that will play hard every single night to earn the points necessary to make it to the playoffs. The reality is that once injuries set in, their depth will be tested and as it stands, the group of forwards they're going into the season with are somewhat slim in comparison to the powerhouse Capitals, Steve Yzerman's Lightning, or the quietly-improving Florida Panthers. All things considered, this is yet another rebuild year for the Atlanta Thrashers. However, their performance will improve as a team and the young guys will get invaluable hockey experience at the NHL level. If they can keep it together after this season, they'll be absolutely fantastic for years to come (and if some of the other aforementioned teams struggle out of the gate, they could very much prove me wrong and snag a playoff spot.)