Thrashing in Atlanta

In Atlanta, the Training Camp Roster has been released and much like Buffalo below this post, they look to have their roster solidified before touching the ice. Now, of course, this isn't truly the case, but the list of players only has players who are really going to be having a tryout to see how far along they are before making the roster, beyond those 22 below who have pretty much assured themselves some ice-time.

The addition of Todd White to the Thrasher line-up is probably the most significant. He offers the Thrashers a bit more flexibility in the centre role, quite possibly having the second-line centre duty. Brian Little is the only name in the forward list that should crack the team and if he does, will probably line-up in that second-line winger role, along with Todd White. That's about the only real change I can see happening, especially since Thorburn, Boulton and Haydar are more or less depth/role players in the fourth line area.

The defense is another place where a prospect can jump in, if they have a good camp. A name that has been circling the wires has been Tobias Enstrom. Enstrom has been pencilled in by some to make the jump to the team already and there are a few names on the list that he could possibly replace. Another name on the list that catches my eye is Boris Valabik. A 6'7" defender who was chosen in the '04 Draft in the 1st round may make a physical impact in camp and may find himself in good shape come October.

The goaltending pairing is pretty much set with Kari Lehtonen and Johan Hedberg. Barring injury, the acquistion of Fred Brathwaite may have been a bit excessive, especially with the 2005 2nd rounder, Ondrej Pavelec, waiting in the wings for his opportunity. Pavelec won't likely see time, barring injury to the front two, but he seems to be a name worth watching in the future.

Ilya Kovalchuk	Slava Kozlov	Marian Hossa
Pascal Dupuis	Todd White	Eric Perrin
Jim Slater	Bobby Holik	Brad Larsen
Chris Thorburn	Steve Rucchin	Eric Boulton
		Darren Haydar

Alexei Zhitnik	Niclas Havelid
Ken Klee	Steve McCarthy
Garnet Exelby	Joel Kwiatkowski
Marc Popovic

Kari Lehtonen

Johan Hedberg

This 22-man roster is worth over $41 million and has some room to grow, if they are to make another run at a playoff spot in the Spring.

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