Pool Outlook for Atlanta

In all honesty, I had some pretty low expectations for the Atlanta Thrashers for the 2011 season and I think they did well enough to surpass those low expectations, but that wasn't a long set of expectations to surpass and a 25th overall finish in the regular season.  They did play some pretty good hockey during the season, even made things relatively interesting for some of the Southeast Division teams, but fell short of any real excitement as the season wound down to the playoffs.  Now with some lingering threats of moving the team to Winnipeg, the Thrashers outlook seems somewhat muddy.

When the Thrashers started collecting on the Blackhawks' fire sale, they were definitely in for a treat, especially with the acquisition of Andrew Ladd.  Ladd finished the year on top of the team's scoring list, picking up 29 goals and 30 assists in 81 games for the team, was named captain midway through the season and will likely look towards signing a long-term deal to become an important piece of this squad, be it in Atlanta or possibly Winnipeg.

If the remainder of the forward group was anything, it was flashy, but way too inconsistent for any poolie's taste.  There were plenty of up and down moments, but they couldn't string together too many good games in a row.  Bryan Little (48 points in 76 games), Blake Wheeler (44 points in 81 games, between Boston and Atlanta), Evander Kane (43 points in 73 games), Nik Antropov (41 poins in 76 games) and Anthony Stewart (39 points in 80 games) really made everyone felt good, but somehow, it wasn't enough.  That isn't to say it won't come, it just may take a little while longer.

If there is anything that this club doesn't have to worry about, it will be the talent on the blueline.  The Summer acquisition of Dustin Byfuglien (53 points in 81 games) lined up with Tobias Enstrom (51 points in 72 games) made for one dynamic duo, ranking as the top pair in the NHL this season.  Mix in Ron Hainsey (19 points in 82 games) and an underwhelming Zach Bogosian (17 points in 71 games), I think the Thrashers will be a force to be reckoned with in the years to come.

Goaltending was somewhat of a concern for the Thrashers in the 2011 season, as their number one guy, Ondrej Pavelec, wasn't terribly consistent, but neither was his back-up, Chris Mason.  Pavelec finished the year with 50 points, 26th among all goalies, and Mason had 28 points, 37th among goalies.  This Summer may be one where the team tries to shore up some of their goaltending concerns, possibly finding one they can hitch their trailer to with little concern.

2012 Pool Outlook
The Thrashers ownership situation will really put a lot of things on hold for the time being, like re-signing a number of key forwards to new deals, but as I had mentioned before, this team has a solid core on the blueline, which should keep them competitive in one way or another for years to come.  There is some talent up front and in goal, but once the money and location is sorted out, they could really have something to build on.

Forwards	Defense	Goalies
Bryan Little	Dustin Byfuglien	Ondrej Pavelec
Evander Kane	Tobias Enstrom	Chris Mason
Nikolai Antropov	Ron Hainsey
Alex Burmistrov	Johnny Oduya
Chris Thorburn	Mark Stuart
Jim Slater
Tim Stapleton

It's really no wonder that there is a potential buyer for the Thrashers these days, as they are a team that is as soft as puddy, ready to be moulded into something exciting for the future.  Currently, the Thrashers have 13 players signed on, some of them quite good, and they are coming in with an annual projected cap hit of $35.1 million. With nine players to sign to fill the roster, a number of key RFAs to sign, once the budget is laid out (preferably before July 1st), these Thrashers could have themselves a great team for the 2012 season.

Andrew Ladd, Blake Wheeler (pictured), Anthony Stewart, Rob Schremp, Zach Bogosian and Ben Maxwell all headline the current crop of RFAs that the Thrashers will deal with in the Summer, some of which poised for some very good deals.  I would imagine that even three or four of these guys will be able to lift the Thrashers above the cap floor, once the money is available to management, but that will still likely be a month before anything happens.

Radek Dvorak, Eric Boulton, Freddie Meyer and Patrick Rissmiller are all on the chopping block as UFAs this Summer.  I'm getting the feeling that most of these guys will go to market, with the slightest of chances that they return to the Thrashers, more as depth players than anything else.

Nothing in the Thrashers system really jumps out at me to think that they are going to be in great shape with some possible new faces in their line-up.  Forward Patrice Cormier should bring some added grit to the team, while Paul Postma might be able to add some offense from the blueline, while Arturs Kulda may strengthen the blueline in both ends a bit.  These could be the three most likely to play for the Thrashers in 2012, but I don't think I would rush to pick up them up in the pool, unless they are unstoppable in training camp.

It sounds like the Thrashers will be looking for some top end scoring in the draft this year and from the 7th overall pick, they should get a good look at a number of players that will attempt to fill that role.  I would imagine they will get a shot at kids like Jonathan Huberdeau or Ryan Strome by their pick, so they could be in very good hands.  It's unfortunate that the Thrashers haven't had the best of luck with offensive forwards that they've picked high up in recent years.

What I said last year at this time... "For 2011, I can really see the Thrashers struggling as a whole. Ondrej Pavelec will likely get the bulk of the starts, Zach Bogosian will have a good 3rd season in the NHL, Niclas Bergfors will likely struggle in his sophomore year, Evander Kane will probably stay the course and the Thrashers will be hard-pressed to add a lot to this squad. I really don't believe that the Thrashers will be building to win right away in 2011, they'll just be looking to grow what they already have and gain some valuable experience for some of their younger NHL-ready players."

In review, Pavelec did get the bulk of the starts, Bogosian disappeared in his 3rd season with the club, Bergfors did struggle in Atlanta and Kane did continue to make some good strides.  The Thrashers did just give a lot of young players some great experience, adding in some quality players in the Blackhawks fire sale didn't hurt either.  Things likely went according to plan, without exceeding many expectations, but there is something to definitely build on after 2011.

The 2012 season will be full of uncertainty and it all begins in the Summer with where the team ends up on the North American map.  The uncertainty will have a trickle-down effect from owners/management down to the coaches/players and until that is all resolved, it could be a very shaky year.  If the team stays in Atlanta for another year, they may be able to sneak out a pretty good season, but if they do end up moving to Winnipeg, travel for the Southeast Division road games will be an absolute bitch and their road record will likely suffer.  I don't want to pin many hopes on the Thrashers, but if I am going to pick players for my hockey pool team, I would stick to the blueline for now.

Enstrom Out With Upper-Body Injury

The Atlanta Thrashers begun a quick 2-game road trip in Nashville on Tuesday, just before they finished their season at home for two games.  Not making it on the trip is both Tobias Enstrom and Radek Dvorak, both out with injuries, both listed as out day-to-day.  Now, Dvorak we had made mention on the blog earlier, but Enstrom suffered an upper-body injury over the weekend, having to leave their game against the Bruins on Saturday afternoon.  The injury is believed to be in the shoulder area, but there hasn't been many more details about the injury or any word as to whether or not he'll play any of the last two games of the season, Thursday or Saturday.

I don't think I'll be too shocked to see the Thrashers shut down Enstrom, especially with such a major injury like a shoulder.  The only way I think they would let him play is if he was 100% and was not going to risk further injury to the upper-body.

That being said, if he is done for the year, Enstrom finishes with 10 goals and 41 assists in 72 games with the Thrashers, where he currently ranks 105th in pool scoring with only a few days to go, ranking 5th among defensemen, with some wiggle room to fall a bit further before Sunday.  Undoubtedly, a pretty good year for the young blueliner, especially with new linemate, Dustin Byfuglien.

Of course, Benson G. doesn't want Enstrom's season to end prematurely, he is hoping there is a little bit of fight left in his team, as he tumbles down in the standings, right before the end of the season. Already this week, Benson has fallen down to 7th place, having picked up only 6 points in the first two days of action.  I don't think there is much hope for the money now.

Link to the Injury/News Page

Three Eliminations on Saturday, One More on Sunday?

Let's start in the Eastern Conference today, as the Atlanta Thrashers were the first to fall out of the playoff picture, bright and early on Saturday afternoon.  They dropped a 3-2 decision to the Bruins, which automatically eliminated them from contention, controlling their own fate on the way out.  It is too bad that the Thrashers got the boot so early, it would have interesting to see how Dustin Byfuglien and Andrew Ladd would have affected the Thrashers, if they had a first round opponent like the Capitals.  That would have been an interesting series, for a little while at least.

In the very next game, the injury-depleted Minnesota Wild were the next team to fall, as the Tampa Bay Lightning worked them over a little bit with a 3-1 victory on Saturday afternoon.  The Wild were holding onto hope for quite some time this season, but their recent run of 2-7-1 in their last 10 games saw to it that they wouldn't be participating in the playoffs this year.  It's kind of a good thing, with all the injuries that they have been suffering of late, there may not have been anyone left to actually dress for the team and it would have been an early exit anyways.

Not even the return of Zach Parise could hold the slim hopes that the New Jersey Devils had intact through another night of action, as they had dropped a 3-1 loss to the Canadiens on Saturday night, officially eliminating them from the playoff picture.  The Devils had a miraculous run in the second half of the season, just to get back into the playoff picture conversation, but the distance between themselves and the playoff teams just turned out to be too far and it all caught up to them before the last week of the season.  The team will be an interesting one to watch in the off-season, can they re-tool for another run next year?

On the clinching side of the ledger, only the Detroit Red Wings secured their spot in the playoffs, with their trip into overtime against the Predators on Saturday.  Detroit was going to make the playoffs in this stretch run, it was just a matter of when they'll make it in mathematically.

So, now we move to Sunday's action, which gets started awfully early and we'll start with the early game and it's implications.  The Rangers start the day in Philadelphia and they are in danger of falling out of the top eight with a regulation loss today.  The Rangers cannot be eliminated, but they will make things very difficult on themselves, if they do.

The next game on the schedule sees teams seven and nine in the Eastern Conference go head-to-head, so there is likely going to be some shifting of points and maybe positions from this game as well.  If Carolina can beat Buffalo in regulation this afternoon, the Hurricanes would pass the Sabres in the standings, via their series record this year.  A Hurricanes win would bring them up to a 3-1-0 record against the Sabres and the second tie-break (because they need it) would be theirs.  A Sabres win would put themselves in the driver's seat for a playoff spot, making it only a magic number of 1 win away.

The Red Wings host the Wild in another afternoon game, but this game really only means something to Detroit, who are looking to finish 2nd in the Conference, ahead of the Sharks.  The Red Wings trail San Jose by a point in the standings and both teams are even in games played going into Sunday.

The Blues and Blue Jackets also go in a 3pm MT game, but both teams are out of the playoffs and have no bearing on anything anymore, except for maybe some regular season pool scoring.

The Flames slim playoff hopes are desperate for a win again tonight.  Their death watch number is 3 points, which means a Flames loss and a Blackhawks overtime finish in Tampa Bay, or any combination of a loss and overtime loss, would result in the Flames being eliminated from the playoffs.  The Flames do have the Avalanche on Sunday night, so this could be a good game to keep their hopes alive, but they can't lose focus tonight.

The Blackhawks play host to the Lightning on Sunday evening.  The Hawks get a Bolts team that played yesterday in Minnesota and have already clinched their playoff spot, unlikely to catch Washington for the Southeast Division crown, so their motivation may be questionable tonight.  A Flames win and a Blackhawks loss continues to make the season a bit more interesting, as that would bring the two teams within 1 point of each other, but Chicago still has two games in hand.

Finally, the Ducks can clinch a playoff spot and help the Kings and Coyotes clinch their playoff spot with a win over the Stars on Sunday night.  The Stars continue to be the only team that can make some substantial noise in the Western Conference playoff race, from the outside, but another loss could seriously jeopardize that situation.  The Stars could go from a death number of three games down to one in 60 minutes and with some help.

A very interesting night of hockey ahead, to say the least.

Pre-Game Notes for Tuesday Night (Mar 29)

The Atlanta Thrashers will not have Anthony Stewart in their line-up for tonight's game against the Canadiens.  Stewart had reportedly ran into some issues with his travel documentation, which wouldn't allow him to cross the border for their visit to Montreal.  Instead, he'll be meeting the team on their next stop in Philadelphia.

This is considered to be a man-game lost to Leon G. tonight, who picked up Stewart in the second waiver draft this season.

The word out of the Panthers organization is that Tomas Vokoun will miss tonight's tilt against the Blue Jackets, because of his sore back. Tyler Plante has been recalled to back up Scott Clemmensen tonight in the game. Vokoun is considered day-to-day with this injury, questionable for their next game.

Chris M., trying to gain ground on the duo for 2nd in the standings, will be missing out on a key start for Vokoun, one that he had a good chance of winning and posting a couple points.

Link to the Injury/News Page

Byfuglien Out Wednesday

The Atlanta Thrashers are expecting to be without their top defenseman on Wednesday night, as Dustin Byfuglien has reportedly suffered a lower-body injury and is already being counted out the match-up against the Hurricanes and is unclear as to how much more time he might miss.  Byfuglien left Monday's practice and didn't practice on Tuesday and that is about all we know at this point in time.

Byfuglien has been the centerpiece of a pretty good season in Atlanta, giving the team an added boost from the blueline.  In 66 games this season, Byfuglien has scored 19 goals and 30 assists, ranking 2nd in the league in shots on goal with 289.  An important part of the offense that Atlanta will be desperately missing out on, especially 7 points out of a playoff spot now.

In the draft, Byfuglien belongs to the 4th place team of Benson G., who is sitting rather comfortably in that position, so if this injury is only for the short-term, there is a pretty good chance that Benson will not be affected, standings-wise.  Being 23 points up on 5th place should give him enough of a buffer, barring more injuries.

Link to the Injury/News Page

Modin to the Flames

			2011 Season				2011	Remaining
To Calgary	Position	Age	GP	G	A	P	Cap Hit	Years	Cap Hit
Fredrik Modin	Forward	36	36	7	3	10	$800,000	0	UFA
--------------------------
To Atlanta	Position	Age	GP	G	A	P	Cap Hit	Years	Cap Hit
2011 7th Round Draft Pick

Link to the Injury/News Page

Waiver Claims

The Atlanta Thrashers claimed Robbie Schremp off of waivers from the New York Islanders, who were looking for some flexibility in their line-up. The Thrashers are looking for some more offensive help for their playoff push, already acquiring Radek Dvorak from the Panthers on deadline day.

The Ottawa Senators will now be able to send prospect goaltender Robin Lehner down to the minors for some valuable playing experience after claiming Curtis McElhinney off of waivers from the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Lightning acquired McElhinney from the Ducks earlier this season, but the logjam meant he was going to be forced out. McElhinney will now back-up Craig Anderson in Ottawa.

Link to the Injury/News Page

Dvorak to the Thrashers

			2011 Season				2011	Remaining
To Atlanta	Position	Age	GP	G	A	P	Cap Hit	Years	Cap Hit
Radek Dvorak	Forward	34	53	7	14	21	$1.7 million	0	UFA
2011 5th Round Draft Pick
--------------------------
To Florida	Position	Age	GP	G	A	P	Cap Hit	Years	Cap Hit
Niclas Bergfors	Forward	24	52	11	18	29	$900,000	0	RFA
Patrick Rissmiller	Forward	32	1	0	0	0	$1 million	0	UFA

The first trade of the deadline day festivities sees the Thrashers acquire veteran forward Radek Dvorak for their playoff push, giving up on Niclas Bergfors and throwing in Patrick Rissmiller in the deal.

Dvorak isn't going to bring a great deal of scoring to the Thrashers line-up, but he should be able to bring some of the intangibles that some other young players may not have.  The Thrashers were not happy with the returns from Bergfors, who they acquired in the major Ilya Kovalchuk deal, so this deal accomplishes a couple of things for the Thrashers, as they try to make a push into the playoffs.

For Florida, the big part here is Bergfors, who has shown some flashes of offensive skill, but has yet to make it into a consistent part of his game.  With Florida looking to rebuild and get younger, why shouldn't they take the chance on him, especially with free agency looming for him.  The Panthers could name their price for him this Summer.

The player of note again here is Bergfors, who belongs to Wayne H. in the draft this year, sitting in 8th place in the standings.  Going to Florida will likely hurt his point production, which hasn't been great as it is.  If the Panthers continue to sell off a number of their assets, Bergfors may not have anyone to play with down the stretch.

The Thrashers are falling away from the Eastern Conference playoff race, but I'm not sure that Dvorak is going to help them too much, unless they have more up their sleeve here.  Stay tuned.

Link to the Injury/News Page

Thrashers Sign Stuart to an Extension

Another brand new contract extension hit before the trades started flying, as the Atlanta Thrashers signed defenseman Mark Stuart to a new 3-year contract extension, reportedly worth $5.1 million, which works out to be a $1.7 million cap hit each season.

Stuart was acquired by the Thrashers in the Wheeler/Peverley deal with the Bruins a few weeks ago and has been a regular in their line-up.  In the 2011 season, Stuart has 1 goal and 4 assists in 35 games between Boston and Atlanta this year, not much of a fantasy type player this season.

Draft Player Scratches (Feb 26)

In an odd set of circumstances last night, during the Thrashers game against the Panthers, the score being only 1-0 Florida, Ondrej Pavelec, the Thrashers' starting goalie, pulled himself out of the game, leaving Chris Mason to fill in for the final two periods.  On Saturday morning, the word is that Pavelec did suffer a minor injury, of the undisclosed variety, and didn't want to return to the game.  At this point, this is all we know.

Bad news for Stuart G., who is currently racing for the last money spot with a couple of teams, losing his only active goaltender at the moment will hurt badly.  If the injury is minor, I would suspect that only one start may be missed, but that'll be a wait-and-see situation.

After taking a high hit from Penguins' newcomer, Matt Niskanen, it appears that the Hurricanes' captain, Eric Staal, may have suffered a major upper-body injury, with whispers that it could be in the concussion variety, but nothing has been confirmed yet. Staal has apparently not made the trip up to Montreal, where the Hurricanes will play tonight, likely staying back for some more tests.  Stay tuned for more updates...

This is bad news for Kristy and Don, as they are one of the only teams that might be able to catch Allan S. in the standings and if the fears about Staal's injury are realized, a 3rd round pick, playing better than, will be a major loss going forward.

Speaking of the Staal brothers, Marc Staal was not able to go for the Rangers on Friday night, as they took on the Capitals. Staal was held out of the line-up after suffering a knee injury against the Hurricanes on Tuesday.  The stalwart defenseman suffered a twisted knee and was likely held out of the line-up for precautionary matters and should be considered out day-to-day for the time being.

With the uncertainty of injury reporting, it's hard to say how bad this injury may turn out for Dale B. in the long run.  Dale sits in 6th place in the standings, 17 points out of the money going into Saturday night, but the loss of a defenseman won't hurt his chances all that much at the moment.  I don't even expect Staal to be out for that long either.

An upper-body injury suffered against the Penguins on Wednesday night was the culprit for keeping defenseman Dan Boyle out of the Sharks' line-up on Friday night. Boyle did try practicing on Friday morning, but was deemed unready to go, but it doesn't sound like the injury is too serious, but with the Sharks being in a more comfortable position in the Western Conference standings this morning, I would imagine that they won't rush him back, until they run into some choppy situations.

This doesn't sound like a severe injury either, which could mean better things for Ryan M., who does have a seemingly outside shot at the third segment prize.  Ryan is tied for 8th in the standings, going into Saturday's action, 26 points out of 1st place, but he'll need Boyle back quickly for a major San Jose run to make that happen.

Everything was looking very good for the return of Mike Green to the Capitals' line-up on Friday night, he was dressed, he made it into the game, but in only his second shift on the ice, Green took a vicious hit to the head from the Rangers' Derek Stepan and had to leave the game again. Green was just recovering from an inner-ear trauma and we are all still awaiting word as to whether that injury was aggravated or there is a new diagnosis on the way. Either way, it doesn't look good for Green at the moment.

Things were looking good for Larry D., trying to save himself from a free fall, but his best defenseman has taken a turn, likely for the absolute worst, which may have him competing for the basement of the third segment, where he currently sits tied for 17th with only 56 points.

Link to the Injury/News Page