After Kovy, Waddell Should Have Little On His Mind
Last March, on trade deadline day, the radio voice of the Thrashers Dan Kamal commented on XM’s NHL Live that re-signing Ilya Kovalchuk was “priority one” for the team and that “there is no 1-a or 1-b” regarding this issue. As I’ve opined previously, I agree with Kamal that there is no higher priority than getting the captain to put pen to paper on a new contract and that is where the bulk of Don Waddell’s attention should be right now. However, there are a couple other players on the roster that I wouldn’t mind seeing Waddell take care of as well…sooner rather than later.
Of the forwards that are expected to play in Atlanta this season, there are but four that are under contract past next summer. Todd White, Chris Thorburn and Marty Reasoner are signed through the 2010-11 season.. after that, they’ll become UFAs. Then there is Nik Antropov who signed a 4-year contract in July.
Spencer Machacek is under contract for this season and next, but it’s yet to be seen whether he’ll play in Atlanta or not this year.
Colby Armstrong, Slava Kozlov, Jim Slater, Eric Boulton and Rich Peverley are all scheduled to be UFAs after this year…Bryan Little is set to be a restricted free agent.
And while Army and the Peever are two that I would like to see signed to extensions as early as possible, the name on that list that I feel should be placed on a priority level just below Kovalchuk is Bryan Little.
Bryan Little will be a RFA next summer (AP Photo/Don Heupel)
Last season, in his first full year of play, the 12th pick in the 2006 draft did everything he needed to do in order to show he is indeed ready to play at this level full time. His 31 goals were second on the team, behind Kovy’s 43, and his 51 overall points was good enough for fourth… between White’s 73 and Armstrong’s 40. Those numbers solidified his role as a top-six forward on this team.
He began the year as a part of the only line that was able to generate points on a consistent basis…playing to right White and opposite Slava Kozlov. At the mid-point of the campaign, that line had accounted for 48 of the team’s 124 goals…Little had 19 of them…and had amassed 113 combined points during that time. It was the lone bright spot during the season’s first half that was otherwise painful to watch.
Toward the end of the season, Little was primarily playing on the right side of Kovalchuk’s top line and continued to produce offensively once there…whether it was White or Peverley at the pivot.
In the fall of 2007, he made the team during training camp and played with the Thrashers to begin the year. On opening night, just after the Thrashers’ division championship banner was raised, he scored the only goal for the team during a 3-1 loss to the Capitals. In doing so, he became the first Thrasher to score in his NHL debut. He was demoted later in the season to play in Chicago, but there he helped the John Anderson-coached Wolves on their way to an AHL championship. However, in 48 games played at the NHL level that season, he produced 6 goals and 10 assists.
Little is one of those players that will, in my opinion, live up to the hype given of his potential. It is not inconceivable that he could be pushing 40 goals and/or 75 points this coming season. If he has that kind of year, his price will do nothing but go up all the more…and deservedly so.
This is why I feel that right after Ilya Kovalchuk, Don Waddell should have Little on is agenda.
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162 comments Add your comment
Rawhide
August 18th, 2009
4:11 pm
ONE HUNDRED AND FIRST!!!!!! HA!
As I promised last week, here is a link to TJ’s site in which you can get information regarding the upcoming Party Bus to the Sharks game on October 24!
Hey Brendan…looks like your “Rawhide’s Rowdies” section suggestion took hold!
The Earl of Bud
August 18th, 2009
4:12 pm
BT, you are a missing link, I mean you are missing a link.
Rawhide
August 18th, 2009
4:24 pm
EOB – It’s there now…hope you can join us!
GaVaHokie
August 18th, 2009
4:51 pm
Alan… I don’t want to talk about it either, but Viv’s slip of the tongue will probably get quoted on Spector.
Brendan
August 18th, 2009
5:20 pm
Excellent, Rawhide. It’s all coming together. (fiddling my hands like the evil Mr. Burns.) Mwa-hah-hah. Wonder if anyone will be sober enough to realize we’re traveling north, towards Nashville?
Just kidding.
ranallo10 (in AT)
August 18th, 2009
6:51 pm
Interesting…Bertuzzi signs with Detroit (reported to be one year at $1.5M).
World Be Free
August 18th, 2009
8:54 pm
Folks, I won’t even discuss any of these hypo situations that involve losing the Thrashers. Let’s just focus on Kovy, acquiring more depth and getting some of our young guys signed long term. I just don’t see getting worked about something that we all don’t understand. Rebuild the fan base and the club, give a potentional owner reasons to keep the team here in Atlanta.
One more thing on Hamilton-Baisille is the ONLY potentional buyer looking at the Hamilton option. And we know what Bett-o and the owners feel about Jimmy B.
I’d rather see a team in Winnepeg anyday. They shjould have never lost their team to begin with.
Sara
August 19th, 2009
8:04 am
Smoothie Sekou Smith has a new article up interviewing Gearon and the relationship with Belkin over the last four years was described as: Belkin has participated in decision-making meetings but has not made capital calls. The article specifically states that if Belkin opts to return to his former standing, he would have to pay up $28.5M – his 30% share of the capital calls. Which by my math means the capital calls have been a total of $95M over the past four years. So here’s the new question: have the other owners ponied up Belkin’s $28.5M or did they go without it? My guess is option two. Which means, on average, a lack of $7.125M over the past four years. Now translate that into Thrashers salary…think that wouldn’t have made a difference?
As for selling to someone who would relocate the team – let’s ignore the agreement with the NHL for the time being. An offer from someone moving the team has to compensate for all the following: loss of revenue from a voided naming rights contract that likely could not be replaced at present value; the portion of the bond payments (the lease) that the Thrashers are responsible for (and which a local owner would be paying); the loss of revenue to the arena from 41 NHL home games. And all of those are going to be above and beyond the actual value of the franchise. The above are additional costs Spirit would incur only if the team was being relocated. If some local owner comes forward, Spirit doesn’t lose any of that money. As of right now, the only person on earth willing to spend that kind of major blunt has been Balsillie and either he’s going to get the Coyotes or he’s done. This is his last chance because the NHL and the Board of Governors have made it VERY clear they want no part of him being an owner in this League. He’s only got a chance in Phoenix because the team is in bankruptcy and he’s counting on a judge to overrule the NHL based on the bankruptcy court’s fiduciary duty to the creditors.
And, for what it’s worth, in that Sekou Smith article, Gearon again reiterates that Spirit is not looking to sell the franchise – they have only been soliciting other investors akin to what Arthur Blank has done.
GaVaHokie
August 19th, 2009
8:19 am
EOB… Going back to our prospect discussion… how coincidental that this comes out yesterday from the Hockey News?
http://www.thehockeynews.com/articles/27560-The-Hot-List-Scorin-Morin.html
LAC
August 19th, 2009
8:22 am
Great points Sara, I was really taken back by the fact Bilkin has been “involved” over these last four seasons… Funny how we now hear that and never a word before now.
So this mess is STILL really not resolved, so now what ?
Still looks like an out of control bus to me.
kracker
August 19th, 2009
9:10 am
I just read that Smith article, Sara. It answered my question about whether or not Belkin had to pay his share of the cash calls during the last four years. Actually, it only partly answered it. Smith seems to say that Belkin is responsible for those monies only if he remains as a minority partner. Why would he not be responsible if he sells his interest in the Spirit Group?
Either way, things are finally looking better for the ownership group.
But what do y’all make of, or recall about, the judge saying in his judgment paper that David Stern’s comments (said years ago) about the ownership situation likely caused these guys to continue the litigation rather than work out a settlement??
Alan
August 19th, 2009
10:01 am
will probably get quoted on Spector.
And? Don’t we have better things to talk about? I’d rather compare and contrast between Michigan topsoil and Georgia clay and which is better than discuss a hypothetical that isn’t likely to happen.
We have enough problems as it is with Canadians frothing at the mouth with the hopes of stealing any American team and giving it to some dead steel town in Southern Ontario for nationalistic reasons whose AHL team can’t even out-draw the ECHL Gwinnett Gladiators.
R. Stroz
August 19th, 2009
10:46 am
Brendan – Who else is left in the Kovy signing sweepstakes?
I believe there have been more eliminations in said contest.
Get The Puck Out
August 19th, 2009
10:55 am
All i know is these men that are the so called “owners” need to drop their ego’s and resolve this once and for all and try to create a team that can win, and be proud of for their fans and the city of Atlanta and the state of Georgia. This state has suffered with teams that did little to give fans something to cheer for. Resolve your differences NOW and give us FANS a reason to spend our hard earned money and fill the seats of Phillips Arena to watch a team that looks and is a team that can WIN. I love hockey and i will support the Thrashers, but if you do not put a winning product on the ice they will not come. The Braves have one World Series title and a lot of winning seasons, but only one title. It was so disheartining to watch a team come so close so many times you almost come to expect them not to make it to the Series. If the Spirit has any WINNING SPIRIT please let us fans revel in a team that can play with anyone. PLEASE.
GaVaHokie
August 19th, 2009
11:06 am
Well, here’s something somewhat interesting to watch… Ron Hainsey Presser at the Olympic camp.
http://www.nhl.tv/team/console.jsp?id=45573
The Earl of Bud
August 19th, 2009
11:21 am
GVH, thanks for the link. Morin looks great so far in the US camp. Not only is he playing 1st line minutes and is 3rd on the team in points, but the guy seems like he can play the physical role too. He is 2nd on the team right now in PIM at 25, leader is at 27 and there are only a handful in the teens. I went to the team site and he is listed at 6′1″ 190lbs. If he grows or puts on a few lbs in this next year of juniors he can be quite a force in the future. Let’s get a few years out of Antro but then this guy will be the power forward that plays with Little, Kane, Espo, and we seem to have something nice in the system.
As for the lawsuit, does anyone think there’s a remote chance that Belkin will just get bought out at the lower price now? If his high price isn’t the market value now, can they buy him out without considering the need to raise capital by selling the Thrashers? Clearly the guy can’t be happy and would be willing to sell one would think.
R. Stroz
August 19th, 2009
12:06 pm
Angelo Esposito is in town.
http://bluelandblog.wordpress.com/2009/08/19/web-coverage-and-informal-skating/
GaVaHokie
August 19th, 2009
12:08 pm
Carolina just signed Stephane Yelle for 1 year $550,000.
Brendan
August 19th, 2009
12:19 pm
R.Stroz, I don’t have the list with me now. But I believe Rawhide had an August guess, right about this time. There was another late August guess, and then there’s three (3) September guesses, including two on the same day. We made them designate a time of day for the announcement of the signing, to break the tie, if it happens. I think the guessed dates were September 7th and 9th. I shouldn’t say anything, as I don’t actually have the entries in front of me. The farthest guess in the future was July 2, 2010. Ranallo and I are both registered with June 30, 2010 guesses, for a Kovy re-signing.
Brendan
August 19th, 2009
12:28 pm
A few years ago, with Rutherford signed Doug Weight; at the time it turned some heads. Per Doug Weight, when asked why he signed with Carolina, his response was, “Nobody else wanted me.” That was the 2005-06 season. It worked out well for Carolina that year. Rutherford likes to gamble on proven vets, past their prime. Yelle has 2 Stanley Cups with Colorado, I believe. That contract isn’t breaking the bank, either. It’s a signing that very well may fly under the radar. But come this Spring, Yelle’s experience could really help the ‘Canes. At 35, he’s still got some gas left in the tank.
Midfield
August 19th, 2009
12:33 pm
Colorado only had one Cup, if I’m not going Parkinson, Brendan.
World Be Free
August 19th, 2009
12:42 pm
Brendan, you may remember that I talked alot about Yelle a couple blogs ago. Boston got a fair amount of play out of him last your. So did Colorado, as you pointed out. These guys are starting to sign for league miniumum, as I predicted well back to get on NHL rosters before the money runs out.
So here we are, having not signed experienced NHL depth while other clubs do just that! Why? what the heck are we waiting for! Looks like Carolina restarted Weight’s career, he’s still going strong, another ex-Ranger that the blueshirts were not patient with.
What does Kovy think?
The Earl of Bud
August 19th, 2009
1:02 pm
Midfield, we all know that Bob Hartley only has 1 cup with the Avs, but Marc Crawford got one a few years later with Ray Borque on the team.
Brendan, Weight never signed with Carolina. He was traded there on the deadline day and then immediately went back to St. Louis as soon as free agency opened. This was the prime example of people saying rental players would go back to their original teams.
The Earl of Bud
August 19th, 2009
1:06 pm
Midfield, I said that backwards. Crawford won the 1st Colorado Stanley Cup and then it was Hartley who came later and won the 2nd Cup that had Bourque on the team.
Midfield
August 19th, 2009
1:15 pm
Thanks, Earl. I’ll be damned – they sure did in 1996. That was the year I spent in a coma having hit my head over the kitchen counter looking for the last beer bottle.
ranallo10 (in AT)
August 19th, 2009
1:19 pm
Yelle was part of both Stanley Cup winning Avalanche teams.
The Earl of Bud
August 19th, 2009
1:30 pm
MF, like I said, if you remember it in Thrasher terms or big name hockey terms, it’s easier. Hartley only won 1 with Bourque, but that one in ‘96 was the first year they weren’t in Quebec and traded for Roy (which I argue to this day if they were still in Quebec then Montreal never makes that trade obviously and they never win the Cup). I also have other reasons along with Pam on Weck and World Be Free for remembering who scored the winning goal for Colorado that first Cup.
LAC
August 19th, 2009
2:19 pm
Looks like we have been shutout on Versus this upcoming season, I could be wrong.
Just what is it about Atlanta NHL Hockey that has so many against us ?
I know these owners are worthless wimps who cannot tie their own shoes, but it amazes
me that we get the shaft ALL the time, Time for the wimps to put up of sell out, or
at least sign more talent to WIN rather than this cheap crap…
GaVaHokie
August 19th, 2009
2:26 pm
Perfect!! I’m glad we have zero Versus games… I won’t have to upgrade to Dish Network Turbo GOLD.
Adam
August 19th, 2009
2:51 pm
In the Av’s cup run in 96′ Roy & Osgood dropped gloves at center ice in gm6 of the CF’s.
The Earl of Bud
August 19th, 2009
3:28 pm
Adam, that was definitely when the Avs-Wings rivalry was at its peak.
GVH & all others, I normally watch through a dish so I will miss the occasional versus game unless I upgrade as well. But, I remember we had a few games that were only carried by the away team’s coverage. I was able to get it through the dish but I thought someone said last year that you can watch it over the internet. Does anyone know if the NHL lets you buy a package to watch over the internet on NHL.com? Reason I ask is because I will be out of town quite a bit this year for work. The dish won’t help me on the road but I will always have internet access.
Anyone know if this is true?
GaVaHokie
August 19th, 2009
3:51 pm
EOB… just briefly searching around I found this… proceed with caution, I’ve never used this service… just happened to stumble upon it.
http://www.watchlivenhl.com/
GaVaHokie
August 19th, 2009
3:58 pm
Interesting… Thorburn and Boulton training with Boxing coach…
http://thrashers.nhl.tv/team/console.jsp?catid=656&id=45590
Alan
August 19th, 2009
4:26 pm
Thorburn could definitely use the training. It’s like a trainwreck whenever he drops the gloves… and I don’t mean that in a good way.
The Earl of Bud
August 19th, 2009
4:35 pm
GVH, there are actually quite a few professional athletes that train in boxing/martial arts/mma/etc. Although if there are two guys on the team I want to get boxing training it is our enforcers. Just outside of Atlanta guys like Hines Ward and Jamal Lewis who live here in the offseason do a bit of Muay Thai training as part of their regime. Matt Leinart was doing MMA training to toughen up before this summer. It is very intense and can condition them very well.
Thanks for the link to the website. I hope I find something that I can watch the Thrashers while I am on the road. Yahoo had a service a couple years ago but it was only select games and I don’t want to miss any.
R. Stroz
August 19th, 2009
4:39 pm
EOB – You may want to refrain from refering to Midfield with a two letter acronym.
The Earl of Bud
August 19th, 2009
4:50 pm
RS, nice, with everyone calling me EOB I just went along with the acronyms and didn’t even catch that. RS isn’t anything bad, is it? GVH, WBF, BT I can’t think of anything for those. You just put some Van Halen songs in my head though.
rightshot
August 19th, 2009
4:56 pm
On subject, Sign Little, Bogo, and Pevs long term, then go from there.
Off subject, If the Thrashers can’t find an investor, maybe they could do like the Celtics and sell stock in the team. It might even give the fans/investors more of a chance to let their voices be heard by ownership. I may be dreaming.
ranallo10 (in AT)
August 19th, 2009
4:58 pm
NHL.com has an online package equivalent to their television package NHL Center Ice.
http://gamecenter.nhl.com/
It has high quality feeds and you can even choose between the home or away radio audio (I always choose away, unless it’s against Buffalo).
rightshot
August 19th, 2009
5:02 pm
On subject, sign Little, Bogo, Pevs long term and go from there.
Off subject, if the ASG can’t find an investor, maybe they could do like the Celtics and sell stock in the team. It might give the fans/investors more direct input into the way the team in run.
fes
August 19th, 2009
5:37 pm
you could always get a slingbox.
Brendan
August 19th, 2009
5:52 pm
EOB, I thought Keith Tkachuk was the prime example of a rental player going back to his team? But yes, good catch on that trading vs. signing. And Weight’s situation happened prior to Tkachuk’s, so I suppose Tkachuk’s rental was the next most prime example. To quote Roger Clemmons, I “misremembered.”
Midfield, no sweating the small stuff. There’s a LITERAL element that inexplicably permeates this board. Speaking of which, we haven’t talked about Kalamazoo, Michigan, in like FOREVER. I wonder if they have an “Indian Summer” thingy going on?
R. Stroz
August 19th, 2009
6:34 pm
rightshot – The Boston Celtics were set up as a publicly traded Master Limited Partnership (MLP), which consistently had a high yield. The funny thing was the dividend usually exceeded the MLP’s earnings. In other words, the cash flow was considerably higher than earnings.
Does this sound famaliar? The Thrashers and Hawks are ALWAYS losing money, yet neither franchise has any debt. In other words, cash flow and earnings can differ dramaticaly.
EOB – Back in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s, there was a fairly popular band in the Southeast called Mother’s Finest. After going to one of their concerts, I wore a Mother’s Finest concert shirt to high school. The shirt had a large two letter acronym on the front of the shirt. Although one or two teachers questioned me, I was allowed to wear the shirt the entire school day. The teachers did respectfully ask that I refrain from wearing the shirt to school again. That was the first time being an AP student really paid off.
Do any of you other native Atlantans remember Mother’s Finest?
Brendan – Didn’t Jim Slater attend Michigan State University in Kalamazoo, Michigan?
A27
August 19th, 2009
7:15 pm
Ahh… Kalamazoo summers how I miss them…
Get The Puck Out
August 19th, 2009
7:29 pm
I just downloaded some Mother’s Finest on my mp3. Piece of the rock, mickey’s monkey, rain. Really good band.
Glovesave29
August 19th, 2009
7:42 pm
Mothers Finest were great – but so were the Producers, Atlanta Rythm Section, Pylon and Guadalcanal Diary. REM was always at the Fox in the day, too. Atlanta was a great music town to grow up in. Anyone else here ever go to the Champagne Jam down at Grant Field?
C’mon Stroz, I KNOW you KNOW MSU is in East Lansing. Western Michigan is in Kalamazoo.
goose
August 19th, 2009
8:03 pm
just something hypothetical to throw out there. How would you feel if we traded Pavelic, espo, and a second for kessel and a third, or just kessel.
The Earl of Bud
August 19th, 2009
8:56 pm
Let’s see if I can get all these replies in order.
RS, ever since your post about my initials for Midfield I have had Right Now in my head and can’t get it out. That was about 4 hours ago. Somehow I will get even with you for that.
Rightshot, the Green Bay Packers did a similar set up and it has since been quashed by any other team trying to do the same. I can’t remember what the details are but don’t expect it to happen again after Boston & Green Bay.
ranallo10 (in AT) thank you very much, that is exactly what I remember seeing last year. I am going to investigate.
fes, thank you also. I remember hearing about slingbox and this would help me get NFL games on the road. Do you have any recomendations or product testimonies? Is it good or what? Anyone else have anything to say about a slingbox?
Brendan, it’s because of Tkachuk that I remember it happening to Doug Weight. Like I told Midfield, I don’t remember the Avs Cups as much because I like or watch the Avs, but because a Thrashers coach had one of them. So when the Thrashers were getting Tkachuk, everyone said “oh this is Doug Weight all over again” and I have it engrained in me because of that.
goose, don’t expect anything to happen with Kessel. The only reason he isn’t signed by now is because his shoulder is injured and his first game won’t be until Nov/Dec. So there is no hurry to sign him and I heard they are intentionally taking a wait-n-see approach on this.
Brendan
August 19th, 2009
10:55 pm
Glovesave, you fell right into R.Stroz’s trap. It wasn’t meant to snare you. (R.Stroz, cut him loose from the fishing net.) It was just a joke. Let’s try again. I loved that Nathan Oystrick played at Don Waddell’s alma mater, in WESTERN Michigan. (The trap is now, once again, baited. When I touch my nose like this, smile and nod, stomp my foot and say, “Hello, Mr. Thompson.” You smile and nod back at me. Got it?)
R.Stroz, (getting serious, again, now) August 5th was the guess by Rawhide. August 29 is the guess by Alan. On September 7, Kracker and Hokie are both registered for this date, with Hokie owning at 10AM “tie-breaker.” On September 9, Nikita has Kovalchuk re-inking with Atlanta. After Nikita’s guess, the next guesses are all in 2010, for Kovalchuk re-signing. Ranallo and I have June 30th. Ranallo has 5PM and I have 8PM. FrostyTheSnowMan has Kovalchuk signing with Washington on July 1, 2010. And Bob has Kovalchuk signing with NY Rangers on July 2, 2010. And those are all the remaining guesses from the contest, as it relates to the date when Kovalchuk signs his next contract.
So … are we going to do the “Guess the Opening Night Budget” contest this year? If so, I’d say we have to set a cut off date for guesses. If we’re even going to do it, I’d say September 1st seems like a decent enough cut off date. I’m flexible to September 10, I suppose. It’s up to Rawhide if he wants to do it this year. Remember, Waddell somewhat uncharacteristically stated the budget would be between $45-$46 million. Come to think of it, I can’t recall the source of that statement anymore. But it was sometime much earlier this offseason. I want to say late April or May. And I had entered a guess of $48.5 million, when we last discussed it. I wanted to be more optimistic in the organization’s attempts to show Kovalchuk how serious and committed they are towards giving him the team he so badly covets. Remember, Kovy said he wants to gun for the Cup this year. Technically, that’s still possible, CONCEPTUALLY, when a team sits $8 to $10 million under the cap. And there are still names out there. And there are some players who may or may not retire. (Not endorsing anyone, just commenting.) We saw that Sakic, Holik and Roenick did. Not sure what’s goin’ on with Sundin, Brendan Shanahan, Curtis Joseph, Ed Belfour, Olaf Kolzig, C. Chelios and a few others. We know Selanne and Niedermayer will stay with the Ducks. We know Bertuzzi signed with the Red Wings. I think M. Goc and M. Afinagenov are still out there, as depth players. Did Sykora sign somewhere yet? What about Nikki Zherdev? I’m not advocating anything. But if we really have $10 million before we brush against the cap limit, and there are teams in CAP TROUBLE, trades can be made. UFA’s can still be signed. There ARE options out there, for a team that wanted to be nearer to the cap limit on Opening Night. And … I think Kovalchuk knows that, too.
R. Stroz
August 19th, 2009
11:05 pm
C’mon Stroz, I KNOW you KNOW MSU is in East Lansing. Western Michigan is in Kalamazoo.
Glovesave29 – This is an ongoing joke, poking some fun at Brendan.
Blackfoot was another southeastern band that I really enjoyed as a youngster. I always wondered why some bands never really “broke out” on a nationwide basis.