Kari Lehtonen era comes to an end in Thrasherville
Tuesday night the Atlanta Thrashers shipped off Kari Lehtonen to the Dallas Stars in return for defenseman Ivan Vishnevskiy and a fourth round draft pick.
Kari Lehtonen, seen here in action last spring against the Caps, was the Thrashers second overall pick in 2002 (AP Photo/Gregory Smith)
With this deal, combined with the one that sent Ilya Kovalchuk to New Jersey last week, the Thrashers have dumped quite a bit of salary of late. Lehtonen is scheduled to be an RFA this summer and is currently making $3 million…Vishnevskiy will be an RFA in 2011 and is being paid just under $850,000 per season.
Vishnevskiy was the 27th overall draft pick in the 2006 draft and has played in a total of 5 NHL games…two this season. He has two assists in those games…both coming last season and both on the power play. In between periods of the Stars game in Chicago, Craig Ludwig…a former NHL defenseman for Montreal and Stars… said that the Thrashers are getting an offensive-minded blueliner but needs some work on his play in the defensive zone.
Lehtonen departs Thrasherville having just returned to the club from his conditioning stint with the Wolves and has yet to play in the NHL since last spring. He compiled a career record of 94-83-17 in 204 games played in Atlanta…196 were starts…with a 2.87 GAA, .912 SV% and 14 shutouts.
So…unless there is another trade planned to bring in a proven number one goalie…it looks as though Johan Hedberg and Ondrej Pavelec will be the ones between the pipes as the Thrashers look to make any playoff push this season. To that point, Chris Vivlamore tweeted that Don Waddell told him, “They have proved to be capable of carrying the load”.
Ivan Vishnevskiy was a first-round draft pick in 2006 and has played in 5 NHL games (AP Photo/Jack Dempsey)
With Kari’s departure, the Thrashers have parted ways with all of their top pick in their first five drafts.
Patrick Stefan, the top pick in 1999, is no longer playing hockey and is a player agent living in California.
Dany Healey, pick second overall in 2000, was traded away in 2005 to Ottawa and now plays in San Jose.
Ilya Kovalchuk, 2001’s overall number one, was dealt away last week to New Jersey.
Kari Lehtonen, second overall in 2002, as we have discussed is off to the Big D.
Braydon Coburn, the eighth overall draft pick in 2003, was shipped off to Philadelphia in 2006 in exchange for Alexei Zhitnik.
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
171 comments Add your comment
ben
February 10th, 2010
9:46 pm
IK’s new team got a point tonight.
ben
February 10th, 2010
9:47 pm
Todd White wanters = nonexistant
Smoothie
February 10th, 2010
10:38 pm
So many missed opportunities, damn. Including an overturned goal. But prolly the right call. Playing so well but only up 2 to 1, deserve more.
Nikita (in PA)
February 10th, 2010
10:43 pm
Definitely. And boy, does the officiating suck. The call aginst Slater was probably a dive, but the interference call on Todd White when he wasn’t even touching the goalie is absolute b.s.
That said, this is a good test game. The Avs are a much more competitive team than the Panthers.
Smoothie
February 10th, 2010
11:03 pm
Antropov from Little and bergfors!! 3 to 1 now. Great BACKCHECK and hustle by Little and Bergie. C’mon boys.
Smoothie
February 10th, 2010
11:22 pm
Damn it! Got the 2 goal lead and relaxed. Gotta keep skating!!
Yung JB from MTL
February 10th, 2010
11:34 pm
damn poor defense on that goal… Enstrom just got out of the way and bogosian couldnt hit… COME ON ! good game well played, until they got the lead… tough luck
Smoothie
February 10th, 2010
11:35 pm
What a pathetic choke on defense by Bogo and Toby in the OT off the faceoff!! Great effort wasted. Jeezus. Guess you could call incremental progress as they played hard for 50 mins. WTF?
R. Stroz
February 10th, 2010
11:35 pm
Bogosian may have talent , but he is just plain STUPID.
Send Bogo to Chicago for an education with Chelios.
Stay Thirsty My Friends
February 10th, 2010
11:36 pm
What a kick in the nuts – we had a nice 3-1 lead on the road and to let it slip by is inexcusable. Bogo was horrible on that last goal. The only semi-good thing is we at least got 1 point.
Badger Bob
February 10th, 2010
11:42 pm
NJ, get used to reading this in your papers:
“I did not think this was Ilya’s best game,” Lemaire said. “I think he looked a little tired — maybe the travel got to him.” Kovalchuk has two assists, 23 shots and a minus-2 rating in four games with the Devils.
Brendan
February 10th, 2010
11:46 pm
Do you think Ron Hainsey is embarrased yet? That overtime winning goal by Colorado was the dictionary definition of whack-a-mole defense. (Copyright, Poster Sara, all rights reserved.)
While, at moments like these, people will scream, “Trade Hainsey.” I don’t know that is the solution. Though, it is tempting.
Hainsey has three years left on his deal, at $4.5 million apiece.
Tony C.
February 10th, 2010
11:50 pm
WHAT
THE !^@K!!??!?!?!?!?!!?!????
Beyond inexcusable.
Clinic on how not to play “D”
I can’t believe Coach was out taking an interview less than 10min. after that goal.
I know it’s not his style to single out guys, but wow-maybe he’s giving them the silent treatment before he comes and rips them a new @sshole.
Seriously, that was the worst.
Hockey Biltong
February 11th, 2010
12:08 am
MATT Thanks ! i knew it was something like that…..
Smoothie
February 11th, 2010
12:11 am
Hainsey wasn’t on the ice in OT. That goal was on Bogo.
Time to call up Kulda and put the fear of God in Bogosian! Or just trade everyone.
Damn, why am I so gullible as to think these guys might give us reason to hope?
R. Stroz
February 11th, 2010
12:16 am
Time to call up Kulda and put the fear of God in Bogosian!
AMEN, and maybe, Chelios can teach him how to use the apparatus located between his two ears. After that, Chelios can teach him how to move his feet instead of lounging while players skate by him.
Brendan
February 11th, 2010
12:22 am
Jimbo, of course it’s easy to evaluate drafts with benefit of hindsight. Luckily for me, I was here and on record thennnnn … as saying, “Why are we drafting a goalie here, at #2 overall? Let’s go get one from free agency instead, so we don’t have to spend YEARS and YEARS and YEARS developing him?”
But hey, I can see Waddell’s point, too. If he really, truly believed, as he CLAIMED, that Kari was going to be the goalie who ’stole playoff series for us,’ then he’s got to pull the trigger. Was Kari the top rated goaltender prospect of his draft class? Yes. Unanimously. Kari was the pony to bet on, per the scouts. My point is this. I didn’t think we had the time to burn, back then, to wait for Kari to be ready. I thought we had to select either Nash or Bouwmeester.
But, I also don’t possess all the facts. Giving Waddell the benefit of the doubt, what he if went to ownership and asked to claim Curtis Joseph off of waivers in 2002, for $8 million-per-season, with two more years left at that price? What if ownership said, “No Don, you want a goalie, draft one.” In that situation, Waddell’s hands are tied, and he simply must pick a goalie, for ownership is too cheap to let him pluck one from free agency or off of the waiver wire.
But if the decision was uniquely and exclusively Waddell’s, then yes … I do blame him. And I do question his judgement at that moment of the franchise history. Remember, he had Heatley, Stefan and Kovalchuk already. He also had Ferraro. And he could have kept Audette and Brunette, Donovan and Staios earlier, to really be building something. Instead, we had “zero sum” economics at play. Where players weren’t being added. They were merely being replaced. And that’s not how you build something. Not really.
R. Stroz
February 11th, 2010
12:22 am
Also, Bergie looks good so far.
However, if we don’t have someone in Chicago that could be more productive than Todd “Insert name used to descibe Bucky Dent” White, our farm system sucks.
stendec
February 11th, 2010
12:33 am
Morning Bill.
Who were those heartless losers who showed up for the third period/overtime? What did they do to the team which competed so valiantly for the first 40 minutes?
Team will not recover from this wholesale giveup debacle.
Few Thrasher losses have hit me in the gut more than this ultimate choke job in Colorado last night. I was ready to proclaim this victory the start of a strong push toward the playoffs. It was the death kneel instead. I was never prouder of the Thrashers as I was over the first two periods. They hustled, played defense, played aggressive, played physical and looked like a playoff team. Then they simply quit. Packed up the gear. Went into serious do not give a shet pre Olympic mode. This was such an extreme disappointment. How much confidence did – DID – I have in this group? So much so that I considered a 3-1 lead after two periods a lock with Johan Moose Hedberg in net. No gag job here with Pavs on the bench and Kari Lehtonen in Texas. Fooled my a$$ big time. New guys played a defensive system in New Jersey? Have not played a damn lick of defense in Atlanta. I do not know who the sons of betches were that watched passively as a player skated between them to net the overtime winner but they should be benched. That was beyond embarrassing. I do not absolve Moose of his share of the responsibility. Two if not three goals were of the marshmallow variety. Completely unacceptable during a time when every point is so damn critical. You let me down big fellow. Used to it from other Thrashers but not from you. Oh well. Play a few more close ones quitters then hit the links when the playoffs get underway. The more things change…++STENDEC++ Spare me about the point bullset. This was a defeat!
Smoothie
February 11th, 2010
12:35 am
I like what I’m seeing from Bergie as well. How can you not? All 3 seem to complement each other well. But we got nothing from the 2nd line. At this point, I’d rather see Kane or Army instead of White. Call up Crabb to take Army’s spot on the 3rd line and make Kozlov and White arm wrestle for a spot on the 4th line.
Brendan
February 11th, 2010
12:49 am
R.Stroz, my guess is Armstrong. I think he wants out. If the Thrashers are suffering from PPDS, then his is another contract to move to save money during the Olympic break. I wish Colby well.
Bob is right about Max. His salary is such a pittance that it’s not worth trying to save anything on his deal.
If it had been up to me, I would have moved Moose. Hear me out, okay? He’s a 37 year old career backup. He’s not the future. And his trade value, for whatever it’s worth, is at its highest point RIGHT NOW. Think “should have traded Todd White while the market was still good.” That applies here, to Moose. Especially if it’s true that the “firesale” is on. Firesaling the team means they’re not trying for the playoffs. Well, we don’t really know that just yet. But we’ll know it soon. If there is a firesale, then Moose has to be a part of it.
R.Stroz, if I’m permitted one “off the board” trade, I’m going with Nik Antropov. Antro signed here to be Ilya’s center for the next three years, plus this one. That’s over now. He *may* approach Waddell extremely privately to inquire, “Don, if your shopping players, I’m fine with a trade.” The risk there, for Antropov, is not knowing where he’d be going, with 3 years left on his deal. What if it’s Phoenix??? Is Phoenix where Antropov wants to go?? I couldn’t tell ya. Though, the Coyotes are in playoff position, and don’t appear to be folding their tent this year.
While I’m still “off the board,” R.Stroz, Ron Hainsey could be a piece that is moved. After tonight’s whack-a-mole performance in overtime, he seems to have mentally checked out. Someone has to remind him the Olympic break isn’t here just yet.
Kubina simply must be moved, if there’s a “firesale.” If Kubina wants to stay, NOWWWWWW is the time to renegotiate the contract. I doubt he wants to stay. If he does, would he be willing to accept $3.5 million? He makes $5.0 million now. And Hainsey makes $4.5 million. I think Kubina’s better than Hainsey.