The Atlanta Thrashers turned to a familiar face from outside of the organization to help fill an injury void.
Atlanta signed unrestricted free agent Tim Stapleton to a contract on Tuesday. The 28-year-old center will join the team in Denver in time for Atlanta’s showdown with the Colorado Avalanche.
He notched 15 points (eight goals and seven assists) in 20 games for the San Antonio Rampage of the American Hockey League. His plus-seven rating was second on the team. The Illinois-native spent much of last season with Atlanta’s top farm team after he was acquired in a trade that shipped Garnett Exelby to the Toronto Maple Leafs before the 2009-10 campaign.
Stapleton scored 30 goals and added 29 assists in 70 games for the Chicago Wolves last season before joining the Thrashers late in the year where he scored a pair of goals in six games for the parent club.
Atlanta needed to add a center into the mix after Alex Burmistrov missed most of the third period of the club’s 4-1 win over the Boston Bruins after sustaining an injury in the second period. Boston’s Daniel Paille ran into the young first round pick, pushing him into the boards as he finished his check.
Burmistrov did not practice on Monday, but made the trip to Colorado.
The Thrashers also made another move on Tuesday, activating center Patrice Cormier off of injured reserve and assigning him to the Wolves. The 20-year-old center broke his foot blocking a shot on the last day of prospect camp.
Cormier, the captain of the silver medal-winning Canadian junior team last season, was expected to vie for a bid in Atlanta’s everyday lineup, before the injury derailed his season.
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