Evander Kane, seen here chasing Tampa Bay's
Martin St. Louis in the Thrashers' 5-1 exhibition loss
on Sunday, has made the team and hopes to
contribute on Atlanta's third line. (AP Photo/John
Amis)
Duluth, Ga. (Examiner.com) -- The Atlanta Thrashers kicked off the end of their preseason with their yearly media luncheon on Thursday.
And as always (or at least in the four years I’ve been covering this event for various media outlets), it was a picture perfect day at the Ice Forum in Duluth.
General Manager Don Waddell and coach John Anderson addressed the media for about a half-hour or so, answering a variety of questions from the status of Ilya Kovalchuk’s contract negotiations to the Thrashers in the Olympics.
Here are a smattering of some of the intriguing topics discussed on Wednesday.
Contract negotiations continue with Kovalchuk. Waddell indicated that there is nothing new on the negotiations with the team’s franchise player. However, the team continues to negotiate with Kovalchuk’s agent Jay Grossman.
“We continue to talk,” Waddell said. “We’ll talk through the weekend. We got more talks scheduled in the next few days. It’s an ongoing process. There’s no deadline.”
Waddell also said that the team and the player have exchanged salary numbers with each other.
However, ESPN.com’s E.J. Hradek reported Tuesday that the Thrashers may have to show some on-ice improvement before the parties can come to a deal.
Kane made the team and is here to play. Anderson made it clear on Wednesday that if Evander Kane is on the roster, he’s not here to sit and observe.
There will be no benching of Atlanta’s No. 4 overall pick like what the New York Islanders did to Jason Spezza his rookie year. Kane will likely play alongside Marty Reasoner and Richard Peverley or Colby Armstrong on Atlanta’s third line and spend some time on the penalty kill.
“He’s going to get some penalty killing time,” Anderson said. “We got a lot of good offensive players. With him able to score so freely in juniors, we like him on the power play (as well). We have to get him acclimated.”
Anderson and Waddell both reiterated that the team has no plans to return Kane to his juniors club after playing nine games for the Thrashers at this point in time.
“We (are not going) to place Evander Kane on the bench,” Anderson said. Will he play as much as Ilya Kovalchuk? Probably not. We’re just still playing it by ear. He’s going to get ice time right away.”
Under the NHL’s collective bargaining agreement, 18-year-old players who are not eligible to participate in the American Hockey League are not credited for a year’s service time if they appear in less than 10 NHL games in their rookie campaign.
Likely pencil Afinogenov into the second line. Although it wasn’t officially stated, all indications are that Maxim Afinogenov should start on Atlanta’s second line as Anderson mentioned in passing that Mad Max will play alongside Todd White and Slava Kozlov.
One can assume that Peverley and Armstrong will be interchanged on the third line, and may see time on the fourth line of Eric Boulton, Jim Slater and Chris Thorburn.
The roster will be at 23, for now. The Thrashers submitted a roster of 22 players to the league at the 3:00 PM deadline on Wednesday and did not have to make a move because the contracts of Afinogenov and Mark Popovic had not been officially approved by the league.
Atlanta will place goaltender Kari Lehtonen on the injured reserve list when the paperwork for the two new Thrashers is rubber stamped on Thursday to get the club to the NHL maximum of 23 players.
However, Waddell indicated that given the lack of games early in the schedule, the club would like to trim the roster down one more player, carrying just one extra forward and one extra blueliner.
Barring a trade, it is likely that enforcer Josh Gratton would be the player demoted to the AHL’s Chicago Wolves.
However, Atlanta may seek to move a forward to another team. (I think you can read between the lines from this notebook to figure out which Atlanta forwards could be likely headed out the door).
Miscellaneous notes. Nathan Oystrick cleared waivers, but has not been assigned to Chicago yet.
Manny Legace has been offered a contract to man the nets for the Wolves. He mulling over the offer while looking into goaltending opportunities in Europe.
Lehtonen began light skating but has yet to put on pads or man the net in practice. Waddell would not put a timetable on his return.
Waddell thinks that as many as five Thrashers players will make their country’s Olympic teams. However, there could be as many as seven Atlanta participants.
Quote of the afternoon: Anderson on the Thrashers’ season opener against the Tampa Bay Lightning after their poor showing in the club’s final preseason game against the Bolts: “Hopefully, we set the trap for Tampa Bay”
Comments