2009-10 NHL Season Preview: Atlanta Thrashers

by James Mirtle on Sep 15, 2009 7:00 AM CDT Comment 12 comments

More photos » by Gregory Smith - AP

Who's in: Nik Antropov, Pavel Kubina
Who's out: Garnet Exelby, Eric Perrin

Outlook: As with every off-season, there were challenges for the Thrashers.

GM Don Waddell's budget comes in right around $48-million this season, making Atlanta one of the NHL's lower spending teams, albeit one with one of the bigger payroll rises over last season. Complicating matters is the fact marquee free agents often aren't interested in joining what has been — but for one season — a non-playoff team in a "non-traditional" market.

Making do with the hand he has, however, Waddell did improve his club over the summer, adding veteran blueliner Pavel Kubina in a trade without surrendering much to Toronto and signing another former Leaf in big Kazakh Nik Antropov. Both should help complement what was already the ninth-highest scoring team and a strong power play unit.

Further growth from the team's younger top forwards — namely Bryan Little and Colby Armstrong — will also help solidify what's become an underrated attack under coach John Anderson.

Where there are still concerns is in terms of on the blueline and in goal, and No. 1 netminder Kari Lehtonen's health is going to be a major factor in any playoff push the Thrashers make (he enters the season attempting to return from back surgery). Expect Anderson to begin to lean heavily on 19-year-old blueliner Zach Bogosian on the back end, as Atlanta desperately needs him to build on the progress he made late last season and make the Thrashers zone more difficult to play in.

What it should add up to is a minor improvement for Atlanta, with the potential of a low playoff seed if everything goes according to plan.

X-factor: Bryan Little

For a more in-depth Thrashers preview, visit Bird Watchers Anonymous
For more NHL analysis, check out the McKeen's Hockey Yearbook

Poll

Where will the Thrashers finish in the Eastern Conference this season?

1

8 votes

2

1 votes

3

3 votes

4

4 votes

5

3 votes

6

6 votes

7

29 votes

8

46 votes

9

21 votes

10

52 votes

11

43 votes

12

64 votes

13

54 votes

14

59 votes

15

27 votes

420 votes | Poll has closed

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Comments

Great to see you do a season preview on us. You know the thing that stunned the most Thrashers fans last season was Rich Peverley’s performance. Acquired off waivers from Nashville we thought he might just be good for a 3rd liner or depth player, but something about his play just clicked here. He scored, he helped others score, and even played on our top line with Kovalchuk. And he’s great on the PK too. According to the coach he’s slated to begin next season the 2nd line. This guy could become a star in Atlanta.

by ThrashersRecaps on Sep 15, 2009 7:29 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

I wouldn’t expect too much. There have been guys like Peverley that have gone on hot streaks for one season with a new team only to come down to reality in the next season and beyond (Eric Bougeniecki comes to mind). He can still be a useful player, though.

Hockey blogging can't get any flatter.

by saskhab on Sep 15, 2009 10:06 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Goaltending is the number one issue facing the team to be sure. No one has had the success of Kari – not Moose and certainly not Pavelec. Someone will have to step up to the challenge, including Kari when he returns.

But second to that will be if the team can pick up right where they left off. Their stretch run was impressive and certainly heartening. As long as they continue to commit to operating as a cohesive five man unit on both ends of the ice, the core of Anderson’s system, the defense should improve.

Thirdly, the PK will be crucial. It was horrid for most of last season, but again, during the end stretch it was significantly improved. The losses of both Perrin and Stuart during the off-season will hurt the PK, so again, someone else will need to step up. The most likely candidates would be White and Kozlov. They are both effective penalty killers but their utilization in that role was limited due to their utilization on the PP. With the addition of Antropov, along with the options of our any of the top 4 d-men on the points instead of Kovalchuk, both White and Kozlov should see less PP time, freeing them up for more PK ice time instead.

by WINGZ_25 on Sep 15, 2009 7:36 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

The Thrashers play five of their first six games on the road:this team cannot afford another disastrous October like last year (6 points in 10 games). With goaltending problematic, there’s a risk that may happen.

The Southeast Division has never sent three teams to the playoffs (10 seasons). Even allowing for a significant improvement by the Thrashers, somebody (somebodies) is going to have to stumble badly for this team to make the playoffs.

by Big Picture Guy on Sep 15, 2009 7:52 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Am I the only person that doesn’t see the Hurricanes as a lock?

Hockey blogging can't get any flatter.

by saskhab on Sep 15, 2009 10:04 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

And am I the only person that doesn’t see the Capitals as a lock to win that division either?

To answer your question though, I don’t see them as a lock for a top 4-5 seed like some outlets have them as. I still have them making the playoffs though.

by Afino on Sep 15, 2009 3:40 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

The Thrashers and so many other teams are big question marks. I won’t be surprised if they finish 8th, nor 15th. All the teams save New York Islanders that are on the playoff bubble in the East are like that.

by red army line on Sep 15, 2009 8:02 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs