How 'Bout a Little Love for Bryan??

As the long, languid days of July drag on towards what seems like a never-ending close, my thoughts have drifted recently to that of Bryan Little and his ongoing contract negotiations. Little, who is a restricted free-agent without arbitration rights, is (Credit: Kevin Cox, Getty Images) only 22 years old and coming off a very disappointing 2009-10 campaign. Little was stricken by the dreaded, and over-hyped, "sophomore slump." But the way I see it is that Bryan simply had a bad year, not much different from the Thrashers as a team each and every time they donned the not-so-burgundy Thursday night duds in "Blueland" last season. Little should have no problem bouncing back to the 20-goal plateau, at the very least, with a "normal" season in which his shooting percentage remains right around his career average of 12%.

At any rate, I've been thinking a lot about Bryan's struggles last season in light of the fact we should be receiving word any day now about a (hopefully) long-term contract extension for the Thrashers pivot-man turned winger. Last season, Bryan's production took a dip similar to that of an aging vet whose skills have deserted him. After eclipsing the 30-goal mark in just his first 82-game season, Little was not hardly tickled by his inability to dent the twine behind enemy netminders. While his shot totals were on par with that of his previous season, his shooting percentage dropped deeper than the mercury on a late autumn day in Cambridge, Ontario.

Recently, a couple of players, who possess a similar skill-set, have settled on contract terms in favor of arbitration hearings that could yield more ill-will in the short-run than actual analytic accuracy. To wit: now former Thrasher, Clarke MacArthur, a slightly older and arguably less talented player than Little, received an unexpectedly large arbitration award of $2.4 M. Unfortunatley for the "General" -- about as inapt a nickname as there ever was -- the Thrashers said "no thanks" and let him skate away as an unrestricted free-agent. Surely Bryan's astute agent took note of this and a few other contracts finalized in recent days.

On Monday, speedy Canucks' forward Mason Raymond -- he should be "The Attorney" if Todd White is "The Accountant" and Slava Kozlov "The Professor" -- plea-bargained his way around arbitration by agreeing to a 2-year deal worth a total of $5.1 M. Raymond managed to capitalize on his surging production of a year ago, in which he potted 25 goals after only 11 the year before. In addition, New York Islanders' winger, Matt Moulson, the most surprising recent entrant into the 30-goal scorer's club, made out like a finance major from Cornell -- his alma mater -- on Wall Street with a one-year deal worth $2.45 M. Strangely, GM Garth Snow opted to let him attempt to build on his success and inflate his value even more by not locking him up for several years. Perhaps Snow has less faith in him than their reward of $2.45 M shows!?

So what does this mean for a player like Bryan Little, who has shown as many flashes of brilliance as flame-outs when it comes to scoring the puck in his short career? It's hard to say because the Thrashers are not exactly known for tipping their hand in any negotiation not involving Ilya Kovalchuk. Certainly Bryan's agent will come to the negotiating table with a hi-lite reel of Little's best goals, most of which were scored in high-traffic areas -- not easy for a kid of his relatively small stature -- during the 2008-09 season. During that season, Bryan Little's hands and ability to pop the puck home made us think he might be the next Peter Bondra. However, in 2009-10, Little's production was more reminiscent of Pascal Dupuis.

But hopefully for Little, his agent can prove that the value of his character, work-ethic and class as an individual are worth as much as his hockey skill and potential. Without a doubt Bryan busts his tail on every shift and he rarely leaves the ice with his full VO2 lung capacity intact. His hustle and willingness to back-check relentlessly will surely win him some points with GM Rick Dudley. In my opinion, it would behoove the Thrashers' brass to lock up Bryan for at least three years so the total dollars aren't quite as high as they might be in an arbitration situation. If Clarke MacArthur, who has never scored more than 17 goals in a season, can "earn" $2.4 M, and Mason Raymond and Matt Moulson, who are very comparable in terms of accomplishments as young players, can both command in upwards of $2.4 M, then doesn't it stand to reason that Bryan Little is worth at least $2.5 or even $2.6 M per season for 3 years?