Oh Mon Dieu!! Merde...I Almond...

It just keeps getting better and better:

@DarrenDreger -- "courtesy: Jamie Bell/TSN.ca. If it is 15 yrs..$100 mil, that equals a cap hit of $6.66 for the Devils. Sign of the beast!! hahaha."

I hope this was indeed done on purpose by Kovy's agent as that would be sublime.

UPDATED SHIT FROM EARLIER (including renouncement of the Devil and all of his empty promises):

Jesus H....I mean, damn it all to hell! Damn Devils, may they drown in the swamp of misfortune no longer. So let it be written, so let it be done already!! For Christ's sake! Oh, I mean, for the love of fukin' Allah! Let these NHL Front Office infidels approve the damn deal already so we can move on with our lives!

NEWEST TWEETS OF REMORSE (from Tom Gulitti of course):

"I hate to do this, but i'm told now that it is not done yet with NHL."

"I'm told NHL has not completed review and it's more than a formality, but latest proposal addressed previously rejected concepts."

Come on Gulitti, what is this? Amateur hour? Oh wait. Nevermind. I almost almond again!

AUTHOR'S NOTE: the term "almond" is my personal slang for mis-speaking or saying something perhaps you shouldn't have said just yet. Tom Gulitti almond regrettably. You'd think he'd have learned by now!

THE SHIT FROM BEFORE:

Finally, and mercifully, the Kovalchuk saga may be drawing to a close. Thank the good Lord in Heaven above, because I'm sick and tired of reading about Kovy and his stupid contract!

From the tweety box in Jersey:

@TGfireandice: "It's looking like Devils got a thumbs up on a contract proposal with Kovalchuk. Waiting for a confirmation."

@TGfireandice: "OK. This is a little late because others are saying it's done too, but I did get second confirmation on league thumbs up."

Okay, now who wants to start some Bergfors trade rumors!!?

Should GM Dudley Consider an Offer Sheet??

As recent as Monday, Craig Custance reported that GM Rick Dudley "touched base" with Lee Stempniak's agent in an effort to gauge his client's contract hopes / expectations / demands. Esteemed ajc.com blogger -- and friend of this blog -- submitted a salient piece on Tuesday evening about the possibility of bringing in a player of Stempniak's caliber to address the Thrashers' seeming lack of proven scoring punch in their top six. However, this blogger is more inclined to wonder if it would make more sense to go after a pending RFA like Peter Mueller, James Neal or even Andrew Cogliano to solidify the line-up for years to come.

Obviously, the most coveted of yet-to-sign RFA's would have to be stud winger and Olympian Bobby Ryan, whose contract negotiations have sputtered and stalled due to a disagreement over the term of his new deal. Ryan would prefer a 3-year deal (perhaps because he would be arbitration-eligible at the end of 3 years) over the Ducks' offer of a 5-year deal. The Ducks' GM Bryan Murray has said repeatedly on record that he is committed to signing Ryan no matter what, even if some other GM were to swoop in and offer him mad bank. Money does not seem to be the issue in that situation, so I doubt any GM would be willing to even try to pry him loose. Plus, paying Ryan in upwards of $6 M per year in addition to forking over four draft picks (2 1st rounders plus a 2nd & 3rd) isn't really palatable for any team.

So that brings us to the likes of Mueller, Cogliano, Neal or Sam Gagner, perhaps even Martin Hanzal, who could become such a target if the cash-strapped Coyotes blink first and over-commit big dollars to Lee Stempniak and/or Mueller before getting around to Hanzal. See, it is rather unusual for this many RFA's to be waiting for contracts this late into the off-season. It is nearly September and training camps are right over the horizon. While there may be a flurry of RFA signing activity in the weeks to come, the fact that so many players have yet to sign may make them personally more amenable to a sweet offer from another team. Especially if their current team may be limited financially in what it can provide that player for even a 3-year commitment.

That's why the idea of slapping an offer sheet on the likes of Peter Mueller or James Neal is so intriguing. Both Phoenix and Dallas have financial issues that may preclude them from matching a reasonable offer. With strict internal budgets in place, those teams are in very tenuous positions already and have limited recourse for matching a solid offer. And to be honest, some of those teams may prefer to stock their drafting quivers with a few bows to use in the upcoming 2011 draft. On top of that, the Thrashers seem poised to make some noise this year regardless of whether they bring in additional talent for the upcoming season. Lastly, Rick Dudley knows (or at least thinks he knows) that he may end up drafting in the middle of the pack next spring and that may be reason enough for him to roll the dice on a player like Neal or Mueller at the cost of a couple of picks in the next draft.

So, just what is the price of "claiming" a player like Mueller or Neal? Well it depends on the player's current forecasted salary range. Neal might be the most logical from the standpoint of what Dallas can afford to pay. And considering Neal only made $822 K last season, his new salary range is probably still hovering around $3.0 - $3.5 M per season. If Atlanta were to offer slightly more than $3.5 M per year, which is probably what it would take to pry him loose, the Thrashers would have to give up 2 draft picks: a 1st and a 3rd rounder in 2011.

That doesn't seem too steep when you've already drafted cornerstone pieces Evander Kane and Zach Bogosian in the early rounds the last two years. For a player of Mueller's potential -- although his concussion history is making him less attractive -- and ability, the Thrashers might have to ante-up closer to $4.0 - $4.64 M, which is the upper limit threshold on additional draft pick compensation. At $4.65 M and higher, the Thrashers would then have to give up all 3 of their top selections at next year's draft.

But is that too steep a price to pay? For a player like Mueller, perhaps. But for a player like James Neal, who has averaged over 25 goals in each of his first two seasons, a large contract offer to him might make a lot of sense. At 6' 2", 210 lbs, he is the type of net-crashing LW the Thrashers covet. While Evander Kane is cut from the same mold, the idea of having a player like Neal to augment the Thrashers' top six is quite attractive. And considering the fact that two or three recent draftees -- Patrice Cormier, Arturs Kulda, Spencer Machacek, Carl Klingberg and Paul Postma should all be in the mix for rosters spots over the next 2 years -- stand to crack the Thrashers' line-up this year, why not risk 2 or 3 picks next year for a more proven goal scorer with upside?

In addition to James Neal, a player like Chris Stewart, who broke out last year with a suprising 28 goals for Colorado, might be ripe for the picking since Colorado is another financially constrained team reluctant to spend big money on Stewart when they know how expensive it will be to lock up Duchene, Mueller, Galiardi and Cumiskey in the next several years. Of course, some may argue that Atlanta is no different as a team in a struggling market with unstable ownership who may not be able to match a counter-offer on a player like Nicklas Bergfors. However, the Atlanta Spirit Group does not have any debt to worry about and, assuming they can find additional investors to boost the capital influx, the idea of eventually spending in upwards of $55 M per season and pushing closer to max cap may not be that farfetched.

But I'll let you the reader make the call after perusing this brief summary of the numbers put up by the above-mentioned players during their short tenures in the NHL:

(C) P. Mueller......($1.7 M) - 48 G & 79 A (222 games); .57 PPG avg

(C) S. Gagner.......($1.63 M) - 44 G & 87 A (223 gms); .59 PPG avg

(C) A. Cogliano.....($1.13 M) - 46 G & 65 A (246 gms); .45 PPG avg

(C) M. Hanzal.......($980 K) - 30 G & 69 A (227 gms); .44 PPG avg

(W) C. Stewart.....($850 K) - 39 G & 44 A (130 gms); .64 PPG avg

(W) J. Neal..........($822 K) - 51 G & 41 A (155 gms); .59 PPG avg

Thrashers Now Have Justin Bieber Street Cred

Guess who really likes the Thrashers?? I mean reeeaaally likes us?

Twitter-based hockey pimp and former goalie Kevin Weekes!!

Check zee quotes via Craigy Custance of the Sporting News:

SN (Custance): Which team has improved the most this summer?

(Kevin) Weekes: "I would say Atlanta. I just like the fact that they got winners in Dustin Byfuglien, Brent Sopel, Ben Eager and Andrew Ladd. G.M. Rick Dudley is reshaping the culture down there. They have young, hungry players who play well, and they’ve brought in winners."

Weekes: "I like some of what Tampa has done. It would be Tampa or Atlanta. The key thing Tampa has done is get (new G.M.) Steve Yzerman. I really like that. I like that they were able to re-sign Marty St. Louis, and it seems like Vinny (Lecavalier) is happy there. Both those scenarios had a chance to go sideways."

And then there's this little twit-nugget in reply to the following question: "@KevinWeekes Kevin, in your opinion, who is the most underrated gm in the league?"

Kevin's reply? "@gotitotti Jim Rutherford, David Poile, and Rick Dudley."

Okay, so Weekesie isn't without his faults in his mention of Tampa (snicker). But in order to keep his press credentials, he is required to ride the Stevie Y bandwagon because it's the chic thing to do. But the Thrashers? They're never chic. K-Dub knows his hockey and he knows an up and coming team when he sees one! Just like that plucky bunch from Tampa for whom he netminded in 2000 before some guy named Khabibulin came along and stole his, well, thunder. Regardless of whom he hangs out with in airports, I like the fact that Kevin thinks the Thrashers can catch some "lightning in a bottle" this season, Phoenix Coyotes style.

Now if we can just talk Justin Bieber into blowing up the twitterverse -- like he did with Kevin Weekes' twitter account -- with proclamations and exhortations about the Thrashers and their "tightness" as a hockey team....

That may be just enough to bring down more than the twitter.com servers. It may be enough to open a gaping hole in the universe large enough to swallow up Gary Bettman's ego!

UPDATE: Kevin Weekes is universally known as a nice guy. And this is why:

@KevinWeekes - @j_barty_party "Thanks! You guys have made some good moves this summer!"

ATBT will make a point to conduct its first official twitter-based interview with Kevin Weekes.

Bryan Little Gets Paid...Finally

According to Nick Kypreos -- the real "Kyper" as opposed to the fake one who doesn't know shit -- Thrashers winger / center Bryan Little has finally been signed to a new contract which will pay him in upwards of $7 M over the next 3 years. The best part of this deal, for Thrashers fans at least, is that it keeps Bryan under contract for 3 years. The best part for Bryan is that it pays him $3 M in year 3 after *only* paying him $1.65 M this year. The second year is worth $2.5 M, which is in line with what I thought his deal should be worth, and slightly higher than his Cap hit of $2.383 M.

So other than the club accountant's penchant for weird figures as yearly salary averages, what does this contract mean? Are they (the ASG) saving cash this year until they find another sucker, I mean, investor to pony up some loot to help stop the hemmoraghing of cash from their treasure chest? Or are they saving some Cap room for a big trade or acquisition to occur in the next 4 or 5 weeks before training camp? Time will tell and Thrashers' fans are destined to be disappointed again. But this blogger is cautiously optimistic for the upcoming season regardless of what the ASG does or doesn't do to buoy our confidence as fans.

Under-handed, Sneaky Thrashers Finalize Zubarev Deal

Why must our organization be so sneaky and evasive when it comes to announcing free-agent signings or pretty much any contract for that matter? It seems like they want their fans to be the last ones to know anything news related when it comes to management decisions and/or especially free-agent or new player contracts. No wonder Thrashers fans hate themselves so much. Anyway, Zubarev's Entry-Level Contract should be announced soon or, in other words, by the end of next week. Perhaps they may even let Bryan Little have some money to play hockey in the weeks leading up to training camp?

ADDENDUM: Despite the appearance of disdain and bitterness in the paragraph above, I will commed the Thrashers' brass for actually signing someone, anyone, to something other than a 1-year deal. While Zubarev's ELC is not for the typical 3-year time period, Zubarev isn't your typical entry-level player. He's a 23 year-old veteran from the KHL who will be looking to not only make a name for himself in the next two years, but also get paid handsomely when he turns 25 should he nail down a permanent spot on the Thrashers' blueline.

The best part about signing yet another defenseman is the fact that there will be some serious competition in training camp for the bottom 2, and perhaps even bottom 3, spots on the blueline. In addition to likely starters Zach Bogosian, Tobias Enstrom, Ron Hainsey, Johnny Oduya and Brent Sopel (assuming he actually reports to camp), the Thrashers will be auditioning the following players: 22 y/o Latvian rookie Arturs Kulda, who appears more than ready to play at the NHL level, hard-hitting, 29 y/o journeyman Freddy Meyer, 6' 7" giant "homeboy" Boris Valabik, newly signed 25 y/o Russian defector Andrei Zubarev and lanky, smooth-skating Paul Postma, who possesses all the raw talent in the world, but lacks wisdom and experience when it comes to the finer points of stopping the other team's forwards. There are a few other free-agent journeyman chumps coming to camp as well, but they are rather long shots to play anything more than occasional call-up minutes in the even of a disastrous, injury-plagued regular season campaign.

No Phoney Baloney! Thrash Hire Freddy Meyer!

BREAKING NEWS OFF ZEE TWITTER!!

I don't know much about this guy, but if memory serves, he's a pretty decent stay-at-home D-man who likes to play a physical brand of hockey. Hopefully, he can do it in a more responsible manner than Christophe Schubert, who seems to have a bad habit of ending up in the sin-bin.

But nevertheless, we still love ya Schubie!!

You are zeeeee (Ger)MAN!!!

UPDATE VIA BLUELAND BLOGGITY BLOGGING BY THE BEN WRIGHT:

http://bluelandblog.com/2010/08/19/thrashers-sign-freddy-meyer/

And yes, what about this Andrei Zubarev character? Will he sign or won't he? I'm sure he's thrilled to see we hired one Freddy Meyer. Don't be crestfallen Andrei; we need your Russian stoicism and "enigmatic" cerebrealism on the ice. Please come to A-town for the fall-time.

In other more important news, a bull in Spain exacted some measure of revenge for centuries of abuse by humans. The ring shall run red with the blood of the non-bull-ievers!!

ADDITIONAL "BIG" NEWS UPDATE: The Thrashers have brought in yet another former player who was once coached or hired (or both) by GM Rick Dudley. This time, in hiring Clint Malarchuk, who has dodged death by skate and by gun alreaday in his 49 years, the Thrashers have finally fulfilled the long-running need for some type of goalie-coaching instructor to provided tutelage and wisdom to our young netminders. Apparently, Malarchuk will be serving as a "satellite" coach who will float from place to place imparting his knowledge of carotid arteries upon Ondrej Pavelec as well as prospects Edward Pasquale, Chris Carozzi and Alex Kangas.

Perhaps Malarchuk will even spend some time schmoozing in Sweden to check on the up and coming goalie prodigy Fredrik Pettersson-Wentzel, who is neither a relative of Thrashers' forward hopeful, Fredrik Petterrson, or the golfer Carl Pettersson, who has probably enjoyed a fair number of tasty pretzels -- see Wentzel rhymes with pretzel and it's similar to Wetzel's -- at NC State football games. By the way Carl, we here, I mean me, are pulling hard for you to bag another win at the tourney in Greensboro, NC this week. Good luck!!

If you would like to read more about this historic organizational move, please refer to the esteemed and famous Blueland Chronicle as they have covered every angle of this story.

Does Big Buff Love Us or Doth He Mock Us?

Here is big Dustin Byfuglien hoisting the Stanley Cup on what is probably his parents front lawn in Roseau, MN. Now the question that begs to be asked is: why is he wearing a Thrashers jersey whilst holding THE trophy of trophies in all of professional sporting lore?

Is he trying to be funny? Is he mocking the city of Atlanta by teasing us with visions of splendor that probably will not come to fruition in the immediate near future? Perhaps he is just afraid of the potential fall-out from twittering fans in Atlanta who might be offended if he were to don a Blackhawks jersey this late into the off-season? Or is he really sending a message to his new team's fans about how serious he is about bringing this big-ass chalice back to A-town? Or does Big Buff simply like how the cobalt blue compliments his complexion?

My guess is that he is publicly, and purposefully, serving notice to Atlanta-based rap-star Lil' Jon that his big-ass chalice of crunkitude is nothing in comparison to Lord Stanley's big-ass chalice, from which Byfuglien plans to be drinking again in late July or early August of 2011. Fine by me. Bring it home Big Buff!! And welcome to the ATL.

Oh yeah, don't forget to pick up your very own "crunk cup" for our season of destiny's run to the big-ass Cup!! Replace your 24 ounce domestic from Gorin's with a large cup of crizz-unk!!

Yeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!! What?! Okay.

Do svidan’ya Max!! Udachi!!

Now we pause to say goodbye and offer up our thanks to Maxim "Crazy Legs" Afinogenov for his hard work, skating acrobatics and dramatic goal-scoring this past season at Blueland. He gave us his best for one year and we cannot begrudge him for securing a five-year deal to wrap up his hockey career.

From the "tweety" machine: @dchesnokov: Max Afginogenov will sign a 5 year contract with KHL's SKA, KHL Pres Medvedev announced today.

All we can do is wish Max the best and, just like Pete Rock, "reminisce over you, my God!"

"Smaximum Finnies" Greatest Thrashers Hits!!

BREAKING NEWS: Swedes Dominate Fins...

...in the first period of play at the USA Hockey National Junior Evaluation Camp! Why is this important??

Because two up and coming Thrashers' prospects from Sweden are kicking some serious "z(ass)" en route to an early 3 - 0 lead at the end of one period in Lake Placid, NY. 19 y/o Carl Klingberg, selected in the 2nd round of the 2009 NHL Draft, scored his first goal of the tournament in just his first period of action! And he has done so wearing the outlawed number 17!! Gasp! And in addition to Klingberg's early assault, Freddie Petterson-Wentzel, 5th round selection this past June, is back-stopping Sweden's amateur gladiators in a gruesome blood-duel with arch-rival Finland. Oh yeah, did I mention "Freddie P-Dub" is flat shutting them bitches down!?

And in Atlanta we hate Finland because that little Finnish piss-ant, Jonas Enlund, snubbed us in favor of some crappy league known as the SM-liiga! What an ungrateful dick-wad!

UPDATE: Holy shit he can't be stopped! Nor barely contained. Klingberg pots another goal! Apparently he feels like he must make a statement after getting the scratch in the first two contests against Finland and the U.S.

SWEDES RISE UP-DATE: The relentless junior Swedes refused to um, well, relent and went on to beat Finland by a final of 6 to 2 in the 5th of 6 games being played during the week-long USA Hockey Junior Evaluation Camp. According to Ben Wright of the Blueland Blog, who gleaned his information from Adam Kimelman's write-up for NHL.com, Klingberg turned some heads with his dogged determination and crash-the-crease style of play. 'Twas his willingness to "work in front of the net" that helped Sweden bury another chance later in the game as his big frame obscured the Finnish goalie's vision enough for a redirected puck to elude his paraphenalia (courtesy to Doc Emrick).

Such tales from hockey scrimmages certainly hearten Thrashers' fans hopes as he is fancied as the latest Swedish iteration of Tomas Holmstrom or Johan Franzen. Lastly, Freddie Pettersson-Wentzel gave a good account of his netminding skills by blocking 15 of 17 shots, one of which was a PP goal. In 114 minutes of action thus far, FPW has only allowed 3 goals on 35 shots, or a save percentage of .914. Oh yeah, blueline draftee Sebastian Owuya has been playing as well, but information is scarce so be happy knowing that he's actually playing.

Zubie Dooby Doo...Zubarev Expected to Sign Deal with Atlanta of America

dchesnokov tweets his latest bit of scuttlebut, but this time it features the Atlanta Thrashers! Check zee tweet, in Ass Mode if you please:

"Zubarev's agent told SovSport the player received an offer of a two-way contract from the Thrashers. (Andrei) Zubarev is expected to sign by weekend."

So, Andrei goes straight from "Atlant" (KHL's Mytishchi Atlant) to the Atlanta of America. Does this mean Andre 3000 of the famous group OutKast will pick him up in his fantasy hockey league? Wait, what?? He doesn't own a fantasy team!?? I'll ask him to join mine, that would be quite the coup! "Hey yeah!" that would be sublime. Andre's Outkasts could be his team name.

Anyway, it's nice to see our recently depleted "Russian quorum" get a jolt in the arm after the recent defections / subtractions of Ilya Kovalchuk, Slava Kozlov and Maxim Afinogenov(?). Zubarev, should he make the team this fall, would join um, uh, well, absolutely no one as the lone Thrashers' player of "Russian-born" descent. But best of all is the fact that Nik Antropov, from Kazakhstan, will now be able to employ the services of not just one, but two eastern European born rookies (Zubarev and Arturs Kulda) to carry his equipment off the ice to the locker room during training camp.

Both Kulda, from Latvia, and now Zubarev, who is from Ufa in Russia, have flourished growing up in perestroika-influenced countries where youngsters get to play lots of hockey. And now they can look forward to a taste of what the communist Soviet Union might have been like when training camp begins and they are treated worse than Dez Bryant at the hands of the merciless and ruthless Roy Williams.

FINALLY!! Some Real News of Import!!

http://bluelandblog.com/2010/08/02/jersey-numbers-for-new-players/

As reported by Ben Wright of the Blueland Blog, the Thrashers have announced that most of the new roster additions, former Hawks and goalie Chris Mason, will keep their jersey numbers from the year before. Except for Brent Sopel, who dare not risk receiving the evil, stank-eye of death by asking Big Boris for his #5. But perhaps Sopes wore #3 in his days as a 'Nuck?

UPDATE: By golly, he did wear # 3 in Vancouver, as well as in his time as an Islander!

More importantly though, isn't it time you headed over to IceJerseys.com to purchase -- with earnest eagerness of course -- your brand new Ben Eager (# 55) road sweater?

Yo! Check the sweet duds!! ---->>

Dudley Gets White Out to Erase Painful Memories of a Season Lost to Injury

As first "reported" by Michael Russo -- an old friend of GM Rick Dudley from their days in Florida -- on the twitter news oracle, the Thrashers managed to jettison center Todd White in a trade to the New York Rangers. Check zee tweet:

Via @Russostrib who tweeted this: According to sources, #Thrashers center Todd White has been traded to the #nyrangers. No word what the Rangers got back #nhl #nyr about 11 hours ago

As well as this: This will be good move for #nyr and Todd White. White's good, versatile player. One has to think former #mnwild GM Doug Risebrough endorsed about 11 hours ago <-- Yes, that would be 1:30 A.M.!! Duds is a night owl for sure.

White, who is coming off perhaps his worst season in the NHL -- in large part due to a rash of injuries that prevented him from hitting his stride -- did not really fit into Dudley's master plan in which the bottom two lines consist of rugged, physical (if not physically imposing) and hard-checking players. In addition to clearing some salary for the sake of saving some cash, the trade of White to NY for journeyman checking forward, Patrick Rismiller, and goon-enforcement extraordinaire, Donald Brashear, frees up a roster spot for a younger player in camp to make the roster this fall. Dudley is very high on prospect Patrice Cormier, who should have the early lead on the 4th line center spot when camp opens in September.

Also important to note is that, because of White's injuries and subsequent off-season shoulder surgery, he was not eligible for a buy-out by the Thrashers. Thus, the trade for Brashear, who was waived moments after the trade was announced, and Rismiller was more about moving a player who did not fit into the mix so that another painful chapter of the Don Waddell story could be closed. A bonus of the trade is that the Thrashers will save themselves roughly $734 K in actual cash as Whitey was slated to make $2.6 M this season. But in taking on Rismiller, who makes a cool million, and Brashear's $1.4 M cap hit -- he likely will clear waivers and get bought-out by the Thrashers -- Dudley gives himself a bit more margin of error when it comes to reaching the league-mandated salary cap floor of $43.9 M.

How Dudley plans on getting above the salary cap floor should reveal itself soon. But first, expect Duds to finalize the new contracts for RFA forwards Nicklas Bergfors and Bryan Little.