Fantasy Thrashers

Last night's tilt between the Red Wings and Senators was exactly as good as the FanHouse hype suggested. We got to see the league's two best teams play the game at the highest level of ability and provide us with a nail-biting thriller. Even those of us with no rooting interest in the game could find a lot of entertainment value in the match, which is the surest mark that the game delivered.

Unfortunately for the Sens, they lost Dany Heatley for the next 4-6 weeks with a separated shoulderr. Win the game, lose the battle of attrition, eh? Here's a quote from the 'What the hell' category.

Heatley left after he fell awkwardly into the boards while checking Detroit's Dallas Drake behind the Senators' net. He did not return. On Saturday, the team said he had an upper body injury and didn't say if he would miss any time.

*sigh* Are teams so afraid of releasing information during the middle of the regular season that they'll resort to this level of secrecy? As for Dallas Drake injuring people ... just like the old days :)

** Remember when Avs' winger Jaroslav Hlinka started the season with a bang, and then went completely in the tank? Well, the former Czech Extraleague scoring champ seems to have finally adjusted to the North American game and has put up nine points in his last 14 games and has developed some nice chemistry with Marek Svatos. With the injuries to Ryan Smyth and Joe Sakic, their production is sorely needed.

Now that we're into 2008, recovered from our hangovers (or flus, in my case), and pretty much halfway through the NHL season, it's time to reminisce about the past and look towards the future. There is no better way to do both than be looking at the league's rookies through the first half.

Here are the rookie scoring leaders as of January 3rd ...

Player	Team	GP	G	A	P	PIM	+/-	TOI/G
Patrick Kane	CHI	38	9	28	37	26	-2	18:29
Jonathan Toews	CHI	36	15	17	32	26	5	18:42
Nicklas Backstrom	WSH	40	7	22	29	10	-3	17:27
Tobias Enstrom	ATL	41	3	21	24	20	4	24:03
Martin Hanzal	PHX	38	3	17	20	16	0

For sure, the most surprising rookie on the top five is Tobias Enstrom of the Atlanta Thrashers. The 23-year old from Sweden was an 8th round selection in the 2003 Entry Draft, and pretty much written off as another 'small' (ie. under six feet tall) offensive defenseman who would never do well out of Europe.

Well, Enstrom is getting the most ice time for any rookie, by far, and is giving the Thrashers an unexpected boost to their rather poor defence corps. It's very hard for a defenseman to just come into the league and look like a 10-year vet (it took Lubomir Visnovsky a few years, for example), but Enstrom has done just that.

Well, the Mark Recchi saga seems to have finally come to an end. After finding no takers on the trade market, and nobody biting on Recchi during the first waiver process, the Penguins finally managed to get rid of the rapidly-declining winger after he was claimed by the Atlanta Thrashers on re-entry waivers.

"We're very pleased to be adding a proven veteran like Mark to our lineup," said Waddell. "He's an accomplished player who competes hard, and at a high-skill level, every time he's on the ice."

Well, nobody can deny the skill Recchi has, but the veteran winger seems to be skating around with a giant fork in his back these days. Even with a lot of primo ice time with King Sidney Crosby, Recchi put up only eight points in 19 games, a huge drop from his production of past seasons. Even if the Thrashers are in the bottom half of the NHL in offense (kind of hard to believe, isn't it?), one wonders how much Recchi can offer his new club.

At the very least, the Thrashers have a real need for a skilled right winger, and it's not hard to fathom why they are willing to take a chance. Behind Marian Rossa, the Thrashers' right side is extremely pathetic, with the likes of Darren Haydar and Chris Thorburn, not exactly household names, the only natural right siders on the roster. Recchi will have a good shot at seeing time on the second line, and will get a chance to prove himself one last time.

Previously on FanHouse:
Recchi Clears Waivers. What Now?
Has Mark Recchi Reached the End?

The Atlanta Thrashers went to great lengths to find some talent to add to their roster, and came up with ex-Leaf defenseman, Karel Pilar.

The fact that the Thrashers are bringing in a player that hasn't played in the NHL since 2004 is not unusual. What makes this signing strange is Pilar's past history of viral myopathy, a serious condition that looked to have possibly ended his hockey playing days when it was diagnosed.

The Thrashers certainly hope that this is going to be a Hollywood ending, because it involves serious injury risk to Pilar. I seriously hope we don't see another Jiri Fischer-type incident.

Although Pilar has overcome his condition (twice), he has played only 16 games in the past two seasons (split between the AHL and Czech Republic). Perhaps the Thrashers have information that would deem Pilar to be 'safe', and hope that the Czech defenseman can help them improve on their putrid Goals Against statistics.

For fantasy leaguers, Pilar is just not worth the huge amount of risk involved, even with his offensive potential. While Pilar will have a chance for some primo Power Play time with the Thrashers, he has played so little pro hockey the past two years, that it's unlikely he'll be able to jump right into the fray and start racking up points.

Still, keep an eye on Pilar during the pre-season. If it appears that Pilar's health is holding up and he's getting good ice time, he may very well be a reserve spot.

When the Atlanta Thrashers mortgaged a great deal of their future to acquire power forward Keith Tkachuk and his pasty white thighs, it was pretty much assumed that the deal was done simply to just make the playoffs and save GM Don Waddell's job.

Well, The Don's comments to the Atlanta Journal Constitution this morning certainly indicate that the deal was simply a rental all along.

Don Waddell confirmed what I suspected today, saying that the Thrashers won't be offering forward Keith Tkachuk a contract before the July 1st deadline.

After that the Thrashers lose exclusive negotiating rights to the big center who will be an unrestricted free agent. Even with that confirmation, Waddell said that he thought Tkachuk was a good fit in Atlanta and wasn't against doing some negotiating after July 1st.

In a previous entry, it was noted that the Thrashers made a very risky bet that didn't pay off, and shouldn't have been expected to.

For all of the assets the Thrashers dealt, they got FOUR total playoff games and 18 regular season games out of Keith Tkachuk. Yeesh!!!

So, should the Thrashers simply let Tkachuk go without so much as an offer or a 'Thank You' fruit basket?

Well, Tkachuk made $3.8mil last season and had 58 points in 79 games, which is somewhat pricey, but reasonable. He is 35, however, not known for being in great shape, and will only get slower as time goes on.

From a distance, it would appear smart not to offer Tkachuk a whole lot of money and watch him turn into a washed-up John LeClair clone.

Yes, the Thrashers paid a whole lot and got little in return, but no need to justify the investment with another expensive investment in a further contract offer, which come do even more damage to the Thrashers' franchise. Let some other team overpay Tkachuk and then have to deal him at the trading deadline.
(Photo Credit: Getty Images)

Scott Mellanby, a folk hero to many Florida Panthers fans, and one of the league's senior citizens, is pretty much 99% certain that he's going to retire.

Atlanta Thrashers right wing Scott Mellanby said he'll probably retire after 21 seasons in the National Hockey League, a day after the team was eliminated from the playoffs by the New York Rangers.

"I'm 99 per cent there," Mellanby, 40, said yesterday.In 69 games this season, the Montreal native had 12 goals and 24 assists. He had 364 goals, 476 assists in 1,431 career games with Atlanta, St. Louis, Florida, Edmonton and Philadelphia.

Scott Mellanby has a special place in my heart, given that I used to cheer for the Florida Panthers and he's one of the players I remember from my early childhood of watching hockey. (The Flyers-Oilers series is my first hockey memory).

The "Rat Trick" - Remember when Panthers fans threw rats on the ice back during their run to the finals in 1996? Well, blame Mellanby for animal cruelty.

More under the cut ...