Another slow day today, not much actual confirmed news today except a few injury updates so I'll start with that.
->Joe Sakic of the Colorado Avalanche will be out up to six weeks with an undisclosed back injury.
->Chris Chelios will be back in action soon after recovering from a broken leg. This weekend he will be reporting to Grand Rapids of the AHL for a conditioning stint untill further notice. I really hope Chelios keeps going, I once read in an interview he wants to play till hes 50 or as long as he can physically.
->Raffi Torres of the Blue Jacket will have arthroscopic knee surgery friday and is set to be out for 3-4 weeks.
Thats it for news but heres a major rumour to think about before you sleep tonight.
->From what I've been hearing Don Waddell is starting to think about his major situation next year. By his major situation I mean Ilya Kovalchuk and his unrestricted free agent status at the end of the next season. Now I'm sure deep in his mind he knows that the Atlanta Thrashers cannot compete with the players they have now and it's definitely going to be a "ground-up" project. Come trade deadline really what do they have to offer this season? Todd White? Marty Reasoner? Not really anything that's gonna bring in change. Now what happens if he shops Kovalchuk at the deadline? Atlanta would definitely benefit greatly. I've seen reported on a few sites how Atlanta is shopping Kovalchuk right now. I hardly see that as Todd White's not exactly going to bring in the fans. Also does Waddell really want the image of him throwing in the towel already? The fans and players both would be upset so if he waits till deadline day when the Thrashers are already out of the picture it makes perfectly good sense. He still would get a higher than normal value because Ilya would be under contract for another year. The other team would still have an entire season to try and sign him plus 2 sets of playoffs. Not bad at all! I truly believe Kovalchuk could bring in a gold mine of prospects and draft picks. My guess would be 2 1st round draft picks, a support player and a prospect or Don Waddell could go the other way and aim for an impact player and two 1st rounders to try and improve the team right away. Like it or not Atlanta wont be in contention for at least another season and this deal could give the Thrashers a really big head start.
Who would be the possible trading partners? I'm sure almost every team in the league would be interested but 4 teams come to mind. The Ottawa Senators as they need that little extra offense to spread out. the only problem is they don't have very much room to move. They do have a few prospects to spare and a couple big guns to shop. Imagine a Kovalchuk Spezza combo. What about this?
Atlanta sends Ilya Kovalchuk and Todd White
Ottawa sends their 09 1st round, 2010 2nd round, Mike Fisher and Nick Foligno
The second team that could really be interested is the Chicago Blackhawks. Their a young core ready to take off. With that extra fire power they could be pretty deep and have that extra flair to edge their opponents. Kovalchuk - Toews - Kane ? That would be incredible. Their also a West coast team so Atlanta wouldn't have to look at Ilya that much after the deal.
Atlanta sends Ilya Kovalchuk and a 2010 3rd round
Chicago sends 09 1st round, Cam Barker, Martin Havlat and Ben Eager
The third team is another west coast team in the Vancouver Canucks. The Canucks have nobody really to put the puck in the back of the net as sad as it is. The Sedins cant be counted on to do everything. What happens if they get that little extra offense to back up Luongo's stellar play? It would make a huge difference if teams were scared of them offensively and defensively.
Atlanta sends Ilya Kovalchuk
Vancouver sends 09 1st rounder, Mason Raymond and Micheal Grabner
My last team is once again another western conference squad. The Minnesota Wild. The Wild are on the cusp of having a really good team that can possibly contend. Their in a really tough pack though with Detroit and San Jose, both of those teams have incredible offensives while Minnesota's just average. Give them another big gun to play with and it might be a different story. Kovalchuk has that game breaking ability that could turn them into an instant cup favorite. They could go easily two ways about it. They could sign Gaborik to what ever he agrees then turn around and trade him to Atlanta for Kovalchuk and a 1st round. That gives the Wild Kovalchuk and Atlanta a star player back plus a bit of future in return. The second option is to say screw it and keep Gaborik but get Kovalchuk to compliment him.
Atlanta sends Ilya Kovalchuk and 09 5th round
Minnesota sends a 09 1st round, Benoit Pouliot, Chris Hickey and Martin Skoula
We'll see how this one plays out and I'll definitely keep my ear open for anything because as far as I'm concerned this would be the smartest move Waddell could make this year. Well that's it for now but more will come tomorrow. I waited on doing the Avery incident article because I really want to see the final results of it before I dissect it which i figured would be today but ya. I also have the KHL piece almost done about their version of the all-star game which brings back a few old faces. You'll have to wait till tomorrow night though. Peace for now and don't stay up all night thinking about that doozy.
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