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Atlanta Thrashers Blogger •
As we move closer to the portion of the summer in which Thrashers general manager Don Waddell will seek to improve the squad that will take to the ice in Philips Arena this fall, let’s take a look at just where the current roster stands is respect to payroll. After all…can’t really plan any summer trip without checking the ‘ol budget, right?
First off, here is the list of players who currently have contracts for the 2009-10 season, their positions and their salary cap hit to the team:
Player Position Salary Cap Hit
Ilya Kovalchuk (LW) $6,389,260
Ron Hainsey (D) $4,500,000
Tobias Enstrom (D) $3,750,000
Slava Kozlov (LW) $3,666,667
Zach Bogosian (D) $3,375,000
Todd White (C) $2,375,000
Ondrej Pavelec Thrashers Jersey in the HockeyBuzz Store' href='http://shop.hockeybuzz.com/atlanta-thrashers.php'>Ondrej Pavelec (G) $1,433,333
Garnet Exelby (D) $1,391,667
Marty Reasoner (C) $1,150,000
Johan Hedberg (G) $1,087,500
Bryan Little (C/RW) $900,000
Anssi Salmela (D) $612,500
Eric Boulton (LW) $600,000
Rich Peverley (C) $487,500
Colin Stuart (LW) $483,333
*Numbers come from Hockeybuzz.com’s Cap Central page.
Add all that up…plus add in the $1,166,667 that the Thrashers will pay Alexei Zhitnik to not play for us…and you come to a cap hit grand total of $33,368,427. Actual payroll is $31,741,667.
Also signed to minor league contracts are Angelo Esposito, Spencer Machacek, Chad Denny, Riley Holzapfel, Tomas Pospisil, Brett Sterling, Matthew Siddall and Arturs Kulda.
Then there are the five roster players currently scheduled to become RFAs on July 1.
Player Position Last Year’s Cap Hit
Kari Lehtonen (G) $3,000,000
Colby Armstrong (RW) $1,200,000
Boris Valabik (D) $858,333
Jim Slater (C) $775,000
Chris Thorburn (C/RW) $510,000
Now, if these players were simply re-signed at the same salaries they made last year it would add another $6,343,333 to the Thrashers’ payroll…bringing the cap hit to $39,711,760. However, Kari will probably be re-signed at the $3.5 mil range and Armstrong at the $2.2 mil range. The others should get a bump as well.
So, once these players are signed, that’ll put the Thrashers right at the cap floor going into next month’s summer dive into the unrestricted free agency pool and trip to the NHL trading post.
Now, Don has indicated that he would like for ownership to afford him an extra $5-mil or so over last year’s budget as to build the roster up to what it needs to be in order to compete…both during the season as well as in their attempt to re-sign Ilya Kovalchuk.
Personally, I think he’s got a better chance of playing pickup sticks with his butt cheeks than talking the Great Octo-Cluster into spending anywhere close to $50 mil.
Therefore, I think Don will be allowed to run the team based on a $44 or $45 million payroll, maybe $46 mil if he’s lucky. That would give him anywhere between $3 to $5 million in his budget right now to wheel and deal…which isn’t a lot.
If I’m wrong, then all the better…but I don’t think I am.
This is the main reason why I think Waddell will have to upgrade the roster more by way of trades than the UFA market.
One such scenario would if a top-line center were to be brought in then Todd White could be packaged with prospects and/or picks. White’s $2.375 million would be used to help pay for the possible higher priced forward. That would leave Rich Peverley as the second-line center, Marty Reasoner and Jim Slater as the third and fourth.
Another is to do the same with Ondrej Pavelec Thrashers Jersey in the HockeyBuzz Store' href='http://shop.hockeybuzz.com/atlanta-thrashers.php'>Ondrej Pavelec for the top-four defender that this team very much needs.
Regardless…right now, $3-5 mil is what I think Don will be afforded in his summer budget. He’ll have to really work to make that stretch.
First off, here is the list of players who currently have contracts for the 2009-10 season, their positions and their salary cap hit to the team:
Player Position Salary Cap Hit
Ilya Kovalchuk (LW) $6,389,260
Ron Hainsey (D) $4,500,000
Tobias Enstrom (D) $3,750,000
Slava Kozlov (LW) $3,666,667
Zach Bogosian (D) $3,375,000
Todd White (C) $2,375,000
Ondrej Pavelec Thrashers Jersey in the HockeyBuzz Store' href='http://shop.hockeybuzz.com/atlanta-thrashers.php'>Ondrej Pavelec (G) $1,433,333
Garnet Exelby (D) $1,391,667
Marty Reasoner (C) $1,150,000
Johan Hedberg (G) $1,087,500
Bryan Little (C/RW) $900,000
Anssi Salmela (D) $612,500
Eric Boulton (LW) $600,000
Rich Peverley (C) $487,500
Colin Stuart (LW) $483,333
*Numbers come from Hockeybuzz.com’s Cap Central page.
Add all that up…plus add in the $1,166,667 that the Thrashers will pay Alexei Zhitnik to not play for us…and you come to a cap hit grand total of $33,368,427. Actual payroll is $31,741,667.
Also signed to minor league contracts are Angelo Esposito, Spencer Machacek, Chad Denny, Riley Holzapfel, Tomas Pospisil, Brett Sterling, Matthew Siddall and Arturs Kulda.
Then there are the five roster players currently scheduled to become RFAs on July 1.
Player Position Last Year’s Cap Hit
Kari Lehtonen (G) $3,000,000
Colby Armstrong (RW) $1,200,000
Boris Valabik (D) $858,333
Jim Slater (C) $775,000
Chris Thorburn (C/RW) $510,000
Now, if these players were simply re-signed at the same salaries they made last year it would add another $6,343,333 to the Thrashers’ payroll…bringing the cap hit to $39,711,760. However, Kari will probably be re-signed at the $3.5 mil range and Armstrong at the $2.2 mil range. The others should get a bump as well.
So, once these players are signed, that’ll put the Thrashers right at the cap floor going into next month’s summer dive into the unrestricted free agency pool and trip to the NHL trading post.
Now, Don has indicated that he would like for ownership to afford him an extra $5-mil or so over last year’s budget as to build the roster up to what it needs to be in order to compete…both during the season as well as in their attempt to re-sign Ilya Kovalchuk.
Personally, I think he’s got a better chance of playing pickup sticks with his butt cheeks than talking the Great Octo-Cluster into spending anywhere close to $50 mil.
Therefore, I think Don will be allowed to run the team based on a $44 or $45 million payroll, maybe $46 mil if he’s lucky. That would give him anywhere between $3 to $5 million in his budget right now to wheel and deal…which isn’t a lot.
If I’m wrong, then all the better…but I don’t think I am.
This is the main reason why I think Waddell will have to upgrade the roster more by way of trades than the UFA market.
One such scenario would if a top-line center were to be brought in then Todd White could be packaged with prospects and/or picks. White’s $2.375 million would be used to help pay for the possible higher priced forward. That would leave Rich Peverley as the second-line center, Marty Reasoner and Jim Slater as the third and fourth.
Another is to do the same with Ondrej Pavelec Thrashers Jersey in the HockeyBuzz Store' href='http://shop.hockeybuzz.com/atlanta-thrashers.php'>Ondrej Pavelec for the top-four defender that this team very much needs.
Regardless…right now, $3-5 mil is what I think Don will be afforded in his summer budget. He’ll have to really work to make that stretch.
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