In the past two days, Thrashers’ general manager Don Waddell has done well with the moves made to upgrade the roster. I’ve already weighed in on how I think the XLB/Kubina deal is an upgrade for our blueline…and now the signing of UFA Nik Antropov is a very nice addition as well for the front lines.

Oh and not be forgotten, it was announced that RFA Chris Thorburn had been resigned.

A couple of things pop out to me in regards to the Kubina deal and Antropov signing. First of all, I understood that Antropov had asked for a little over $5 million a year in order for the Rangers to retain his services. Waddell got him for four years at $4 mil per. Nicely done, Don.

Secondly, this is a player that captain Ilya Kovalchuk expressed his desire to have brought in. Anything that makes Ilya happy and makes it more likely he’ll sign here is a good thing indeed.

But one other thing that strikes me here is this…Waddell & Co. have upgraded the roster both up front and in back, yet the three goalies in our organization…Lehtonen, Pavelec and Hedberg…have yet to be used to bring in such upgrades. So he still has those bullets in his chamber.

As far as the overall dollars and cents are concerned, with these deals... and depending on how much RFAs Kari Lehtonen, Colby Armstrong and Boris Valabik will be re-signed for... the Thrashers’ cap hit should be right at about $46 or $48 million. So he hasn't exactly broken the bank as of yet.

All in all…not a bad 24 hours or so.

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