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Atlanta Thrashers Blogger •
We have had some activity coming from the Thrashers’ front office…not a whole heckuva lot, mind you…but it's something.
Anssi Salmela, the 24-year old defenseman that was acquired last March from New Jersey in exchange for veteran blueliner Nic Havelid and prospect Myles Stoesz, was re-signed to multi-year contract. The terms of the deal have not been disclosed.
Salmela had played in 17 games for the Devils before coming to Atlanta. After arriving he played in nine games, scoring his first career NHL goal and assisting on two others.
“He is a guy we wanted to get, and he showed us exactly what we wanted to see”, said general manager Don Waddell. “He’s a high-end skill player, and we wanted to move forward with him.”
Waddell has also indicated that he sees Salmela being one of the seven defensemen that the team will have on the roster going into next season.
Anssi played for team Finland during this past spring’s World Championships where he scored a goal for his native country.
With this particular chore mark off his to-do list, hopefully D-Dub can focus some attention on other matter…say like Marty Reasoner, for instance. Reasoner was brought in last summer on a 1-year $1 million contract and was one of the more pleasant surprises for Atlanta last season. He more than adequately fill the void left when Bobby Holik departed, scoring 14 goals and helping out on 16 others. The big bonus with Marty, though, was that he wasn’t as prone to taking quite so many penalties as Holik did while here. Reasoner had 36 PIM last season…Holik amassed 90 the season prior as the Thrashers’ 3rd line center.
Reasoner has made it clear he wishes to remain in Atlanta…his teammates voted him as their Player’s-Player Award winner last season, so they think very highly of him…and Don Waddell has even indicated the organization wants the 32-year old native of Honeoye Falls, New York to remain. So logic would dictate that this signing should be announced shortly.
Then there is the issue of dealing with RFAs Colby Armstrong, Jimmy Slater, Chris Thorburn, Boris Valabik and Kari Lehtonen…not to mention Rich Peverley, who is scheduled to be a UFA next summer. I like to see Waddell get him locked in as well.
Same with Bryan Little who’ll be a RFA after next season.
If the team can possibly get these guys taken care of soon, then it give us a decent picture of what the squad looks like as we move into free agent signing season next month. This is where Don will attempt to finalize the roster, (DUH5).
Then, he can move on to that other little chore on his list of things to do during this offseason…re-signing Ilya Kovalchuk. And he won’t be able to that until he’s done the previous items… because, as we’ve discussed before, Kovy wants to see what kind of team Waddell is putting on the ice for his star player to perform with prior to putting pen to paper on any such deal here.
So, the Salmela signing is a good start, but there is still a lot to be checked-off of Don Waddell’s summer to-do list.
Anssi Salmela, the 24-year old defenseman that was acquired last March from New Jersey in exchange for veteran blueliner Nic Havelid and prospect Myles Stoesz, was re-signed to multi-year contract. The terms of the deal have not been disclosed.
Salmela had played in 17 games for the Devils before coming to Atlanta. After arriving he played in nine games, scoring his first career NHL goal and assisting on two others.
“He is a guy we wanted to get, and he showed us exactly what we wanted to see”, said general manager Don Waddell. “He’s a high-end skill player, and we wanted to move forward with him.”
Waddell has also indicated that he sees Salmela being one of the seven defensemen that the team will have on the roster going into next season.
Anssi played for team Finland during this past spring’s World Championships where he scored a goal for his native country.
With this particular chore mark off his to-do list, hopefully D-Dub can focus some attention on other matter…say like Marty Reasoner, for instance. Reasoner was brought in last summer on a 1-year $1 million contract and was one of the more pleasant surprises for Atlanta last season. He more than adequately fill the void left when Bobby Holik departed, scoring 14 goals and helping out on 16 others. The big bonus with Marty, though, was that he wasn’t as prone to taking quite so many penalties as Holik did while here. Reasoner had 36 PIM last season…Holik amassed 90 the season prior as the Thrashers’ 3rd line center.
Reasoner has made it clear he wishes to remain in Atlanta…his teammates voted him as their Player’s-Player Award winner last season, so they think very highly of him…and Don Waddell has even indicated the organization wants the 32-year old native of Honeoye Falls, New York to remain. So logic would dictate that this signing should be announced shortly.
Then there is the issue of dealing with RFAs Colby Armstrong, Jimmy Slater, Chris Thorburn, Boris Valabik and Kari Lehtonen…not to mention Rich Peverley, who is scheduled to be a UFA next summer. I like to see Waddell get him locked in as well.
Same with Bryan Little who’ll be a RFA after next season.
If the team can possibly get these guys taken care of soon, then it give us a decent picture of what the squad looks like as we move into free agent signing season next month. This is where Don will attempt to finalize the roster, (DUH5).
Then, he can move on to that other little chore on his list of things to do during this offseason…re-signing Ilya Kovalchuk. And he won’t be able to that until he’s done the previous items… because, as we’ve discussed before, Kovy wants to see what kind of team Waddell is putting on the ice for his star player to perform with prior to putting pen to paper on any such deal here.
So, the Salmela signing is a good start, but there is still a lot to be checked-off of Don Waddell’s summer to-do list.
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