Oh, Donny’s a charmer.
If you have never had the pleasure of chatting with Don Waddell in person, you’re missing out. He may never have been a big-time hockey player, but Waddell knows the sport. He’s intelligent, articulate, and somewhat crafty. Don’t believe me?
We all knew the “Ownership Question” was going to come up. (The question ranges from an intelligence level slightly below “ownership wtf lolz” to – if the right person asks it first – a well-rehearsed public repudiation of the Atlanta Spirit.) This time, the Ownership Question was raised by an intelligent person, but Waddell had an Ace in the Hole.
Kovalchuk.
Yes, upon asking the Ownership Question, Donny motioned to the side and Kovy sprinted in. He talked for a couple minutes about our exciting young team and how he hopes we’d stick with the Thrashers.
Kovalchuk at Town Hall Meeting
Shucks, so much for sticking it to Waddell.
The rest of the questions were about as predictable as the answers. There was one question that was actually unique and – this is a frequent problem – something Don can talk about. (Sidebar: he can’t talk about players he’d like to sign. It’s against league rules. Stop asking.) A STH thanked Don for the recycling bins that have shown up at Philips and asked if they’re planning on doing anything else to reduce emissions, etc. Don called up the head of the Arena who said they are attempting to get LEED-certified.
Wow! For envionmentalists out there, this is a pretty big deal. LEED-certification is pretty tough. You normally need to build large buildings with LEED-certification in mind – going back and improving efficiency after the building is in operation is incredibly difficult. I commend the folks in charge of this.
Furthermore, this country will soon be moving to a cap-and-trade system for carbon emissions, so I can only imagine that taking action now will help significantly in the long run. I’ll see if I can contact anybody within the organization and ask a few questions about greening Philips.
Other items of interest:
- Many, many teams inquired about Colby Armstrong. Don said that every single one of the 16 playoff teams asked. Some of the offers were very, very tempting, but Army is a very important “heart and soul” kind of guy. Don hopes he’ll be a bigger part of this team in the future. As a testament to that, Army played on the 2nd line that evening and will likely remain there for awhile.
- Don said that, to be a playoff team, we’ll have to replace Niclas Havelid. A guy suggested, “With Niclas Havelid?” Everybody laughed and Don said, “I didn’t say that! You guys are going to get me in trouble.” If Niclas doesn’t go to Sweden, I think he’s most likely to resign here. Do you want him back?
- Notice that you haven’t heard a peep out of Ownership for awhile? That’s intentional. They have apparently been keeping hush-hush during litigation. Expect to hear more from up-top in the near future.
- A new logo is coming next year! Don didn’t specify whether it was a re-working of our main logo or simply a 10th anniversary patch, but he did say we’d “have more stuff to buy.” Thanks.
- Don is looking at bringing in some bigger, tougher players for the top-6. He’s looking for guys who will be able to cycle and establish a forecheck.
- Don is now the 2nd GM who I’ve heard talk about the salary cap for the 2010-2011 season. He gave an example in which he suggested it might be as low as $46 million, about $10 million below this year. He said that guys with those big contracts are going to become much easier to pick up in the offseason. Teams wanted to hang onto them for the rest of the year – that’s why most didn’t move at the deadline – but come offseason, expect to see a lot of big names moving around as teams try to get salary down ahead of time.
I would expect significant turnover between this and next year. From the sound of it, a lot of our players will be heading out the door. I wouldn’t be surprised to see at least a couple RFAs go without qualifying offers. Based on comments I’ve heard, here’s my re-sign and let walk lists (not what I would do, but what I think Don will do):
Re-sign: Armstrong, Reasoner, Slater, Thorburn, Valabik
Let Walk: Perrin, Oystrick
Lehtonen is an interesting case. My guess is either he or Pavalec will be moved this summer.
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