Atlanta Thrashers News

The Atlanta Thrashers picked up Alexander Burmistrov with the 8th overall pick at the 2010 NHL Entry Draft.

The center's selection was a bit of a surprize, but anyway the Thrashers decided to draft him most likely because of his skills set.

Burmistrov, 18, played with the Barrie Colts of the OHL this year, with 65 points during the regular season and 16 during the playoffs. Even if he joined the OHL on loan from Ak Bars Kazan, most likely Burmistrov will be back in North America for the next season.

Another Russian player joined the Atlanta Thrashers as they got Evgeny Artyukhin from the Anaheim Ducks. Ilya Kovalchuk's former team features in their lineup also Maxim Afinogenov, Vyacheslav Kozlov and Nikolai Antropov.

Evgeny Artyukhin this season scored four goals and nine points in 37 regular season games.

The Ducks obtained defenseman Nathan Oystrick and a 2011 conditional draft pick.

Artyukhin's first match with the Thrashers will be played tonight against the Florida Panthers.

Let's remember that in February Atlanta got the young defenseman Ivan Vishnevskiy from the Dallas Stars.

Ivan Vishnevskiy has been traded yesterday from the Dallas Stars to the Atlanta Thrashers. Most likely Vishnevskiy, who has played only five games in his NHL career, will be demoted to the Chicago Wolves of the AHL.

The Dallas Stars obtained Finn goalie Kari Lehtonen, while the Thrashers added a further fourth-round pick in the 2010 draft.

Native of Barnaul, Russia, Vishnevskiy reported to North America in the 2005/06 season, when he was picked up in the CHL Import Draft by the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies and he spent three seasons. He was then drafted in the first round of the 2006 NHL Entry Draft by the Dallas Stars. He played most of the last couple of seasons in the AHL.

Ilya Kovalchuk has been traded to the New Jersey Devils. It's rumored that before the trade the former Atlanta Thrashers captain, one of the NHL top snipers, turned down a 12-year offer.

Kovalchuk costed the Devils defenseman Johnny Oduya, forward Nicklas Bergfors, prospect Patrice Cormier and the Devils' 2010 first round pick.

"New Jersey is a good team and it's a great chance to go far in the playoffs," Kovalchuk said to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "It's sad at the same time because now - I can say it - I've been a Thrasher for eight years. I'm appreciative of everything, the organization and the fans."

Kovalchuk's first match as a New Jersey Devil will be on Friday night against Toronto. His first match against Atlanta is scheduled for April 6th. "That’s going to be an interesting game" - admitted Kovalchuk while speaking to WJLA-TV in Washington.

The talk around Ilya Kovalchuk's contract with the Atlanta Thrashers goes on. In an interview with The Atlanta Journal Constitution the Russian superstar said that he feels "very confident" about a new contract.

When asked if he's frustrated about the lenght of time it's taking:

“No, not really. I just try to focus on my game and my goal to make the playoffs. I don’t care about the contract situation. Everybody goes through it. It’s not frustrating at all. … It’s not easy to sign a deal. Whatever it takes, we’ll take our time.”

I feel very confident. Like I said, I like everything that’s been done over time. It’s not an easy thing to sign a long-term deal, and if it has to take until the last second, that’s what it takes. You never know.”

Kovalchuk's five-year, $32 million contract will run out next june. In this season he scored twenty-five goals and forty-seven points thirty-eight matches. Recently he scored his 600th NHL point.

It took 579 games to Ilya Kovalchuk to score his 600th point in the National Hockey League. In his 579th effort, during the second period of a match between Atlanta Thrashers and Buffalo Sabres, he scored the first goal of the game with a top-shelf wrist shot from the slot.

In this season Kovalchuk scored 25 goals and 47 points in 32 matches, numbers that make him the fourth top goal scorer and the eighth top point scorer in the league. He's also the fifth forward with the most average time on ice with more than 22 minutes a night. He logs in average only eighteen seconds less than the mos used forward, slovak Marian Gaborik of the New York Rangers.

Habs' Andrei Markov and Thrashers' Maxim Afinogenov liked joke when they played for Dynamo Moscow of the KHL in the 2004/05 season, according to their former partner Yakov Rylov.

Rylov gave an interview to Russian site sports.ru where he recollected some stories with Markov and Afinogenov. RussianHockeyFans.com offers you a translation of some parts of the interview.

"Once Max Afinogenov made a bad pass and [Dynamo's head coach] Krikunov exclaimed: "What are you, blind?". The following day the team gathered in a room for the game analysis. Max took a seat in the first row and put on strong glasses. You know, the ones that enlarge your eyes considerably. Krikunov came in and started laughing.

At one moment there were rumors that Mikhail Grabovskiy (now playing for the Toronto Maple Leafs) would get traded from Neftekhimik to Dynamo. First he was expected to come right at that moment, then he was expected to come after the season. So one day there was a practice and Markov and Afinogenov were skating in jerseys with Grabovskiy's surname on the back."

Russian forward Ilya Kovalchuk gave an interview to Russian site sportbox.ru where he talked about the Olympics in Vancouver.

RussianHockeyFans.com offers you a translation.

Q. How often do you think about the Olympic Games in Vancouver?
Kovalchuk: "Pretty often, but right now I'm focused on playing for the Thrashers. We got into a functional slump and now have to get out of it as soon as possible."

Alexander Medvedev, the president of SKA St. Petersburg and the KHL, in an interview with Russian newspaper Sport-Express stated that SKA is going to offer Ilya Kovalchuk a contract.

RussianHockeyFans.com offers you a translation of this brief interview.

- We do have an interest in Kovalchuk. We know that the Thrashers are going to offer him the maximum salary within the limits of the salary cap. But there are differences between the tax systems in the USA and Russia so our offer can turn out to be better. It's up to Kovalchuk to decide where to continue his career.

- Have you talked with Kovalchuk already?
- We're talking!

Darryl Dobbs, a popular The Hockey News writer, wrote on his blog about Maxim Afinogenov's very good start this year in a new scenario, opposed to the last two years' bad numbers.

The Moscow native signed this summer a one year deal with the Atlanta Thrashers worth a relative low amount of $800,000.

The shifty Russian had 134 points in 133 games for the Sabres between 2005 and 2007. In 2007-08, he was pretty much a write-off due to injury and then last campaign he got off to a slow start. In this case, Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff didn’t have a whole lot of patience. And who would? Afinogenov was coughing up the puck on a regular basis and was also snake-bitten in the scoring department.

Things are different in Atlanta. Coach John Anderson didn’t have many weapons in his arsenal and had to use what he was given.

So despite posting just three points in six games (and a minus-4) to kick off the campaign, Afinogenov was allowed to play through it. Patience – in the case of both the team and the player, it’s what low expectations buy you. That patience has made the Thrashers a multi-line threat.

Afinogenov now has 20 points in 20 games and is back to his old, productive self. He has played more than 56 games just twice in the past seven years, including 36 games during the lockout, so injuries are still a concern, but he’s a safe bet to remain close to a point per game. Pencil him in for 70 games (to play it safe) and 66 to 71 points.

On another THN feature, Brian Duff put Afinogenov as #1 amont the "one year deal wonders" of this season.

Afinogenov's early-season surge will prove to be a turning point for Thrashers GM Don Waddell, who could use a few deals/contracts to go his way.

After showing up for only the first year of his final three-year deal in Buffalo, crazy legs Max appeared destined for the Kontinental League or anywhere but the NHL after an embarrassing six-goal, 20-point season.

Ilya Kovalchuk fought Matt Cooke after the Pens forward bumped into the Russian sniper during the 3rd period of the Penguins-Thrashers game.

SKA St. Petersburg's president Alexander Medvedev declared that his team is interested in signing team Russia's superstar Ilya Kovalchuk, whose contract with the Atlanta Thrashers will run out at the end of this season.

"Yes, Kovalchuk is really in the short list of players we are interested in", said Medvedev in an interview to SportsDaily.ru

In spite of his healthy economical situation, the Gazprom tycoon will have hard time in getting Kovalchuk's signature under a contract, especially considering that it's rumored that he has been offered 100 million dollars for his next contract.

The winner of two World Championships and one Maurice Richard trophy still hasn't decided on his future, most likely waiting for the evidence that Atlanta became the winning team he's asking for in order to remain into the A-town.