McDavid Intended to Sell Off Thrashers
Just in case you didn't already see this, in Jeff Schultz's interview with David McDavid he explains that he had on the table an offer to sell off the Thrashers to another person after obtaining the teams from AOL/Time-Warner.
To consider an offer from an undisclosed party who wanted to buy the Thrashers for “what we were paying for everything” and keep the team in Atlanta. “I don’t know if we would’ve done it but it would’ve immediately wiped out all of our debt.”
The identity of that person is unclear, but what is clear is that owning a NHL team was not a high priority for McDavid.
To consider an offer from an undisclosed party who wanted to buy the Thrashers for “what we were paying for everything” and keep the team in Atlanta. “I don’t know if we would’ve done it but it would’ve immediately wiped out all of our debt.”
The identity of that person is unclear, but what is clear is that owning a NHL team was not a high priority for McDavid.
posted by The Falconer at
12:03 PM
9 Comments:
I know this is off subject, but what would you do now given the amount of losses the Thrashers are piling up?
Of the possible trades I see or players getting freed up, McLaren is in the minors for the Sharks. We could use another defenseman with Havelid not playing as well as he should and Exelby costing the Thrashers goals in almost every game.
I looked at Spectors Hockey.net, and it sounds like Lehtonen may be a possible trade as Pavelec is ready for the NHL, and since Lehtonen is getting injured too much.
Sundin is getting close to making a decision, and that means whichever team gets him is going to have to make room to be under the cap. If he goes to Philly, there is talk of Joffrey Lupul and Randy Jones. If he goes to the Rangers, I wonder who they would let go. Betts was a scratch according to you.
What would you do right now in terms of trades and acquisitions if you had the opportunity? With ticket sales and attendance lagging, what would you do?
By
Anonymous, at 8:45 AM
Pavelec is ready for the NHL? Hmmm, not sure about that after last nights game.
By
Andrew, at 8:52 AM
While Moose got the loss, Pavelec set the tone. Pavelec has lost 5 straight. 6 if you throw in last night. Pretty sure Lehtonen's not going anywhere soon.
By
Anonymous, at 12:14 PM
..and who's going to take a chance on Kari "Injury of the Month" Lehtonen. Seriously?? He needs a solid season before anyone is going take a risk on him.
By
WolfKeeper, at 12:29 PM
Pavs is ready to play in the NHL if he has a NHL defense in front of him. I'm not sure it is fair to ask anyone to play in net for the Thrashers right now.
By
Jennifer, at 12:36 PM
I'm not one to blame the goalies on this team, but last nights game was ALL about the goalies. Pavelec was TERRIBLE. He has not done much in the last month to warrant his not reporting to Chicago earlier in the year.
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Andrew, at 1:57 PM
Thank you, Jennifer. That is actually what I was thinking. If you really think about it, none of our goalies are really remarkable. But I would think that DW, ASG would trade Lehtonen first before Pavelec, but then again, I could be wrong. But, as long as we don't have a great defense, things are going to be the same for our goalies.
By
Anonymous, at 2:45 PM
This team needs to get young and athletic. Once Lehtonen comes back, showcase him for 5+ games, prove that he is healthy and then ship him off to one of the teams in need of a goalie(Ottawa is the first team that comes to mind). Maybe a package deal for Spezza? Would Lehtonen, Kozlov, and Schneider do the trick? Kozlov's value is never going to be higher than it is right now, and by the time the Thrashers are contenders, he'll probably be too old to help. I think Ottawa still sees itself as a playoff contender for this year, who would like all the pieces coming back. John Tavares is supposed to be pretty good, I'm sure he'll help Atlanta next year or the year after. Sign Jay Bouwmeester once he becomes a free agent(his salary would essentially replace Schneider's). July 1st, offer Kovy an Ovechkin like contract. Cement him as the face of the franchise for the next decade. Kovy, Little, Bogosian, Hainsey, Oystrick, Bouwmeester, Spezza, Enstrom, and Pavelec make for a very good foundation. Havelid, Exelby, Williams, Sterling(never going to get a chance in Atlanta), Christensen, and Slater are all expendable pieces who could be traded for draft picks or younger players with some upside.
By
Anonymous, at 8:58 PM
True, Pavelec set the tone, but Moose averages about 3-4 goals scored against per game whether he comes in relief or starts. If you don't believe me, look at his stats. He looks sharper, but the real problem is the defense in front of him is not reducing the number of shots he faces. Even still, when Boston beat us 7-3, they scored 4 goals out of their first 5 shots.
What we need are defenseman who are going to play smart, fast, gritty every night. Exelby looks better this season, but only because he is playing with Hainsey. Him and McCarthy last year were terrible. If Hainsey had a better defensemans by his side, then his numbers would be better. That is a fact. Exelby gave up a goal to Ryder, Kessel, or Yelle early on in the Boston game here in Atlanta because he gave the opposing forward too much space to maneuver a shot. He caught it the 2nd time the forward came down his lane, but too late, they already scored.
If you look at several of the games prior to the Islanders game, our guys have not been applying pressure to the opposing team until the Islanders game and after. But our guys still had lapses just like the one I described. Our guys have to apply pressure for 60 minutes!!! Especially against teams like Boston or any other.
As far as getting Spezza, you have got to be kidding?!?! Spezza is part of their top line with Alfredsson and Heatley. They will not give him up for anyone I don't care what kind of Koolaid you have been drinking!
As far as Kozlov goes, he is the leading goal scorer right now. Why would you mess with someone who is part of your best line. Little, Kozlov, and White are playing beautifully. I say leave that line alone, and renew all of their contracts if they play this way the entire season!
As far as Lehtonen goes, I say trade him. We need to take a risk and get a marquis goalie; that is one thing. I say get rid of anyone who is not pulling their weight- Exelby, Havelid, Williams, Christensen, Boulton, etc. I like Exelby, Havelid, and Boulton- I have met all three of them, but if they can't produce, then bring up Kulda on defense, Sterling at forward, and maybe get a trade from one of these teams that wants Sundin and get one of their forwards. It is time to quit giving more chances to guys who can't produce and are contributing to the further slide of this team. We can't do much worse if we give some of these Chicago players a chance. I say bring up Stewart, Sterling, Kulda. These guys are pretty hungry to play.
Jay,
Krog was no big loss. He was up on this team a couple of years ago, and was nothing worth losing. Haydar, now that is another story. I would have kept him and traded Exelby. But I don't know if anyone would have wanted him.
Coburn, that speaks for itself. BIGGEST MISTAKE DW EVER MADE!!! Coburn for Zhitnik?!?!? Philly is laughing all the way to the bank and so are the NHL commentators! Waddell is never going to live that down.
I don't understand why Perrin was a healthy scratch. Also big mistake. He should have played! He has a lot of heart, and his enthusiasm is infectious. Every time I see him play, this guy tries to make plays on offense and applies pressure on defense. He continues to try even when others quit. Even Falconer, who is accurate and tough on players, would agree with me about Perrin.
Anyhow, I am really frustrated right now. Maybe I should stop checking on scores or watching for a while. Something has got to change. We play Ottawa on the 16th in Ottawa and then we play the Pens here on the 18th. I think Anderson is doing everything he can, but maybe if he benches guys who can't do the job and bring up some new guys from Chicago, then maybe the veterans will change how they play. I say that is what Anderson should do; we can't do much worse. Oh, I am sorry. We can. We can let Tampa Bay overtake us for 4th in the division and then we can be 30th in the NHL.
I have tried being hopeful, but I am tired of defending the Thrashers while my wife and everyone I know is telling me that the Thrashers suck. Well, I can't keep defending them if they are going to continue to lose. I mean they lost to Boston the last two games, who are leading the Eastern Conference. So, it's not like losing to Tampa Bay or Los Angeles, who by the way is even better than us this year.
By
Anonymous, at 1:32 PM
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