After 8 years, the Atlanta Thrashers and Ilya Kovalchuk are parting ways.
February 4, 2010
Associated Press
ATLANTA - The day that many followers of the Atlanta Thrashers organization thought would never come has arrived. Today it was announced that the club has traded 26-year-old captain Ilya Kovalchuk to the New Jersey Devils after Kovalchuk and Atlanta GM Don Waddell were unable to come to terms on salary for a long term deal. According to TSN's Bob McKenzie, Kovalchuk, Anssi Salmela, and a 2010 2nd round pick will be going to the Devils while the Thrashers will receive Johnny Oduya, Niclas Bergfors, Patrice Cormier, and 2010 1st and 2nd round draft picks.
"It's a very strange feeling that I can't explain right now," Kovalchuk said when reached for comment. "I have played my whole NHL career in Atlanta. This is the team that drafted me and this is where I grew up. Obviously the Devils have a good organization and have won many Stanley Cups, so I am excited to be going there, but I am also sad to be leaving Atlanta."
The move comes as the Russian star was piling up another impressive statistical season with the Thrashers. In 49 games this season, Kovalchuk has 31 goals and 27 assists for 58 points with Atlanta. However, throughout his time with the Thrashers, Kovalchuk's personal statistics have not translated to team success as Atlanta has only one playoff appearance in their franchise history which saw them swept in the 2007 playoffs by the New York Rangers.
"I do not blame Ilya for this team's lack of success," Waddell said. "There are a lot of things I could have done better as well. We wanted to keep Kovy as a Thrasher for his entire career, but it didn't work out that way."
Now Atlanta will try to carve out a new path built around current young players on the roster like Zach Bogosian, Evander Kane, Tobias Enstrom, Bryan Little, and Ondrej Pavelec as well as the group coming over from New Jersey.
Of the newcomers, 28-year-old Johnny Oduya has the most experience, being a regular on the Devils blueline since 2006-2007. The Swedish two-way defenseman has played 273 games with New Jersey, scoring 17 goals and adding 55 assists. This season Oduya has struggled though, with only 2 goals and 2 assists in 40 games.
Another Swede, 22-year-old Niclas Bergfors will come to Atlanta in the midst of a strong rookie season where he had 13 goals and 14 assists in 54 games with New Jersey. A 2005 1st round pick, Bergfors has paid his dues in the AHL since 2005-2006 with sparing call ups to the Devils before finally establishing himself as a full-time NHLer this season.
Without playing a professional game, Patrice Cormier is already infamous as the 19-year-old was recently suspended from the QMJHL for the rest of the season and playoffs as while playing for the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies, Cormier delivered a vicious hit on January 18 to Mikael Tam of the Quebec Remparts. A 2008 2nd round pick, Cormier's status at this time is still uncertain, but he does play a physical style of hockey that the Thrashers desperately need.
Now that this ground breaking deal is done, it will be interesting to see how both Kovalchuk and the Thrashers move on from this point. For eight seasons the #1 pick in 2001 from Tver and the upstart Atlanta franchise were synonomous with each other. Now that time has come and gone and both must establish new identities. Only the future will tell if the move will be a successful one for either side.
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