In past years the trend was for the Thrashers to sign veterans via free agency, relying on players 30 and older to come in and supplement existing youth.

That changed today with the signing of 27-year-old Ron Hainsey (6' 3", 210 lbs) whose best years should still be ahead of him. The Connecticut native blossomed in the last two seasons while playing under defensively-minded coach Ken Hitchcock in Columbus. The smooth skater put up nine goals and 34 points two seasons ago and eight goals and 32 assists this past season. All eight of his goals came on the power play, but don't expect that to be a concern here in Atlanta where the eight defensmen who saw action in more than 10 games apiece scored a combined 13 goals.

"We didn't get a lot of points from our defensemen last year" said Don Waddell. "We're looking to try to add some defensemen that have offensive instincts to contribute to our goal scoring."

Mission accomplished. Waddell sees Hainsey's greatest assets as his skating and his puck-carrying ability. Earlier this week head coach John Anderson said that he gives all of his defensemen the green light to jump into the play when they see a potential scoring opportunity. If Hainsey could score eight and nine goals under Hitchcock's defensive system he'll certainly get the chance to score more than that under Anderson.

Hainsey's passing ability will also be a welcome addition to a team that struggled to get the puck to the forwards. As Waddell pointed out today, the more time you spend attacking the less time you spend in your own zone. Hainsey has the ability to make crisp outlet passes to the forwards and that's the first step to gaining the zone. He won't be a cure-all for the Thrashers but he should be a valuable addition at a reasonable price relative to the deals that were signed on Tuesday. Few teams are earning praise for the contracts they signed on the first day of free agency when upwards of $300 million was given out to players and at the moment the Hainsey contract looks like a reasonable one, especially if he continues to improve as expected.

As Don Waddell said, "We think his upside is still in front of him. He's had two very strong years in Columbus and each year he continues to get better. He's still got room to grow and he will continue to get even better."

 As for where he'll fit on this team, that will be up to John Anderson and his staff. Waddell pointed out that your top two defensemen don't always play together because often it makes more sense to split them up to give your team two good pairs. Waddell did say that he expects Hainsey to fit on one of those pairs though.

"You always want to have a strong top four and with Enstrom and Havelid and Ron now and the other guys that we've got I think we can find a good top four guys and then still have a good five and six."

Don't take that to mean that Waddell is finished shopping though. When asked if he is still speaking to players and agents he said that the team is in talks with several players and that the trade route is another very realistic option for improving the team, especially as some teams are getting themselves into cap trouble by signing players to big contracts. With five NHL defensemen now under contract as well as third overall pick Zach Bogosian and farmhands like Boris Valabik ready to fight for spots in camp it's entirely possible that a defenseman could be shopped.

On top of that, Waddell hasn't ruled out bringing in more blueline help.

"If we can continue to add both defensemen and forwards we'll continue to do so to strengthen our club."

The signing of Hainsey is a good start to the Thrashers' off-season acquisitions and based on Waddell's comments that what it was- a start.

A couple quick hits though- Ilya Nikulin's agent hasn't returned any calls in the last few days so there hasn't been much movement there. The Thrashers make an effort to sign him every year and every year he's non-committal.

Don is still talking to several agents and is talking to teams about potential trades. I wouldn't expect anything in the next few hours though.

Hainsey had 8 goals last year and 9 the year before. Our franchise record for goals in a season by a defenseman is 10. With Hainsey going from the defensively tight West to the more free-flowing East he could break that mark if he continues to play as well as he did in Columbus. Hainsey played on Columbus' top pair and averaged 22:33 of ice-time per game in 2007-08.

It's way too early to start predicting lineups, but if John Anderson wants to keep Enstrom and Havelid together next season I could see Bogosian and Hainsey being a quality 1B pairing.

What do you think?

I interrupt today's free agent coverage (Hossa to Detroit, Avery to Dallas) to bring you the details of this year's Prospect Development Camp. It'll run from July 8-13 in Duluth where all on-ice sessions are open to the public and free of charge. The schedule and roster are here. As always there are some invitees who are not the property of the Thrashers. This year some of those players bear striking resemblances to people in the Thrashers organization. Spencer Anderson from the Kitchener Rangers is the son of head coach John Anderson. Victor Saponari is the brother of 4th round draft pick Vinny. Mark Thorburn is the younger brother of Thrasher forward Chris.

As for the actual draftees and prospects, six of this year's picks will be in attendance. Daultan Leveille is the lone pick who will miss the camp, although Danick Paquette will leave early to go to Slovakia for an intense power-skating camp with  his former coach Clement Jodoin. three of the four players Atlanta drafted in 2007 will also be in attendance, including Niclas Lucenius who will be coming to Atlanta for the first time. If memory serves this will also be Jonas Enlund's (drafted in 2006) first prospect camp as well.

So if you have a hankering for some summer time hockey, come up to Duluth next week. Dress warm and pay attention to the signs if you're heading up I-85. The exit for Duluth has moved since the end of the season.

 No, we haven't signed anyone yet. That might be frustrating. The flip side is that I haven't said I wish we had have signed him" a single time. Players are getting signed, but none of them are players I expected us to be going after.

All of the big name defensemen are still out there, as are the big wingers. We haven't missed out on anyone yet.

The signing frenzy is almost upon us. While the flood gates officially open at noon free agent signing announcements probably won't pick up until at least half an hour later because technically teams can't negotiate with players or their agents until noon. It'd look awfully fishy if a deal was announced by anyone at 12:01, wouldn't it?

So who are the Thrashers chasing? I have no earthly idea. I read the same articles and rumors that you do so I'm assuming we'll be in the hunt for a big-name defenseman or two. With the money we have to spend to get to the cap floor (about $7-8 million after Kari re-signs according to Don Waddell) there's certainly room to go after a marquee player. Given that our owners have spent fairly liberally since buying the team (don't believe me- check out this post by The Falconer) I would expect our shopping budget to be above the cap floor anyway, so maybe there's even room for two big signings. I like Don's expressed philosophy of addressing defense and top-two line scoring through free agency. We have plenty of guys that can be plugged in on the third and fourth lines and on the bottom defense pairing if needed. Unless there's someone who adds a special skill (like penalty killing) there's no reason for this team to go after depth players on the open market.  Between returning players and guys potentially coming up from Chicago that need should be filled. In other words, I don't necessarily ant to see many of the guys from James Mirtles' 'Gems, Steals and Sleepers' list signed here. There are one or two that are interesting, but that's it.

I'll be doing my best to keep you informed of any Thrashers news today and you're more likely to get it here first than on the homepage. Agents don't have me on speed dial though, so odds are most news will break via TSN or other hockey-centric media outlets.

If you're north of the border, what are you doing reading this? Get outside and celebrate Canada Day. Get caught up tomorrow. If you're in a cubicle like me though, it might be just about time to grab an early lunch and/or stock up on snacks. I don't plan on leaving my desk after 12 p.m. It should be an exciting ride.

Free Agent Tools

Last week readers of the Blueland Blog were given the chance to submit questions for new head coach John Anderson. I caught up with him while he was in town (he's currently in Ontario at a coaching clinic) and asked as many of those questions as I could in the time allotted. Due to time constraints not every question got asked so I chose the ones that I thought would be of the most interest to the broadest range of fans.
Q: How will you increase our defense so we can start playing in the offensive zone? ~ Sean

I think it might be the opposite way around. If we have the puck and we're attacking we don't have to defend. The more we have control of that puck the way we want it the less time we'll spend in our own zone. It's two different philosophies, but I don't want to sit back. I want to make sure that we have the puck and that we're moving forward.

Q. The Wolves have gotten plenty of scoring from the blueline while the Thrashers haven't. Do you have plans to change that? ~ JB

I had Mark Popovic when he was a third year pro, and I looked at his numbers. I don't know how familiar you are with Mark Popovic but he can really skate. He'd been in Cincinnati. I said 'Mark, the way you can skate, how come you only have two or three goals?' Well, they didn't want me to go up. Well I said 'How about this? Green light. It's professional hockey. If you have a lane to go you can take it all the way to the net and we will come back and cover for you. Do you understand?' And if you look at his numbers that first year he got 12, then 16. My D has the green light to go all the way to the net and it's up to the other guys, the forwards, to read who is up ice and cover for them. So we will have some more defensive scoring. I'll even tell Garnet Exelby to do that.

Q. In all of your championships you have won in your coaching tenure, what was the one that meant the most to you as a head coach? ~ JB

They were all the ultimate. This year might have been a little more special after the six-year drought, but there's always a few things in every year that are huge obstacles to overcome, so every one of them was very special to me.

Follow-up from Ben because Anderson wears a championship ring: What ring are you wearing right now?

That's my Quad Cities ring. It was the first one we won. I wear it just to remind myself how hard it is to do. It's very, very difficult.

Q. How do you plan on getting the most out of Ilya Kovalchuk? ~ Andrew

Open the gate and let him go.

Q. What do you think is going to be the biggest difference between Chicago and Atlanta, besides it being the AHL and NHL? ~ Jill

There are a couple of things. Certainly dealing with the referees. I have a tendency to get a little too talkative and certainly my first year as I get to know them maybe I should be a little bit quieter. And when you're in the American league you know the coaches, so you kind of know the styles they play and it helps you going in there. That will be the biggest thing- figuring out the other coaches are going to do on a nightly basis, especially the teams in our division, as quickly as possible.

Q. You are relatively new to the team so how will you evaluate which lines your players will play on? Will you go by who they played with last season or will you make your own judgments on which players have good chemistry together? ~ Floyd

I'm going to talk to our staff, and certainly Donnie. He was there. I'll certainly ask for his opinion and play it a little bit by ear. Nothing is set in stone and that's the beauty of setting up lines and D partners. Nothing is set in stone and you can always change it, even in games. So that doesn't concern me a lot. But I will listen to him for certain input just to start off.

Q. The Thrashers have consistently been at the bottom of the league for penalty killing. How do you plan on improving this aspect of the Thrashers? ~ Floyd

Well, the Wolves last year were very passive. As soon as we see a chance to jump the puck we will. Once one guy jumps everybody moves and they all rotate around the box. We'll be a little more patient than before. We won't like to give the other defensemen the middle so we'll try to cut that off and make them pass it down the wall and try to keep it on the wall and on the outside perimeter. As soon as we see a chance to go after the puck everybody will start rotating. It's worked in the past and if it doesn't we'll try something else.

Q. How will you make this season fun for the players? ~ Floyd

I think just making it a positive environment. I I think spending time together as a team is important and we're going to do a lot of that this year. We'll do some team-building things. I don't want to get into it because it's more of an in-house team thing. I think that everybody feels a need to have some input on the team, whether you play two minutes a game or you play half the game, so if you make everybody feel important in their own little niche I think that makes it important to each player, and of course winning makes it fun too. I think it all goes hand in hand.

 Q. Do you think that having fun is essential to being successful or do you think that fun is a result of being successful? ~ Floyd

Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

Q. How do you motivate players to succeed in general and do you alter that method of motivation depending on whether the particular player is a veteran or a rookie/offensive skater or defensive skater, netminder? ~ J.B.

I think you just have to deal with the individual. I've had a couple of guys that if I bark at them on the bench, you know, I can tell by how they feel and how they look and how they perform the next shift. If you do that to some guys it puts them in a cocoon and they don't perform. Some guys if I don't bark at them, they don't think I'm serious. I should take Psych 101 or something. I think as a coach you have a feel for who is who and what is what, and it takes a little while to understand each individual, but every
individual has to be coached in his own little way, especially when you're trying to teach or communicate what you want from that player.

Q. What will a training camp under John Anderson look like? ~Sam

Well, I want to set my systems in place right away. There's a lot of them and there's a lot they have to know. Sometimes when you're doing that it's a little boring and it takes away from the flow of practice. So once we initially start that type of process I won't have to go to the board all o the time. I sue different names for different situations that we have so that when I say that name they should be able to recognize right away. If they don't it's back in my office and I'm on the board with them so it doesn't screw up practice. So practice is going to be a little slower, but initially I want to start the things that I want to do as a team systems wise.

Q. How much say is Don Waddell giving you in off season transactions? ~Drock20J

Just a little bit at the draft. I appreciated that he asked for my comments right away at the draft table. Since then we sat down and went over the depth chart a little bit to find out my feelings on certain guys. Although I do know the players, I have to respect his opinion and the staff because they were here. As much as I like to think I know them, I didn't spend 80 games with them. Plus our schedule game was so busy, to watch more than 10-15 Thrashers games was very difficult. We got in cities that didn't even have
hockey coverage, so that was tough.

Q. What coach most influenced you? ~mo wanchuk

Two actually. One was George Armstrong who I talked to at the draft. He was my junior coach for four years. He wasn't the greatest X's and O's guy but he was one of those guys, if he told me to go through the wall I'd ask how far because he made me feel good about myself. Our team was really together and if you ask anyone else from those teams they'll tell you the same thing.

The other one was Roger Neilson because back then we just had VCR decks and stuff like that. We'd play Toronto on Saturday night and then play a game in Boston on Sunday. He'd cut tape all night and have it ready by morning for the afternoon game. So that kind of work ethic, I really appreciate. I didn't understand it at the time but I do now being a coach.

Q. What current hockey coach do you most admire?  ~mo wanchuk

Bruce Boudreau. I respect a lot of the things he does. We talk at least on a weekly basis and we talked about his growth through the Washington thing because every day the pressure was on him to win because they had to do the impossible just to get there. So that was a neat thing to share with him.

Q. Who is your favorite hockey coach of all time?  ~mo wanchuk

George Armstrong.

Q. What do you perceive the role of team captain to be?  ~mo wanchuk

I want him to be a positive person. A person who can lead by example but also have command of the intensity in the room. If there's bull going on he has to stop and say "This is bull." And he can lead that way too. I'm not going to say a bit of a coarse guy, but certainly a guy that's ready to stand up and be counted. I think if a guy stands up and starts yelling and screaming all the time you kind of lose that message. But if a guy is a hard-working guy and he stands up and says "Hey, this isn't right" then guys will respect him.

Follow-up Traditionally, how have you chosen the captains on your teams? Do you pick them or do the players have a say?

I like to do it, but it's not just me. It's the coaching and managerial staff. I'm not the Ayatollah. I don't want that type of environment here. I want input from everybody. If I make the final decision, well somebody has to make it. But I want to hear from everybody.  

The NHL just announced that the upper limit for the salary cap for the 2008-09 season will be $56.7 million. The mid-point (and I have no idea what purpose the mid-point serves) will be $48.7 million and the floor will be $40.7 million. According to NHLnumbers.com, which I find to be fairly reliable, the Thrashers spent roughly $45.7 million on salary last year. They project us as having about $27.6 million committed for next season (not counting Moose's new contract), leaving about $13 million to spend on 4-5 roster spots to get to the cap floor. Some of that money will go to Kari Lehtonen when he signs a new deal but that should still leave a nice little chunk of change for management to spend, especially if they get the same budget (or more) that they got last season.

The free agency market is open for business at noon on Tuesday, but don't be surprised if NHL Gm's start moving some big-ticket players this weekend to make room for new acquisitions.

Let's go shopping!

Got it?

Qualifying offers went to Kari Lehtonen, Brett Sterling, Nathan Oystrick and Joey Crabb. Guillaume Desbiens is the odd man out.

Garnet Exelby was also there and took questions after the press conference.

Ex called Anderson a demanding coach who demands passion from his players but he also said he's great to play for. Ex won a Calder Cup with him in 2002 and said that he's good at creating a fun playing environment. He also has the ability to find out what makes a player tick and then use that to motivate them.

"He won't pressure a guy to the point where he can't perform," Ex told me. "He lets him play through his problems. He likes to work with them without giving them an ultimatum." 

Anderson isn't afraid to tinker with systems and lineups if something isn't working and Ex called him a great motivator. He also agreed that having more than 800 games of NHL playing experience is a huge point in Anderson's favor.

"Definitely. Obviously there's much more respect for a coach that's played and who has been through the trenches and knows what it's like.  He has that angle when he tries to present his philosophy and strategy. It's absolutely a key."

**UPDATE**

Here is Anderson's Fox5 in-studio interview from this morning.

Wow. It feels like this is the first time I've been at my desk in a month. the Ottawa trip was a whole lot of fun, not to mention tiring, but it was also incredibly valuable. Having had the chance to talk to him a few times now I'm really excited about the John Anderson hire. Hell be in town this week and you'll hear more about a press conference later. I'm also excited about our draft, even if most of these guys are a few years away from playing in Atlanta. I know Waddell and his staff get criticized for their drafting fairly often but the last few years they've done a commendable job- it just takes a while to see the results. I think we'll tart to see those results in the next year or two as guys like Ondrej Pavelec, Boris Valabik, Arturs Kulda, Spencer Machacek and Riley Holzapfel compete for roster spots. Combine them with Bryan Little, Zach Bogosian and Toby Enstrom and that's a lot of potential youth on the roster that came from within.

I think that potential depth is the reason the Thrashers took three college players in this year's draft. With so many recent picks about to go pro and compete for spots in the next two years Waddell could afford to take a more long-term approach after nabbing Bogosian. that's not to say Leveille, Saponari and Redmond couldn't leave school early, but that's not the usual approach of the Thrashers. Not only is keeping players in school good for their development (both on and off the ice), it's also cost-effective.

Speaking of Vinny Saponari, he was in Duluth this morning at the Thrashers' youth summer hockey camp. He was on the ice with the kids and he did at least three TV interviews with local stations. I talked to him for a few minutes and I should have an article up on him sometime today or tomorrow if all goes well. It's a big deal for hockey in Georgia to have a kid that grew up going to Thrashers hockey camp get drafted by the hometown team.

I'm about to start writing up my own draft review but in the meantime here is one from NHL.com.

I wasn't the only Thrashers blogger tied to their keyboard this weekend. Here are some other sites that have some analysis on the draft and John Anderson's hiring.

It would also be worth your while to stop by the AJC site to see what Mike Knobler has been up to.

And that's a wrap for the Thrashers. They used their last two picks to take goaltender Chris Carrozzi and defenseman Zach Redmond. I talked to Chris (he's a local kid so he was here for the draft) and then followed him through all the post-drafting photo ops and I'll post more about that later. Chris played for the Mississauga St. Nike's in the OHL where he posted a 2.75 GAA and .911 save percentage this season. Like most Thrashers goalies he's a big kid- 6'3", 185. He calls himself a butterfly goalie and compares himself to Henrik Lunqvist. He says his strengths are his positioning and his calmness. Carrozzi has two years of junior eligibility left and then a third overage year if needed. There's a pretty good chance you'll see him at prospect camp in a few weeks since most of the regulars aren't going to be available.

Zach Redmond is a 6'2, 200 lb American defenseman from Ferris State. He had 6 goals and 19 points in 37 games as a freshman after spending two years in the USHL.

It's time to pack things up here at Scotiabank Place but keep an eye on the blog and atlantathrashers.com over the next few days as we follow up with some of our picks and roll out some features and photo galleries. Internet problems aside it's been fun. Thanks for joining me for the 2008 NHL Entry Draft.

There's not a whole lot of information out there on Swede Niklas Lasu, Atlanta's 5th round pick, so here's what I have.

Don Waddell called him a strong two-way forward that his scouts loved. He's a strong skater who isn't short on skill either. He piled up 53 points in 41 games in his last year of junior hockey in Sweden and he was +33. The NHL lists him at 5'11", 176 lbs. Our European scouts were excited about being able to get him in the fifth round.

It's going to take some confirmation from Elias Sports Bureau and/or the NHL but I do believe Vinny Saponari is the first Georgia-born player to be taken in the NHL Draft and he's now a Thrasher prospect after being taken 94th overall. Vinny isn't here at the draft but according to the fine fans on our message boards he was at the draft party at Philips Arena last night.

From what I hear Saponari is going to Boston University in the fall. He's a 5'10", 175 lb forward who has been playing in the US Development Program. The Saporani and Kamal families are close so the Kamals are headed over to the Saponari's this afternoon. I don't want to interrupt the party but I'll see if I can get Vinny on the phone at some point.

Danick Paquette is the Thrashers' third pick of the draft, 64th overall. Here's his NHL.com draft profile. Danick is 6'0", 210 lbs, and plays a mean right wing. He's a Montreal native with limited English but he doesn't mind speaking it one-on-one. He told me he'd like to compare himself to Chris Neil and Jarome Iginla since he's a power forward that plays with a nasty edge. He had 29 goals and 13 assists last season to go with 213 PIMs. He said he's not very familiar with Colby Armstrong but I'm going to go ahead and call him a French-speaking Armstrong right now. He'll go back to Lewiston for the next two seasons where he plans to work on his skating. He's also working with a power skating coach this summer one-on-one. Paquette played with Chad Denny two years ago so he plans on getting in touch with him today to learn a bit more of what to expect as a Thrashers pick.

For those who are curious, Paquette has his number tattooed on the back of his shoulders. He's worn 47 since it was given to him as a kid.

NHL Central Scouting's Chris Bordeleau on Paquette:

"He is the type of player who we always say there is going to be one player like him, like a Sean Avery or a Brandon Dubinsky -- the players that work really hard and work at their game. I think Danick's mental and physical toughness together with his smarts -- he's smart with the puck, give him a good upside. He scored 30 goals and he's really tough -- he comes to play every night."

It's day two of the draft and the internet is still pretty spotty here at Scotiabank Place. We're midway through the second early in the third round at this point and so far there's nothing much to report. Picks are being made, a couple have been traded, and I'm just waiting for the third round to roll around when we can do something.

The most interesting part of the morning so far is watching the people in the stands react when a player gets chosen. There are plenty of friends and family here to cheer on the players but it's still exciting to see the random fans in the stands wearing jerseys of junior teams that are hundreds of miles away cheer when one of their guys gets taken. Without looking at a full list it seems that there are more QMJHL kids getting taken today. As a rule of thumb the Q cranks out goalies and offensive wingers, the OHL tends to produce centers and skill players with grit and the WHL is a defense factory. The first round clearly belonged to the OHL though and that's thanks in part to Drew Doughty and Zach Bogosian going second and third overall.

So far the biggest name to get drafted today is Jared Staal, the fourth and final of the famous Staal brothers. He's going to Phoenix where he'll be the lone Staal in the western Conference. Jonathan Toews' younger brother is still available. He's ranked 79th among North American forwards.

Atlanta's up and we just took Danic Paquette. 6'0", 210 lbs right-winger. I'll take him. He scored goals and piles up the penalty minutes. Now it's time to see if I can track him down.

You can be forgiven for not knowing much about Daultan Leveille who was taken 29th overall by the Thrashers. He's a bit of an undersized center from a second tier junior program in Ontario, but don't think for a second that he wasn't good enough to play major junior hockey. Daultan could have gone to the OHL but chose not to forfeit his NCAA eligibility. He told me that education has always been important to his family and he'll pursue that avenue in the fall when he enrolls at Michigan State. Aside from it being a chance for him to get an education it also gives him a few extra years if needed to develop his game and his body before going pro. Odds are the soon-to-be Spartan will have Jim Slater's phone number before the end of the night. Knowing Slater and his love of Michigan State it won't surprise me if Slater has already left him a voicemail message.

Leveille (who is from St. Catharines, ON so don't going putting a French pronunciation on that last name) is an avid golfer off the ice. Asked how good he was he replied "Well, most of my friends are getting scholarships for golf academies so I have to be pretty good to hang with them.

On the ice he describes himself as a playmaker with good vision whose greatest asset is his speed.

In the history of the Thrashers exactly one player that I know of has left college early to go pro, and his name was Dany Heatley, so don't expect Leveille to factor into the Thrashers' short-term plans.

I just spoke to Don Waddell about Daultan and he said Leveille is one of the top skaters in this year's draft. He's excited about him going to Michigan State where he'll learn from one of the best and get the experience of practicing four times a week with a top program. Waddell was getting plenty of calls about that 29th pick and if Leveille had been gone he might have moved the pick. They were high on Leveille though and all of the offers were for other draft picks. The only way Waddell was going to move either pick today was if it benefited the team immediately by adding roster players, and those opportunities never arose.

That's it for me from the draft tonight. I'll be back tomorrow morning and you can follow along with live streaming video from NHL.com.

How would you rate Atlanta's first round draftin