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.