Free Agency Pt 3

In the last 2 posts about the Thrashers' free agents we discussed all the skaters and I pretty much laid out what I though there. To wrap it up basically I'd like to see Max, Pavel, Slater and Artyukhin return, I think we have about a 25% shot at Army. We know that Slava is gone. I think you'll see either Schubert or Popovic resigned, but not both and I think the Thrashers will most likely pass on Eric Boulton.

That leaves one last guy to talk about...Johan Hedberg...Moose..

This may also be one of the biggest FA decisions to have to make and I'm afraid that whatever decision is made is not going to make the majority of fans happy. Moose is a special case on several levels..so let's dive in and take a look at the popular Swede and explain why either way this goes...it's probably not got a great ending...

Moose has been pretty much a career backup goalie, he fills the position admirably, and is a hard worker. He's also a fan and locker room favorite and I've yet to hear anybody in the NHL either fan, player, coach or executive say anything bad about the guy. That's is what will make it hard if the Thrashers decide to pass, it's always hard to fire the nice guy. On top of all that, this past season's performance would make it hard to let him go also..the fact is that he started as the back up and became the starter by the middle of the season and had if not the best year of his career, the second best. We might not have made it to the playoffs, but you can't fault the goaltending at all for that.

So why is the decision going to be so difficult? Well there are a couple of things that are going to be hard to get around. The first is Moose's age, the man is going to be 37 at the beginning of the season and this is still typically a young guy's game. He's in great shape and has a awesome work ethic so we can count he'll be ready to suit up, but time is not on his side. Second, as a career backup this season should most likely be taken with a grain of salt. I'm afraid that Moose played over his head, now before anybody beats me with those words let me explain. I'm not saying that I don't think the guy is good..I'm one of his biggest fans...I love the guy to death..but I'm afraid he had a career year and peaked and that he wouldn't be able to produce that again if pressed to do so. Third, the farm is getting choked with promising goaltending talent. We've got Manino, Carrozzi, and MacIntyre that will all be looking to make a break into the NHL too, albeit this is more a minor point than the other two.

Here's some reasons why they should say yes though. I'm going to try to give you both sides..don't worry...I like him too much to just shoot the whole thing down. Ok...so here's why you sign him. It's obvious that Pavelec is going to be the goalie of the future (at least for now) so why not just sign Moose to be his backup just like this year, the fact is the man has a small ego and can accept that role and do it well, and if like this year he's called upon to step up you know you'll get everything that he's got. He'll be fairly cheap, though I'd give him a bit of a raise based on this season's performance. You can sign him to a short term deal, perhaps either just a year or 2 at the most.

Yes there are going to be some bigger name goalies hitting the FA market this season, including names like Nittymaki (if you can't beat them..join them maybe), Turco, Theodore, Emery and so on..but like I said the goaltending wasn't the problem this year...maybe we should just stand pat.

In conclusion, personally I wouldn't have any problem with them holding their cards on this and giving the Moose a 2 year deal at 1.5 mil per season. What would you like to see...let me know...