Hockey Night in Canada's Scott Morrison delivers his insights into the world of hockey, on and off the ice.
Thrashers take a chance on Recchi
Comments (4)
Tuesday, December 11, 2007 | 02:27 PM ET
By Scott Morrison
It will be interesting to see how veteran winger Mark Recchi performs for his new team, the Atlanta Thrashers.
And his debut is likely to come on Wednesday night.
Clearly, though, the end had arrived for Recchi in Pittsburgh, but has the end arrived overall?
Recchi, after all, was given time playing alongside Sidney Crosby before finally being demoted to the fourth line and ultimately scratched, and couldn't produce much in the way of offence, a trend that dates back to the final quarter of last season. From that point through to now, Recchi only has a handful of goals after enjoying a very solid first half a year ago.
Anyway, Thrashers general manager and coach Don Waddell believes Recchi is an inexpensive gamble for his team. He was able to claim him on re-entry waivers on the weekend, meaning the Thrashers are only on the hook for $550,000 with the Penguins paying the other half of his remaining salary.
Waddell is hoping Recchi can play on his second line, with Slava Kozlov and either Bobby Holik or Bryan Little.
"Our team is much younger than it was in the past," said Waddell. "Mark obviously has a lot of experience, he was won Stanley Cups and we could use that on our roster. We're not expecting the same player he once was, but we still think he could play on our second line. We've been missing a guy there and we've become a one-line team."
Meaning, Ilya Kovalchuk, Todd White and Marian Hossa have been accounting for much of the offence.
"I was given permission to talk with Mark at length about our situation and his and I feel very comfortable bringing him in," said Waddell. "We have cap space and it is an inexpensive gamble on our part."
Indeed, the Thrashers have nothing to lose but money, but a lot to gain if Recchi can fit in.
Speaking of Hossa, who is about to become an unrestricted free agent in the summer, Waddell is confident he can get the talented winger signed. Because Jason Spezza and Dany Heatley essentially established the salary bar, everyone knows Hossa will earn in the $7-7.5-million range and will earn it for several years. So salary and term are pretty much determined. Hossa just wants to see and make sure the organization is definitely moving in the right direction and he will one day have a chance to win.
Elsewhere, imagine if Brian Burke finds a way to keep Mathieu Schneider and Francois Beauchemin on his blue-line. It would require making another deal to free up the cap space to get Scott Niedermayer back and approval from the team's owner, but think about a defence that has those three and Chris Pronger. And what if Teemu Selanne ever returns? Well, the Ducks would go from suffering from a Stanley Cup hangover to favourites to win another one.
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About the Author
Scott Morrison, the recipient of the Hockey Hall of Fameís 2006 Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award, has been covering hockey for 25 years. The Toronto native began his career at the Toronto Sun in 1979. After spending more than 11 years as a hockey writer and columnist at the paper, Morrison became Sports Editor in 1991 and led the section to being named one of North America's top-ten sports sections in 1999 - the first sports section in Canada to receive the AP Sports Editors North American Award. Scott, a former two-term president of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association, joined Rogers Sportsnet in 2001 as Managing Editor, Hockey, and is currently both a commentator on Hockey Night in Canada and a columnist for CBC.ca.
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Comments (4)
Snoop
PEI
I would love to see Mark Recchi score 30+ goals through the rest of this season with the hurting Atlanta Thrashers. Scoring two goals in the loss to the Bruins in his first game as a Thrasher doesnt hurt. I think the young Penguins gave up on an extremely gifted leader who can still produce offensively and produce in the dressing room. What does every young team say they would like to have?....a leader. The Pens will surely realize soon enough that they made a mistake.
Posted December 13, 2007 10:31 AM
Dan
Calgary
The Thrashers lost quite a few players in the offseason, but the one that seems to have hurt them the most was the retirement of Scott Melanby. Recchi should provide the veteran leadership and winning experience that Atlanta has been lacking all season. Even if he doesn't produce many points, he'll be well worth the money and roster spot.
Posted December 12, 2007 11:14 AM
Enid
Toronto
Seasoned players always get treated as dead wood when younger superstars form the core of a team. But their value can often go beyond that of mentor.
Look at Trevor Linden of the Canucks. Often considered a 'leadership' and 'mentor' player, Linden played a minor role on last years team. But come playoff time, his experience and consistency lead to him being their top playoff scorer with either an assist or goal on almost half the game winners, including game 7 against the Stars.
Posted December 12, 2007 12:32 AM
Brad
Edmonton
Even if Recchi doesn't produce the points he once did, his leadership and experience are invaluable to young players. A few years ago the Oilers picked up Adam Oates for a season. While his on-ice prodcution was as low as expected he did school the younger guys in areas such as faceoff wins. Recchi, like Oates, will essentially be an on-ice mentor to players still developing, and a cheap mentor at that. It was a good move by the Thrashers.
Posted December 11, 2007 04:47 PM