Atlanta Journal-Constitution

[GoJetsGo]

Thrashers Active on Draft Day; City Fails to Take Notice
Apathy Grows as Star Ilya Kovalchuk is dealt

Atlanta, GA -- The NFL draft now takes three days to complete; EHEC general managers only wish their ordeal was that short. Recently appointed GM Tom Kennish, a certified insomniac, is glad the experience is over. "We really liked our picks from the first week," said Kennish, who patiently waited for his late round selections. That's not to say the Thrashers weren't busy during those middle rounds, far from it in fact. Tom took over control of the Atlanta roster after a year of control under the league office. The new GM told the AJC, "To say this roster needs work is an understatement. Lou Brown accepted his position in Major League faster than I did here."

In case you haven't noticed, and judging by the readership you haven't, the Thrashers have managed to add a few prospects here and there, and are threatening to climb out of irrelevance. Anyways, on to the 2010 draft review from the GM himself.

4th Overall D Brandon Gormley -- Moncton Wildcats With the fourth overall pick our organizational philosophy was the desire to find a can't miss selection. Unfortunately we didn't obtain the boost we had hoped for in the lottery a few weeks back and the franchise foundation offensive talent was selected quickly. From the beginning, we were nearly certain this pick was going to be defense, or Mikael Granlund if we had gone the forward route. [Zach] Bogosian is our primary stay at home guy so the ideal selection would be well rounded. Brandon fits the bill perfectly, and a player we think is a great complement to Bogosian.

15th Overall D Derek Forbort -- United States National Development Team This was the first of the two first rounders we acquired from New Jersey in the Kovalchuk deal. In our war room discussions with the scouts prior to the draft we collectively felt that this draft heavily favored the defense position. C Ryan Johansen received strong consideration at this pick as well, and rightly so as he was selected two picks later. We had Derek favorably compared with Brandon on our board, as both are outstanding two-way blue liners. To acquire both in the same draft was certainly a blessing.

Why trade Kovalchuk? For a hot and cold sports town such as Atlanta, the front office knew that even entertaining offers for Ilya would be unpopular. For all the cynics out there, this was not about money. The deal Mr. Kovalchuk will sign in a few days is the same contract offered to him by this organization. Even with his offensive talents on display every night, we ended up with the fourth selection in the draft. We've needed to plug multiple holes (giggity) for some time and this expedited that process. The addition of C Joe Colborne in this deal sealed Derek [Forbort] as the fifteenth pick.

25th Overall W Jaden Schwartz -- United States Hockey League Jaden is an exceptional passer with finishing ability. We finally added a little balance to our draft by selecting a forward with our third first rounder. Before this selection we acquired #26 overall from Pittsburgh in a move up from #34. As this pick came closer (after failed attempts to trade up) the war room really zeroed in on Schwartz. New York informed us, after the fact, that Jaden would have been available at #26 without the trade up. Another organizational philosophy is to get the players you want early, which we did here. A mid third rounder was a small price to pay to ensure this selection.

30th Overall G Jack Campbell -- United States National Development Team Somewhere after the Schwartz selection our team had a difficult time trying to rank players in the late first and early second round. There were certainly players on the board at forward and defense that we liked, Nick Bjugstad for example, but no position was as scarce as goaltender in this draft. Given other team needs, Calvin Pickard wasn't really in our thinking at #15. However, at #30 our method was best asset available and Jack was that player. After the [Kari] Lehtonen trade this became a need selection as well.

#56 (acquired from PIT) and #64 Atlanta's 3rd were sent to St. Louis in the Pietrangelo/Lehtonen swap. Even after trading #56, the hope was to trade back into the second round to obtain Joey Hishon as a future third line center. Had we kept these selections that move probably could have been made. Instead we went another route, adding another well-rounded defenseman from the '08 draft in Alex Pietrangelo. We believe this is our biggest accomplishment. In one short offseason we completely revamped our blue-line into a future house of horrors for opposing forwards, for years to come.

87th Overall F David Elsner -- Germany Unlike earlier selections David is more of a project, which is to be expected from a third rounder. With proper development he could easily be a gritty third line player with great defensive instincts and some touch.

Picks beyond this point were largely a role of the dice. Curtis Hamilton an early fifth rounder was a great value for his draft position.

Other Deals Dan Hamhuis and Rob Scuderi obtained for a 2nd in 2011 and a 4th in 2010 respectively. Both are legitimate NHL defenders who can help the club out while the young picks and additions develop in Chicago.

[DevilsGM]

Nice article man, glad I could assist you in pluggin' up some holes.....giggity.

[GoJetsGo]

Curtis Hamilton -- +10 Checking = 100, +5 Positioning = 112, + 5 Hitting = 112