FanHouse Thrashers

Newsmakers in the NHL: During the regular season it's our weekday look at the previous night's action and some of the story lines taking place around the league. Have a tip or something you want linked? Send it in to nhlfanhouse@gmail.com.

Lightning 5, Senators 2: After what can only be described as a disappointing rookie season, Tampa Bay Lightning forward Steve Stamkos is starting to show the talents that made him the No. 1 overall pick in the 2008 draft. The 19-year-old center scored two more goals on Thursday (giving him nine on the season), while he and his linemates (Ryan Malone and Alex Tangauy) combined for eight points in Tampa Bay's 5-2 win against Ottawa.

Vesa Toskala has more company.

A couple years ago, Toskala allowed an improbable goal from over 190 feet away against the New York Islanders. Since then, guys have allowed bad goals left and right, but few have come close to duplicating Toskala's feat until Thursday night in Atlanta. It was there that Thrashers goalie Ondrej Pavelec was fooled by a puck with a mind of its own. Video after the jump.

Atlanta general manager Don Waddell all but confirmed to FanHouse Wednesday morning that 2009 fourth-overall pick Evander Kane will not be returned to the WHL and will be with the Thrashers all season.

"Evander is certainly making the decision easy for us," Waddell said in a phone conversation.

Kane just turned 18 in August. By comparison, Islanders first-overall pick John Tavares turned 19 in September. Like any player on his entry level deal, Kane could be sent back to junior hockey before his 10th NHL game and a year would not burn off his contract.

Every Friday, FanHouse sifts through the rubble and picks the best NHL fight, with the help of HockeyFights.com.

Fighting will always be controversial. Many fans say that it's as much a part of hockey as the ice is. Others would rather it went away, even if they may secretly enjoy it. However, it seems that fighting is here to stay in the NHL. This week's card included a few heavyweight bouts, an unlikely matchup in Alberta, and a rather long, intense fight between division rivals.

Before the season starter, Atlanta star Ilya Kovalchuk brashly proclaimed "This is our year."

Crazy? Well, maybe not. Thrashers defenseman Ron Hainsey told FanHouse by phone this week that the team's forwards are so talented the club can contend, despite the fourth-worst finish in the league last year.

"We have a team that has no excuse except under-performance not to be in the playoffs," Hainsey said. "We match up with anyone, especially with our skill up front."

FanHouse's Adam Gretz takes a look at his top 50 players in the NHL. No. 13 is Atlanta Thrashers forward Ilya Kovalchuk.

In their nine-year existence, the Atlanta Thrashers have qualified for the postseason just one time, failing to win even one playoff game. The one consistent bright spot for seven of those years has been the electrifying talents of forward Ilya Kovalchuk. He's entering the final year of his contract, and negotiations are underway according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution. If they can work out an agreement, it would be the biggest, and most important move in what has already been an impressive offseason that has seen the club trade for defenseman Pavel Kubina to bolster their defense, and also add forward Nik Antropov, a move Kovalchuk had a role in.

---

---

Hockey fans in Atlanta have known nothing but losing and front office incompetence since the Thrashers joined the NHL a decade ago. Even the best season in franchise history, the 2006-07 campaign that saw the Thrashers qualify for their first and only playoff appearance, ended in disappointment as they were quickly swept under the rug in four games by the New York Rangers.

In the two seasons following that trip to the postseason, the Thrashers have returned to their sub-80-point ways, toiling at the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings. Thanks to a couple of shrewd moves at the start of the offseason, and some returning young talent, this year's version of the Thrashers looks like it has a chance to make some noise.

Late last week, Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke made it clear that his team would not be pushed around this upcoming season. Based on his first moves this offseason, he wasn't kidding. After signing tough-guy Colton Orr to a four-year, $4 million deal earlier on Wednesday, the Leafs sent defenseman Pavel Kubina, and the rights to Tim Stapleton, to the Atlanta Thrashers for Garnet Exelby and Colin Stuart.

On the surface, it's a woefully lopsided trade in favor of Atlanta, and nothing more than a salary dump for Toronto.

The plus side? Just moments after the deal was made, word surfaced that defenseman Mike Komisarek had signed with the Maple Leafs.

It's officially the offseason, meaning the time is right to look into the future. We continue our division-by-division preview of the potential wheeling and dealing with the Southeast Division.

The Southeast is probably going to be the most boring division in hockey this offseason. Three of the teams don't have the financial capability to make the sort of splash they need, and the other two were good enough to mostly maintain the status quo.

Still, we've got two top-5 draft picks to look forward to, as well as the ongoing sagas surrounding the stars for both Florida franchises.

The NHL Lottery is a serious exercise in television programming. It takes an event that could be completed in less than five minutes and stretches it out into a 30 minute program that makes the jitters that much worse for the fanbases and teams involved.

That doesn't mean the Draft Lottery live on TSN Tuesday night was a bad thing, though. TSN did a nice job filling the other 25 minutes with interviews, prospect analysis and John Tavares vs. Victor Hedman hype tonight. But, at the end of the day, all we came to find out is the answer to the question "who will pick No. 1?"