As expected and noted last night, the Thrashers have gotten the results from the Clarke MacArthur arbitration case. The arbitrator has awarded MacArthur $2.4 million and the Thrashers promptly walked away, making MacArthur a free agent immediately.
Like I said last night, I'll be interested to see what MacArthur gets on the open market. There was no place in Atlanta for a $2.4 million third liner, especially when Slater, Boulton, White, Eager, Thorburn, and depending on how things shake out, Peverley, Cormier, and Machacek can fill the bottom two lines.
I'd still like to see Todd White traded--for anything. I know he was a little injured last season, but his $2.375 million cap hit is a burden. A return will likely be low--very low, if anything, but this is one of the last bad contracts we have to get rid of. And the concerns of reaching the salary cap floor? Niclas Bergfors, Ben Eager, Andrew Ladd, Ondrej Pavele and Bryan Little all have to be re-signed as restricted free agents, so there are no valid concerns there.
The Ladd case is a little more concerning. I don't see the Thrashers letting him walk in the least, but I think it would be crucial of GM Rick Dudley to try and hammer out a deal before his July 29th arbitration ruling because in arbitration Ladd could get a pretty steep contract. Nothing earth-shattering, of course, but more than the Thrashers may want to pay. It has also been reported that Ben Eager's contract will be settled before arbitration. No word yet on the term or dollar value being discussed.
Lastly, Maxim Afinogenov and his agent have not spoken for the Thrashers in quite some time. It's been said that Afinogenov wants a multi-year deal while Atlanta's management has drawn the line on a one-year deal. At first I was really pushing to have Afinogenov re-signed, but where the team is now--after acquiring Ladd, Eager, and Byfuglien up front--I'm not necessarily sure there's room for Afinogenov. There are still plenty of viable scoring options in the likes of Byfuglien, Peverley, Kane, Little, and Antropov, not to mention Andrew Ladd has a bit of a scoring touch. It would be interesting to see Afinogenov playing on a line with say, Byfuglien and Antropov, two bigger bodies who would create space for Max to use his speed. But at the price Afinogenov's camp likely wants, I'd say pass at this juncture. If management can find a way to finagle a one-year, $2.5 million deal then I'd lock him up...if not, I hope he finds NHL work somewhere because he can be a great asset to another NHL club.
More to come in the near future.
TC
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