Thrashers resign Lehtonen

The Atlanta Thrashers have resigned their top goalie who was a restricted free agent. Kari Lehtonen signed a one-year deal and got a slight raise from his 2.2 million dollar rate from last year. The details of the contract weren’t disclosed, but it was announced that it was only for 1 year. That is strange to me? We signed the backup goalie (Hedberg) to a two-year contract earlier this off-season. Kari has great potential and has the skills to be a top goalie in the NHL, but he has been very inconsistent in the last two years and it seems the top brass of the Thrashers don’t fully trust Kari to be their goalie of the future. I think they signed him and might try to trade him sometime during the year. Then they would call up the young stud they have in Chicago, Pavelec. But they could also just need one more year to see what Kari can do before offering him a long-term deal. It is refreshing to know that Kari understands that and realizes that he needs to step it up this year. The Thrashers have signed a solid defensemen (Hainsey) this offseason and also have focused on the position in the draft taking Bogosian with the third overall pick. So maybe with some a solid defense in front of him, this will be Lehtonen’s break out year. At least that is what I am hoping for!