Kari Down 2010-2011 Dallas

If Kari Lehtonen needs to spend some time on the fritz next season, it looks like he'll be doing it in Dallas. Frankly, I'm blown away that Waddell could get anything for him. But then, I suppose, now that he's "healthy" again, and before having gotten into a single second of NHL action this season, with his finish to last season in mind, he is something akin to a commodity stock: high risk, high reward. If he is no longer seemingly made of glass, Dallas has not lost the farm on a roll of the die, and if he returns to the form he displayed at the end of the 2008-2009 season, Dallas could well have made an extremely shrewd trade. It all depends on how Lehtonen does. However, as stated, I'm surprised Waddell got anything for him. EDIT: Upon viewing further details, the return seems to be less than I had thought at first, though the prospect coming Atlanta's way seems to be mustard. EDIT II: Upon reading the clarification, there was also a 4th rounder thrown in for Lehtonen. I like that. Some good, gritty players can be found in the 4th round, and some late bloomers. With Rick Dudley a Thrasher now, and doing what he loves to do, evaluate talent, I have a lot more faith in this team's scouting. I'm not predicting a Datsyuk-esque coups, but I think in years past a 4th round was essentially like giving an aborigine Australian a laptop computer: "Cool, what's this? Shiny. How's it work, and what do I do with it? ... Nah, no thanks. I can't use it anyway. I'd just squander it so I'll just let you keep it." I think this is about right for both teams. Kari is a SERIOUS gamble right now, though I tend to believe he'll at least be around 80% of the player he was expected to be, which would still be a bona fide NHL starter. He may never be an All-Star, but he should be a serviceable goalie for the Stars for a goodly little while, if they re-sign him in the offseason that is. And I could be wrong on this, but it seems to me that Dallas has a thing for Finns. Lehtinen, Miettinen from a while back, seems like I'm forgetting a few but anyway, and now Lehtonen? (Also: Nice. Hope the fans can pronounce Kari's name in Dallas. It's soooo unlike anything they've ever seen before...)

Now then. Kevin Allen seems to have been the main Thrashers news breaker of late, and I don't know if he's ahead of the curve or not, but he is what I would call a reliable media outlet, so I take what he says at face value.

Kari being traded

Dallas giving up prospect defenseman Ivan Vishnevskiy

Not sure what you're getting at here, KA...

A little tidbit on Ivan Vishnevskiy

Clarification! Thanks Kev!