More on Kari Trade

First off, The Cust's blog post on the Kari trade and its impacts on Dallas and Turco in particular. He's not called Craig Custance for nothing.

And something else, which I just realized was the fruition of a pipe dream of mine from last offseason. I'd been hoping the Thrashers would trade Kari since last summer if he didn't step up in 2009-2010 and become what made him the #2 (hahaha) pick in 2002. My reasoning? If he never realized his potential, or enough of it, with the Thrashers, they would need to sever any and all ties possible with that era of drafting mistakes. As the only other marquee name of his draft class from that era, Lehtonen was the obvious choice to me. Shipping him out signals a full turnover for the Thrashers in my mind, and a certain kind of accountability, an admission of error perhaps. Not in drafting him so high, for he truly had the upside to merit such, but rather in holding on to him so long. I would've been largely done with him after a truly dismal playoff performance and Kari Down 2007-2008. I know that's giving up on him really early, especially with how he played in 05-06 and then in 06-07 to get the Thrashers nearly into the playoffs and then into the playoffs in front of far inferior defenses, but I never did think he had the mental fortitude to do it. I can't really put my finger on it but he seemed too Christensen-type of critical of himself and others, almost like he was really beating himself up about any mistakes, and that just can't exist within the mind of a goalie backing playoff-caliber team.

For his sake, I hope I'm wrong and he has a successful career revival with Dallas. And for the sake of his quality of life after hockey, I really hope he is through with back/hip/groin/neck ailments.