Thrashers Not Trading Ilya Kovalchuk

The Atlanta Thrashers currently occupy the No. 14 spot in the Eastern Conference, 17 points behind the Carolina Hurricanes for the final playoff spot. Needless to say, it appears as if the Thrashers are destined to miss the postseason for the eighth time in their nine-year existence.

When you combine yet another dismal season with the fact star forward Ilya Kovalchuk is an unrestricted free agent following the 2009-10 season, it's only natural to piece together trade rumors. Rumors the Thrashers have no interest in.

General manager Don Waddell addressed those rumors and attempted to put an end to them.

"Not a chance. It's been a rumor; it's been a bad rumor all year. We just made him captain here," an adamant Waddell said. "Our plan is to keep this player and to continue to move forward with him. There's no chance that we'll trade him."

Of course, this could just be a smokescreen in an effort to drive up the price (as opposed to the Brian Burke method of shopping players). Or, Waddell could be completely serious. Tough to tell.

The question, of course, is should the Thrashers trade Kovalchuk?

If the answer to that question is yes, right now is the time to do it. Any team that trades for him prior to the March 4 trade deadline not only gets the services of the 25-year-old sniper for the rest of this season (and a playoff run), but all of next season as well.

Naturally, teams would be willing to give up more for this situation, as opposed to if the Thrashers wait until next season to deal him (which they almost surely will if a contract extension can't be worked out).

Waiting until next season would most likely lead to a repeat of last year's Marian Hossa disaster. Waddell spent the better part of the 2007-08 season attempting to re-sign Hossa before coming to the conclusion that it just wasn't going to happen.

In the final minutes prior to the trade deadline, Waddell traded Hossa (and Pascal Dupuis) to the Pittsburgh Penguins for the less-than-stellar return of Colby Armstrong, Erik Christensen, prospect Angelo Esposito and what would become a very late first-round pick.

Armstrong has been solid for the Thrashers this season, while Christensen has been non-existent, even being a healthy scratch on some nights. Esposito is playing in the QMJHL for the fourth straight season.

In a perfect world, the Thrashers would do everything in their power to re-sign Kovalchuk long-term. At 25, he's still young enough to build around and is the type of world-class talent that is almost impossible to receive fair value for in a trade.

That said, if Atlanta intends to keep him, it should be trying to work out a contract extension right now (not next season) and see where it leads. If no extension can be worked out, trade him prior to this year's deadline to maximize the return.