# 2009–10 Atlanta Thrashers season

The 2009–10 Atlanta Thrashers season was the 11th season of play for the National Hockey League (NHL) franchise. The Thrashers failed to make the Stanley Cup playoffs during the season, and at the end of the regular season, the team announced that it would not retain John Anderson as head coach. The Thrashers also promoted Don Waddell to president and Rick Dudley to general manager. Assistant coaches Randy Cunneyworth, Todd Nelson and Steve Weeks were also not retained.

## Off-season

With the fourth-overall pick in the Entry Draft, the Thrashers chose forward Evander Kane.
The Thrashers signed free agent forward Nik Antropov, intending to team him with Ilya Kovalchuk. The Thrashers made a trade for defenceman Pavel Kubina from the Toronto Maple Leafs, giving up Garnet Exelby in a four-player deal.

## Pre-season

2010 Pre-season – Record: 2–3–1 (Home: 2–1–0; Road: 0–2–1)
GameDateOpponentScoreOTDecisionRecord
1September 7@ Nashville Predators0-5MacIntyre0-1-0
2September 18@ Tampa Bay Lightning1-2OTPavelec0-1-1
3September 21Carolina Hurricanes4-2Hedberg1-1-1
4September 23Nashville Predators5-4Pavelec2-1-1
5September 25@ Carolina Hurricanes3-4MacIntyre2-2-1
6September 27Tampa Bay Lightning1-5Pavelec2-3-1 :

## Regular season
### Divisional standings

Southeast Division :
| | | GP | W | L | OTL | GF | GA | Pts |
| 1 | p – Washington Capitals | 82 | 54 | 15 | 13 | 318 | 233 | 121 |
| 2 | Atlanta Thrashers | 82 | 35 | 34 | 13 | 234 | 256 | 83 |
| 3 | Carolina Hurricanes | 82 | 35 | 37 | 10 | 230 | 256 | 80 |
| 4 | Tampa Bay Lightning | 82 | 34 | 36 | 12 | 217 | 260 | 80 |
| 5 | Florida Panthers | 82 | 32 | 37 | 13 | 208 | 244 | 77 |

### Conference standings

Eastern Conference :
| R | | Div | GP | W | L | OTL | GF | GA | Pts |
| 1 | p – Washington Capitals | SE | 82 | 54 | 15 | 13 | 318 | 233 | 121 |
| 2 | y – New Jersey Devils | AT | 82 | 48 | 27 | 7 | 222 | 191 | 103 |
| 3 | y – Buffalo Sabres | NE | 82 | 45 | 27 | 10 | 235 | 207 | 100 |
| 4 | Pittsburgh Penguins | AT | 82 | 47 | 28 | 7 | 257 | 237 | 101 |
| 5 | Ottawa Senators | NE | 82 | 44 | 32 | 6 | 225 | 238 | 94 |
| 6 | Boston Bruins | NE | 82 | 39 | 30 | 13 | 206 | 200 | 91 |
| 7 | Philadelphia Flyers | AT | 82 | 41 | 35 | 6 | 236 | 225 | 88 |
| 8 | Montreal Canadiens | NE | 82 | 39 | 33 | 10 | 217 | 223 | 88 |
| 8.5 ||||||||||
| 9 | New York Rangers | AT | 82 | 38 | 33 | 11 | 222 | 218 | 87 |
| 10 | Atlanta Thrashers | SE | 82 | 35 | 34 | 13 | 234 | 256 | 83 |
| 11 | Carolina Hurricanes | SE | 82 | 35 | 37 | 10 | 230 | 256 | 80 |
| 12 | Tampa Bay Lightning | SE | 82 | 34 | 36 | 12 | 217 | 260 | 80 |
| 13 | New York Islanders | AT | 82 | 34 | 37 | 11 | 222 | 264 | 79 |
| 14 | Florida Panthers | SE | 82 | 32 | 37 | 13 | 208 | 244 | 77 |
| 15 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NE | 82 | 30 | 38 | 14 | 214 | 267 | 74 |
bold – Qualified for playoffs; y – Won division; p – Won Presidents' Trophy (and division)
AT – Atlantic Division, NE – Northeast Division, SE – Southeast Division

### Game log

* Green background indicates win (2 points).
* Red background indicates regulation loss (0 points).
* White background indicates overtime/shootout loss (1 point).
2009–10 Game Log :
October: 5–4–1 (Home: 1–3-0; Road: 4–1–1)
#DateVisitorScoreHomeOTDecisionAttendanceRecordPts
1October 3Tampa Bay Lightning3-6Atlanta ThrashersPavelec18,5451-0-02
2October 8Atlanta Thrashers4-2St. Louis BluesPavelec19,1502-0-04
3October 10Atlanta Thrashers2-4Ottawa SenatorsPavelec19,3602-1-04
4October 16Atlanta Thrashers4-2New Jersey DevilsPavelec14,1873-1-06
5October 17Atlanta Thrashers4-2Buffalo SabresHedberg18,6904-1-08
6October 20Atlanta Thrashers1-2Montreal CanadiensSOPavelec21,2734-1-19
7October 22Washington Capitals5-4Atlanta ThrashersPavelec13,1924-2-19
8October 24San Jose Sharks4-3Atlanta ThrashersHedberg14,9454-3-19
9October 29Washington Capitals4-3Atlanta ThrashersPavelec12,8934-4-19
10October 31Atlanta Thrashers3–1Ottawa SenatorsPavelec17,2975-4-111 :
November: 9–3–2 (Home: 5–2–2; Road: 4–1–0)
#DateVisitorScoreHomeOTDecisionAttendanceRecordPts
11November 3Atlanta Thrashers5-4Montreal CanadiensPavelec21,2736-4-113
12November 5Columbus Blue Jackets4-3Atlanta ThrashersPavelec10,8786-5-113
13November 7Atlanta Thrashers3-6New York IslandersPavelec14,1196-6-113
14November 8St. Louis Blues2-3Atlanta ThrashersSOHedberg10,9047-6-115
15November 12Atlanta Thrashers5-3New York RangersHedberg18,2008-6-117
16November 13Los Angeles Kings0-7Atlanta ThrashersPavelec15,6389-6-119
17November 15Edmonton Oilers2-3Atlanta ThrashersHedberg11,09110-6-121
18November 19Boston Bruins4-3Atlanta ThrashersSOPavelec12,11210-6-222
19November 21Pittsburgh Penguins3-2Atlanta ThrashersHedberg17,58810-7-222
20November 22Tampa Bay Lightning4-3Atlanta ThrashersOTPavelec13,34210-7-323
21November 25Atlanta Thrashers2-0Detroit Red WingsPavelec19,75111-7-325
22November 27Atlanta Thrashers6-4Carolina HurricanesPavelec14,46312-7-327
23November 28Philadelphia Flyers0-1Atlanta ThrashersHedberg16,01813-7-329
24November 30Florida Panthers3-4Atlanta ThrashersHedberg10,31014-7-331 :
December: 4–10–1 (Home: 2–2–1; Road: 2–8–0)
#DateVisitorScoreHomeOTDecisionAttendanceRecordPts
25December 3New York Islanders4-1Atlanta ThrashersPavelec11,70414-8-331
26December 5Atlanta Thrashers2-1Florida PanthersSOHedberg13,29115-8-333
27December 7Atlanta Thrashers2-5Toronto Maple LeafsPavelec19,05015-9-333
28December 9Atlanta Thrashers1-3Calgary FlamesHedberg19,28915-10-333
29December 10Atlanta Thrashers2-4Vancouver CanucksPavelec18,81015-11-333
30December 12Montreal Canadiens3-4Atlanta ThrashersOTHedberg16,61616-11-335
31December 14Atlanta Thrashers3-2New York RangersSOHedberg18,20017-11-337
32December 16Atlanta Thrashers3-4Florida PanthersHedberg11,67217-12-337
33December 17Dallas Stars5-6Atlanta ThrashersOTPavelec11,95718-12-339
34December 19New Jersey Devils5-4Atlanta ThrashersPavelec14,61618-13-339
35December 21Montreal Canadiens4-3Atlanta ThrashersOTHedberg15,07518-13-440
36December 23Atlanta Thrashers4-6Boston BruinsHedberg17,56518-14-440
37December 26Atlanta Thrashers3-4Tampa Bay LightningPavelec15,43718-15-440
38December 28Atlanta Thrashers2-3New Jersey DevilsHedberg17,02418-16-440
39December 30Atlanta Thrashers0-4Boston BruinsPavelec17,56518-17-440 :
January: 6–5–4 (Home: 4–2–1; Road: 2–3–3)
#DateVisitorScoreHomeOTDecisionAttendanceRecordPts
40January 1Atlanta Thrashers3-4Buffalo SabresOTHedberg18,69018-17-541
41January 2Atlanta Thrashers5-6New York IslandersSOHedberg12,82418-17-642
42January 5Atlanta Thrashers2-5Pittsburgh PenguinsPavelec17,04918-18-642
43January 7New York Rangers1-2Atlanta ThrashersHedberg9,17919-18-644
44January 9Washington Capitals8-1Atlanta ThrashersHedberg16,76719-19-644
45January 12Ottawa Senators1-6Atlanta ThrashersPavelec10,01720-19-646
46January 14Buffalo Sabres2-1Atlanta ThrashersOTPavelec11,31320-19-747
47January 16Atlanta Thrashers5-3Carolina HurricanesPavelec14,81221-19-749
48January 18Atlanta Thrashers0-1Florida PanthersHedberg11,81821-20-749
49January 19Toronto Maple Leafs3-4Atlanta ThrashersPavelec10,20822-20-751
50January 21Carolina Hurricanes5-2Atlanta ThrashersPavelec10,47222-21-751
51January 23Atlanta Thrashers2-1Tampa Bay LightningSOHedberg16,21222-21-852
52January 26Anaheim Ducks1-2Atlanta ThrashersHedberg12,98423-21-854
53January 28Atlanta Thrashers4-3Philadelphia FlyersHedberg19,61124-21-856
54January 30Atlanta Thrashers3-4Nashville PredatorsHedberg16,64624-22-856 :
February: 2–2–2 (Home: 1–1–0; Road: 1–1–2)
#DateVisitorScoreHomeOTDecisionAttendanceRecordPts
55February 2Tampa Bay Lightning2-1Atlanta ThrashersPavelec11,39024-23-856
56February 5Atlanta Thrashers2-5Washington CapitalsPavelec18,27724-24-856
57February 6Florida Panthers2-4Atlanta ThrashersHedberg16,74325-24-858
58February 10Atlanta Thrashers3-4Colorado AvalancheOTHedberg11,64425-24-959
59February 12Atlanta Thrashers3-2Minnesota WildHedberg18,25726-24-961
60February 13Atlanta Thrashers4-5Chicago BlackhawksSOPavelec22,27526-24-1062 :
March: 8–7–2 (Home: 5–5–2; Road: 3–2–0)
#DateVisitorScoreHomeOTDecisionAttendanceRecordPts
61March 2Florida Panthers2-4Atlanta ThrashersHedberg13,81827-24-1064
62March 4New York Islanders3-6Atlanta ThrashersHedberg14,77628-24-1066
63March 6Atlanta Thrashers2-6Tampa Bay LightningHedberg19,92628-25-1066
64March 7Carolina Hurricanes4-0Atlanta ThrashersPavelec15,30628-26-1066
65March 9Nashville Predators2-1Atlanta ThrashersHedberg11,10628-27-1066
66March 11Atlanta Thrashers1-2Columbus Blue JacketsHedberg13,45928-28-1066
67March 12New York Rangers5-2Atlanta ThrashersHedberg15,57128-29-1066
68March 14Phoenix Coyotes3-2Atlanta ThrashersSOPavelec15,91428-29-1167
69March 16Buffalo Sabres3-4Atlanta ThrashersHedberg12,54029-29-1169
70March 18Ottawa Senators3-6Atlanta ThrashersHedberg12,71830-29-1171
71March 20Philadelphia Flyers2-5Atlanta ThrashersHedberg17,02431-29-1173
72March 21Atlanta Thrashers3-1Philadelphia FlyersPavelec19,57532-29-1175
73March 23Boston Bruins4-0Atlanta ThrashersHedberg14,04232-30-1175
74March 25Toronto Maple Leafs2-1Atlanta ThrashersOTPavelec14,14832-30-1276
75March 27Atlanta Thrashers4-0Carolina HurricanesHedberg16,10833-30-1278
76March 29Carolina Hurricanes4-1Atlanta ThrashersHedberg13,44033-31-1278
77March 30Atlanta Thrashers3-2Toronto Maple LeafsPavelec19,07934-31-1280 :
April: 1–3–1 (Home: 1–1–0; Road: 0–2–1)
#DateVisitorScoreHomeOTDecisionAttendanceRecordPts
78April 1Atlanta Thrashers1-2Washington CapitalsPavelec18,27734-32-1280
79April 3Atlanta Thrashers3-4Pittsburgh PenguinsOTHedberg17,04734-32-1381
80April 6New Jersey Devils3-0Atlanta ThrashersHedberg12,03834-33-1381
81April 9Atlanta Thrashers2-5Washington CapitalsPavelec18,27734-34-1381
82April 10Pittsburgh Penguins0-1Atlanta ThrashersHedberg18,95935-34-1383 :

## Player statistics
### Skaters

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/− = Plus/minus; PIM = Penalty minutes
Regular season :
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | +/− | PIM |
| Nik Antropov | 76 | 24 | 43 | 67 | 13 | 44 |
| Maxim Afinogenov | 82 | 24 | 37 | 61 | -17 | 46 |
| Ilya Kovalchuk$^‡$ | 49 | 31 | 27 | 58 | 1 | 45 |
| Rich Peverley | 82 | 22 | 33 | 55 | -14 | 36 |
| Tobias Enstrom | 82 | 6 | 44 | 50 | -5 | 30 |
| Pavel Kubina | 76 | 6 | 32 | 38 | 0 | 66 |
| Bryan Little | 79 | 13 | 21 | 34 | -6 | 20 |
| Colby Armstrong | 79 | 15 | 14 | 29 | 6 | 61 |
| Vyacheslav Kozlov | 55 | 8 | 18 | 26 | -15 | 33 |
| Todd White | 65 | 7 | 19 | 26 | -11 | 24 |
| Ron Hainsey | 80 | 5 | 21 | 26 | -6 | 39 |
| Evander Kane | 66 | 14 | 12 | 26 | 2 | 62 |
| Zach Bogosian | 81 | 10 | 13 | 23 | -18 | 61 |
| Jim Slater | 61 | 11 | 7 | 18 | 1 | 60 |
| Marty Reasoner | 80 | 4 | 13 | 17 | -3 | 24 |
| Niclas Bergfors$^†$ | 27 | 8 | 9 | 17 | -3 | 0 |
| Chris Thorburn | 76 | 4 | 9 | 13 | 6 | 89 |
| Johnny Oduya$^†$ | 27 | 1 | 8 | 9 | 6 | 12 |
| Clarke MacArthur$^†$ | 21 | 3 | 6 | 9 | -2 | 2 |
| Eric Boulton | 62 | 2 | 6 | 8 | -1 | 113 |
| Christoph Schubert | 47 | 2 | 5 | 7 | -6 | 69 |
| Evgeny Artyukhin$^†$ | 17 | 5 | 2 | 7 | -4 | 31 |
| Anssi Salmela$^‡$ | 29 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 22 |
| Mark Popovic | 37 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 10 |
| Boris Valabik | 23 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 36 |
| Tim Stapleton | 6 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| Arturs Kulda | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Chris Chelios | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -2 | 0 |

### Goaltenders

Note: GP = Games played; TOI = Time on ice (minutes); W = Wins; L = Losses; OT = Overtime losses; GA = Goals against; GAA= Goals against average; SA= Shots against; SV= Saves; Sv% = Save percentage; SO= Shutouts
Regular season :
| Player | GP | TOI | W | L | OT | GA | GAA | SA | Sv% | SO | G | A | PIM |
| Johan Hedberg | 47 | 2632 | 21 | 16 | 6 | 115 | 2.62 | 1355 | .915 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 6 |
| Ondrej Pavelec | 42 | 2317 | 14 | 18 | 7 | 127 | 3.29 | 1353 | .906 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
$^†$Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Thrashers. Stats reflect time with the Thrashers only. $^‡$Traded mid-season underline/italics denotes franchise record

## Awards and records
### Records

| Player | Record (Amount) | Achieved |
| Tobias Enstrom | Most assist by a defenseman in franchise history (83) | December 19, 2009 |
| Tobias Enstrom | Most points in franchise history by a defenseman in a single season (40) | January 5, 2010 |
| Tobias Enstrom | Most points by a defenseman in franchise history (108) | January 16, 2010 |
| Tobias Enstrom | Most assists in franchise history by a defenseman in a single season (35) | January 26, 2010 |
| Eric Boulton | Most penalty minutes in franchise history (536) | March 20, 2010 |

### Milestones

Regular Season :
| Player | Milestone | Reached |
| Evander Kane | 1st Career NHL Game 1st Career NHL Assist 1st Career NHL Point | October 3, 2009 |
| Evander Kane | 1st Career NHL Goal | October 8, 2009 |
| Ilya Kovalchuk | 300th career NHL Goal | October 8, 2009 |
| Colby Armstrong | 150th career NHL point | October 8, 2009 |
| Chris Thorburn | 200th career NHL game | October 16, 2009 |
| Ron Hainsey | 100th career NHL assist | October 29, 2009 |
| Mark Popovic | 1st career NHL Goal | November 3, 2009 |
| Pavel Kubina | 100th career NHL Goal | November 7, 2009 |
| Ondrej Pavelec | 1st career NHL shutout | November 13, 2009 |
| Mark Popovic | 1st career NHL goal | November 13, 2009 |
| Todd White | 600th Career NHL game | December 12, 2009 |
| Eric Boulton | 1,000th Career NHL PIM | December 12, 2009 |
| Maxim Afinogenov | 600th Career NHL Game | December 14, 2009 |
| Christoph Schubert | 300th Career NHL Game | December 21, 2009 |
| Tobias Enstrom | 200th Career NHL Game | December 23, 2009 |
| Tobias Enstrom | 100th career NHL point | December 28, 2009 |
| Ilya Kovalchuk | 600th career NHL point | January 1, 2010 |
| Ondrej Pavelec | 1st career NHL point | January 12, 2010 |
| Eric Boulton | 1st career NHL power play goal | January 12, 2010 |
| Todd White | 200th game as a Thrasher | January 12, 2010 |
| Jim Slater | 300th career NHL game | January 16, 2010 |
| Nik Antropov | 200th career NHL assist | January 30, 2010 |
| Pavel Kubina | 800th career NHL game | February 2, 2010 |
| Marty Reasoner | 600th career NHL game | February 5, 2010 |
| Johan Hedberg | 50th win as a Thrasher | February 12, 2010 |
| Rich Peverley | 100th career NHL point | March 2, 2010 |
| Tobias Enstrom | 100th career NHL assist | March 18, 2010 |

### Awards

Regular Season :
| Player | Award | Awarded |
| Ilya Kovalchuk | NHL Second Star of the Week | November 16, 2009 |

## Transactions

The Thrashers have been involved in the following transactions during the 2009–10 season.

### Trades

| Date | Details | Details |
| June 27, 2009 | To Los Angeles Kings 4th-round pick (95th overall) in 2009 | To Atlanta Thrashers 4th-round pick (117th overall) in 2009 4th-round pick (120th overall) in 2009 7th-round pick (203rd overall) in 2009 |
| June 27, 2009 | To Chicago Blackhawks 6th-round pick (177th overall) in 2009 | To Atlanta Thrashers 5th-round pick in 2010 |
| July 1, 2009 | To Toronto Maple Leafs Garnet Exelby Colin Stuart | To Atlanta Thrashers Pavel Kubina Tim Stapleton |
| September 24, 2009 | To Anaheim Ducks Future considerations | To Atlanta Thrashers Steve McCarthy |
| October 8, 2009 | To Columbus Blue Jackets Jordan LaVallee-Smotherman | To Atlanta Thrashers Future considerations |
| February 4, 2010 | To New Jersey Devils Ilya Kovalchuk Anssi Salmela 2nd-round pick in 2010 | To Atlanta Thrashers Johnny Oduya Niclas Bergfors Patrice Cormier 1st-round pick in 2010 2nd-round pick in 2010 |
| February 9, 2010 | To Dallas Stars Kari Lehtonen | To Atlanta Thrashers Ivan Vishnevskiy 4th-round pick in 2010 |
| March 1, 2010 | To Anaheim Ducks Nathan Oystrick Conditional pick in 2011 | To Atlanta Thrashers Evgeny Artyukhin |
| March 1, 2010 | To Buffalo Sabres 3rd-round pick in 2010 4th-round pick in 2010 | To Atlanta Thrashers Clarke MacArthur |
Player signings
PlayerContract terms
Anssi Salmela2 years, $1.225 million
Marty Reasoner2 years, $2.3 million
Andrew Kozekundisclosed
Rylan Kaipundisclosed
Chris Thorburn2 years, $1.32 million
Joey Crabbundisclosed
Nathan Oystrickundisclosed
Jim Slater1 year, $800,000
Kari Lehtonen1 year, $3 million
Colby Armstrong2 years, $2.4 million
Scott Lehmanundisclosed
Grant Lewisundisclosed
Tim Stapletonundisclosed
Evander Kaneundisclosed
Boris Valabik2 years, $1.525 million
Michael Forneymulti-year contract
Rich Peverley2 years, $2.6 million contract extension :

## Draft picks

Atlanta's picks at the 2009 NHL Entry Draft in Montreal, Quebec.
| Round | Overall | Player | Position | Nationality | College/Junior/Club team (League) |
| 1 | 4 | Evander Kane | (C) | Canada | Vancouver Giants (WHL) |
| 2 | 34 | Carl Klingberg | (F) | Sweden | Frolunda HC (J20 SuperElit) |
| 2 | 45 (from Anaheim via Washington and Montreal) | Jeremy Morin | (LW) | United States | U.S. National Team Development Program (USHL) |
| 4 | 117 (from San Jose via Los Angeles) | Eddie Pasquale | (G) | Canada | Saginaw Spirit (OHL) |
| 4 | 120 (from Detroit via Los Angeles) | Ben Chiarot | (D) | Canada | Guelph Storm (OHL) |
| 5 | 125 | Cody Sol | (D) | Canada | Saginaw Spirit (OHL) |
| 6 | 155 | Jimmy Bubnick | (C) | Canada | Kamloops Blazers (WHL) |
| 7 | 185 | Levko Koper | (LW) | Canada | Spokane Chiefs (WHL) |
| 7 | 203 (from Vancouver via Los Angeles) | Jordan Samuels-Thomas | (LW) | United States | Waterloo Black Hawks (USHL) |