Colby Armstrong re-signs...but might be a free agent next summer
According to www.capgeek.com Colby Armstrong has signed a 1 year deal for $2.4. They also show him as a UFA next summer which would be a colassal FAIL in my grade book if that happens. I have some VERY interesting stats that suggest that Armstrong is the Thrashers Secret MVP at Even Strength last season. Now that he has signed I'll put those up as time allows.
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Waaaay more stats than that!
All things Thrashers + stats: www.birdwatchersanonymous.com
by The Falconer on Jul 16, 2009 1:38 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
He’ll turn 27 this November. Does that mean he’ll be a UFA? This will be his fifth NHL season.
by fatschoonerrat on Jul 16, 2009 12:51 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
He's taking a gamble...
As the cap is likely to go down and he may not be able to acheive a better deal then, especially with teams who will have to dump players to get under the cap.
by Blut-0 on Jul 16, 2009 1:25 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Thrashers sign Grant Lewis
According to Pittsburgh based site www.insidepittsburghsports.com
by bobbyland on Jul 16, 2009 1:34 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Thank I didn’t see that yet.
All things Thrashers + stats: www.birdwatchersanonymous.com
by The Falconer on Jul 16, 2009 1:40 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Analysis of Colby contract
Falconer,
Why do you think Armstrong signed for 1 year? Do you think this is his idea or DW’s idea? To me, he proved that he is an asset to a team. After leaving Pittsburgh, he was invaluable to the Thrashers and adjusted to his line changes. What do you think? Or what is being said about this deal. I am glad that we have him, but wonder why he was not signed for longer.
by BTF on Jul 16, 2009 3:45 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
I has to be his idea. Why would DW let a highly sought after commodity become an UFA next summer. If Colby wanted to he could simply wait for arbitration—to be honest I’m not sure why they didn’t go that route.
All things Thrashers + stats: www.birdwatchersanonymous.com
by The Falconer on Jul 16, 2009 4:05 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Maybe
DW said he’d walk away from an arb award and Armstrong could end up someplace worse than Atlanta like
Nevermind.
by J.K. Sockey on Jul 17, 2009 6:54 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I think it’s hard to say which side wanted just the 1 year. Armstrong at 2.4 million is about right so he is at a good price. It is hard to imagine DW did not want to make a multi-year contract. My guess is Armstrong is looking forward to UFA and being able to pick the team he plays for after this season..
by Tim C on Jul 17, 2009 1:26 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
The Thrashers are rolling the dice this year. If I were a player, I’d want a one year deal too in case.
a) Belkin wins his suit
b) They miss the playoffs
c) and Kovy doesn’t resign
that’s the disaster scenario, Army and Kari will want out if that’s the result.
But if all three of those issues break the other way, I’d guess Army and Kari will sign on for longer deals.
by LetNoneIn on Jul 17, 2009 10:19 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Actually, Lehtonen will still be an RFA next summer, so that’s not why he got a 1 year deal. He got a 1 year deal because he can’t stay healthy enough for DW to gamble on a multi-year deal. Lehtonen basically knows that right now he is playing for cheap – if (and it’s a big one) he can stay healthy. So DW wants to see if Lehtonen can stay healthy before he offers big money and Lehtonen knows that missing 20-40 games a year due to injury isn’t going to bring him a big contract. So I agree that all parties wanted a 1 year deal, but in Lehtonen’s case it has nothing to do with the reasons you suggested. He can’t leave on his own.
Your reasons are quite plausible for Army but it also may be that he just simply wants out. He may want to return to Pittsburgh or it may be another Hossa situation where it’s mostly that he just wants to play (almost) anywhere but Atlanta.
Belkin will NOT win his suit. I’m not a lawyer (my best friend is though and he keeps up with this case) and if I understand correctly the court basically agrees now that Belkin has to be bought out, they are just trying to figure out how to do it because the contract was so badly worded that it didn’t cover what happened – neither side liked what the appraiser said. I’ve seen people say that Belkin might get control of the team, but those people are not lawyers. The appellate court put a smackdown on the first court to hear the case essentially ruling that the first court made up law to cover their decision and they sent the case back to the same court and said “Try again”. Belkin will be bought out, but it’s going to take time to figure out who gets to set the price for the buyout. It’s still a mess, but it’s not the kind of mess most of the fans think it is.
by Zontar on Jul 17, 2009 10:46 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
I suspect players are a lot like us normal folks and that they would like to control where they live and work. I know Falconer has a huge man-crush here and is disapointed, but really I can’t blame a player for wanting to give himself the options of seeing what is offered. I don’t think the fact that he signed a 1 year deal means that he wouldn’t consider staying with us long term, but he’s keeping his options open. Ironically that is the same advice I’d give to a young person in just about any career field.
I know we hear his name mentioned around our trade deals as coveted by others, but a lot of that is also due to his current contract. It doesn’t sound like any of these suitors tried to sign him to an offer sheet this summer, so the full court press for his services might not be there next season when you facotr in the money he’ll want and the money teams have available. DW was powerless in this situation and the fact that we managed to sign him without going through arbitration is really al we can ask.
by godsendjen on Jul 17, 2009 11:45 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
If another team would have signed Colby to a deal DW probably would have matched it and been happy to do so I suspect.
At the end of the day I keep seeing things about him not being entirely happy here. He took advantage of his arbitration rights to force a short term deal. He’s a player who is known to bring “intangibles” (or as I will show next year—they are not so intangible since I can measure them with stats) which many others lack. Someone will probably go all Sean Avery on him as a UFA and offer him $3-4 million per season and he will take it I assume. The only question is whether he finishes the year in Atlanta or is dealt for something valuable if the team isn’t in the playoff hunt late.
All things Thrashers + stats: www.birdwatchersanonymous.com
by The Falconer on Jul 17, 2009 2:00 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
There is an unwritten rule that most teams live by that you simply don’t go after RFAs. Yes, it gets broken every now and then, but what happens is that most fans remember the exceptions, like Dustin Penner, and assume that they are the rule. Last year there were a grand total of two – yes, TWO – offer sheets made to RFAs. St. Louis and Vancouver went after a 3rd liner on each other’s squad. The guys who got the offers were so obscure, I don’t even remember their names. So the fact that Army got no offers means nothing. He’ll get offers as a UFA.
by Zontar on Jul 17, 2009 3:05 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
So, what if we lose Colby? Is he easy enough to replace (any prospects that could fill his shoes if he doesn’t stay?)?
by RhythmPenguin on Jul 17, 2009 2:29 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
What Colby brings is not “easy to replace” as I’ll demonstrate next week in my “Colby Armstrong Secret ES MVP for Thrashers” post. Stay tuned.
All things Thrashers + stats: www.birdwatchersanonymous.com
by The Falconer on Jul 17, 2009 3:58 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I find it ironic...
…that after a week filled with long posts, this single paragraph Armstrong is the most commented thing all month. Maybe I should write shorter posts :)
All things Thrashers + stats: www.birdwatchersanonymous.com
by The Falconer on Jul 17, 2009 4:00 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Colby Armstrong is not an easy player to replace. He brings many things to a team. He hits, he will fight, he plays very well in the corners and in his own end. He also is under rated as a goal scorer. I would not be surprised if he scored 30 goals next season. On top of that he is liked by his team mates. Took him less than 1 season to be named an assistant captain. At 2.4 million he is a steal. The Thrashers have alot of good, young players in their organization (especially after this last draft), but none are even close to stepping up and filling Armstrong’s shoes.
by Tim C on Jul 18, 2009 1:30 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

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