Thrashers fans were a bit shocked earlier when Rick Dudley suggested Dustin Byfuglien might play as a defensemen... and with good reason: our blueline is starting to look a little full. We've got a pretty full slate:

1. Zach Bogosian
2. Tobias Enstrom
3. Ron Hainsey
4. Johnny Oduya
5. Brent Sopel
6. Boris Valabik
7. Arturs Kulda
8. Paul Postma

Defenseman Andrei Zubarev has been in town since Monday and participated in the informal skate today. He has good size and looked sharp.

If Zubarev wasn't planning on signing with the Thrashers and playing here, it'd be a little odd for him to be here skating with the team. So... 9 guys competing for 6 spots? Folks, the blueline is looking a bit crowded...

When Ilya Kovalchuk signed a 17 year deal with the New Jersey Devils this summer, the NHL rejected the contract. That decision was appealed and went to an arbitrator who sided with the NHL today ruling that the contract was an attempt to circumvent the salary cap.

I think virtually everyone agrees that the contract was an obvious attempt to circumvent the cap. The contract stretches out until Kovalchuk is 44 years old and was worth $102 million. But in reality the first 10 years paid Kovalchuk $95 million and the final 7 years paid him just $7 million. The purpose of the contract was to pay Kovalchuk $9.5 million per season over the next ten years, but the contract would only count as $6 million in cap terms. Kovalchuk could retire after 10 years and the Devils would magically have created an extra $30.5 in cap space over the those ten years. This is why the contract was voided.

The problem is that other recent contracts signed by Marian Hossa and Chris Pronger also exploited the same loopholes, but not to the degree found in the Kovalchuk contract. This leaves open the question of where the boundary line between "cap circumvention" and "clever planning" rests. Until the next CBA defines this line with great clarity, it is likely to we will see other NHL contracts probe and test how far these life-time contracts can push the boundary of cap circumvention.

As we reported here at BWA in the past, the Atlanta metro region gains an additional rink as The ICE opens for business on Saturday. You can check out the official website here for more information and directions.

I am happy to say that your faithful blogger will be a participant in the first ever AAHL Open League game at the new rink. Our game is at 11:50-1:30 if you're in the area.

via www.theice.info

The Thrashers have traded Todd White to the Rangers for Donald Brashear (who will be waived and bought out according to Ben Wright) and Patrick Rissmiller (likely AHL/depth guy). The buyout of Donald Brashear is cheaper than the Thrashers buying out Todd White and it opens up a roster spot for a young forward like Cormier, Klingberg or Machecek  (or Pettersson) to make the NHL club out of camp. Or it could also open up a spot for the Thrashers to re-sign Maxim Afinogenov if he remains an UFA as the summer winds down.

Atlanta is effectively getting rid of Todd White and saving roughly $800,000 in real cash. The Thrashers loss some cap space because Brashear's over 35 contract counts fully against the cap, but then again Atlanta has no shortage of cap space. In effect, the Rangers got a player they think might help them and dumped two players they didn't want. The Thrashers deleted an aging injured veteran to clear space for a young guy and saved enough money in the process to pay for that young guy's salary.

Overall a nifty bit of work by GM Rick Dudley of providing opportunities for young players and working towards contending on a budget.

Bruce Bennett - Getty Images

2 months ago: LOS ANGELES, CA - JUNE 26: Ivan Telegin stands after being drafted in the fourth round by the Atlanta Thrashers during day two of the 2010 NHL Entry Draft at Staples Center on June 26, 2010 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

View full size photo »

The Thrashers kick off their annual skill training and development camp at the Duluth Ice Forum. On-ice sessions are open to the public and frequently this is the only chance for Atlanta based fans to see these prospects with skates on their feet and a stick in their hand. Sadly, work will prevent me from attending today's session but I'll be there most days the rest of the week. Anyone who attends today please feel free to post your thoughts in the comment section below.

Over at Blueland Blog, Ben Wright says that he tries not to look at numbers the first day but just watch and see how stands out. Personally, I'm the opposite--I am looking at some guys hard the first day or two and then I'm able to sit back and see who emerges from the crowd.

I'm most interested in seeing the new 2010 Draftees. This include the following:

• Alexander Burmistrov
• Ivan Telegin
• Kendall McFaull
• Julian Melchiori
• Sebastien Owuya

I'm impressed that Owuya will be here from Sweden. Curious to see him and McFaull play. Burmistrov will likely be the star of this camp. I can't wait to see his skating and passing skills. Despite being just 18, my guess is that he will a step many of the older players in camp.

So other players I'll be watching:

• Daultan Leveille--A big season for him in terms of taking a step forward. As he gets older and stronger will he distinguish himself more from competitors?
  
• Nicklas Lasu--Since I don't travel to Sweden, this is a great chance to look in on another European prospect.
  
• Will O'Neill--He had a break out year with Maine. I thought he looked good in last summer's camp. I'd like to watch him again.
  

Finally, we have the NHL Camp Preview--A few guys who will be here in the fall and competing for NHL roster spots. None of these has a spot locked up for the coming season, but all three have a legitimate shot at making the NHL in the near term.

• Carl Klingberg--great mixture of physicality and skill
  
• Akim Aliu--Another physical guy with some skill, new to the Thrashers organization. Obtained from Chicago.
  
• Paul Postma--highly skilled defenseman, has he filled out more and can he handle the bumps that a D-man takes?
  

The short version: the Thrashers have signed tough-guy winger Eric Boulton to a one-year, $650,000 deal. That represents a slight raise over the $600,000 he made last year, a nice pay bump for a 33-year old whose hands do a lot more punching than goal-scoring.

The long version: I find this signing a little confusing. Has Rick Dudley lost count of our forwards? Here's my current count:

Expected in Opening Night Lineup (7): Antropov, Kane, Byfuglien, Peverley, Bergfors, Ladd, Little

Fighting for Remaining Spots (6): White, Slater, Thorburn, Boulton, MacArthur, Eager

Prospects/Potentials (5): Pettersson, Klingberg, Machacek, Cormier, Burmistrov

By my count, the typical 13 forward spots (12 starters plus a scratch) are already taken. We've filled our roster and left no room for a rookie to make the team. Now, we could always scratch two forwards or cut somebody, but it just seems like poor player management at this point.

All of this is to say: I don't expect the Thrashers to stand pat with this set of forwards. It doesn't make any sense at all. There may not be any movement until after training camp, but we're carrying too many veterans up front.

Pending UFA's:  Pavel Kubina, Colby Armstrong, Johan Hedberg, Maxim Afinogenov, Slava Kozlov, Eric Boulton, Evgeny

Artyukhin, Christoph Schubert, Chris Chelios, Mark Popovic, Tim Stapleton

Pending RFA's: Nicklas Bergfors, Ondrej Pavelec, Bryan Little, Ben Eager, Clarke MacArthur

Cap space/current 10-11 cap hit: $41-42 million after RFAs are re-signed.

Projected budget (if your team doesn't spend to the cap): $45-46 million

Key needs: 2nd goalie and a forward

Potential targets: Dan Ellis, Chris Mason, Johan Hedberg, Vaclav Prospal, Matthew Lombardi, Pavol Demitra, Alexei Ponikarovsky, Patrick O'Sullivan, Evgeny Artyukhin, Alexander Frolov, Marek Svatos, Raffi Torres, Manny Malhotra, Kaleta.

With NHL Free Agency kicking off on Thursday, I thought it would be useful to take a look at which teams have cap space (I did this last year too). Many people like to visit the wonderful www.capgeek.com site and look at how much money each team currently has committed to players. However, that only gives part of the picture because many teams have RFAs that must be signed and each NHL team must field a roster of 20 players each night. Because of short term injuries the vast majority of NHL teams will end up carrying a 22 man roster for most of the season.

So to get a realistic picture of each team's cap situation I began by assuming that each team must at a minimum have 22 players making at least the NHL minimum salary (0.5 million) =$11.0 million in Cap Space. Then I entered in each player who has a valid contract. For Restricted Free Agents, I inserted the amount of Qualifying Offers minimums. Most RFAs will end up being more (sometimes much more) than the QO. I did not count bonus clause for players on Entry Level Contracts as most players fail to reach those incentives (but some will of course)

The numbers below represent the lowest possible cap estimate of each team's salary cap costs for a 22 man roster. Some teams will end up paying their RFAs more than their qualifying offers. Some teams will have players who earn their bonus clauses. Think of this as the lower boundary estimate.

Now for some teams I simply used a place holder of $0.5 NHL minimum salary to fill out the last few roster spots. If for example a team were to sign Ilya Kovalchuk for say $9.0 million and Kovalchuk replaced a NHL minimum player then it would only increase that team's cap hit by $8.5 million ($9.0 million - $0.5 million).

.