Todd White Traded to the New York Rangers
NHLHS Atlanta Thrashers Correspondent Laura Astorian discusses the trade between the Thrashers and New York Rangers that sent Todd White packing.
The Thrashers pulled of something yesterday that most people thought impossible - they traded Todd White.
A buyout was not an option, because White was on the IR at the end of the season with a separated shoulder (he would undergo surgery in the off-season). If a player is injured, his contract cannot be bought out without his consent. White was not going to fit into the new Rick Dudley model of the Thrashers, and so something had to be done with him, but what? Send him to the AHL and risk losing him for free – and pay him more than $2.5 million to play there if he did clear waivers? That clearly wasn’t an option, so with that and a buyout off the table, people assumed he would just be the team’s 13th forward. The Thrashers couldn’t find a place for him, and Thrashers fans didn’t want him – who else would?
The man who signed Derek Boogaard to a four year, $6,500,000 contract, of course. Glen Sather and former Minnesota Wild GM (and current Rangers assistant general manager) Jim Schoenfeld must have glanced quickly at White’s stat sheet and misread his 2008-2009 numbers (22-51-73) for last season’s (7-19-26). Poking fun at White’s stats aside, he is a good face-off guy and should be able to anchor the Rangers 3rd or 4th lines if necessary – which is what he would be doing in Atlanta had Dudley possibly not decided that he would rather see prospect Patrice Cormier in that role. Cormier fits the team’s new rock’em, sock’em M.O. significantly better than White.
The Rangers got a chance to dump a little salary in sending Donald Brashear and Patrick Rissmiller. Rissmiller played a role part on the Sharks for two seasons before being traded to the Rangers and getting himself buried in the AHL. He will be, presumably, a replacement for a prospect who makes the Thrashers out of camp – this could be seen as a sign that Cormier will be given every shot of working his way up. Brashear was promptly placed on waivers, and as Ben Wright of the Blueland Blog explained:
He has one year left on his contract which will be bought out immediately (assuming he clears the requisite waivers). That means he’ll have a cap hit of roughly $467,000 for the next two seasons as the Thrashers pay him two thirds of his remaining contract ($1.4 million according to Capgeek.com) over twice the length of the remaining term on his deal).
The Thrashers freed up room, and the Rangers got a decent-ish centerman for a year. Both clubs seem content though not excited, which sums up Todd White’s career fairly perfectly.
Laura Astorian
NHLHS Atlanta Thrashers Correspondent
lastorian@nhlhotstove.com
Twitter: @hildymac
