Kari Coming Over to North America

On June 22, 2002 the Atlanta Thrashers marched to the podium on the floors of the Air Canada Center in Toronto and announced that the number two overall pick was Finnish goaltender Kari Lehtonen. The moment has come and gone, and now what?

The Thrashers now have a "franchise goaltender" in there system and he is 18 years old. Now the Thrashers have 6 goaltenders competing for jobs next season. Rhodes, 33, Hnilicka, 29, Cassivi, 27, Nurminen, 26, Garnett, 19, but none of these netminders were taken second overall and were not classified as a "franchise goaltender".

But Kari Lehtonen is. According to some scouts, Lehtonen is the best goaltender to come out of the draft in the last ten years. He has lightning quick reflexes with the positioning almost perfect. Not too much squeaks by him.

Kari played the 2001-2002 season in the Finnish Elite League which is the biggest rival to the NHL talent wise. He played for Jokerit, which is the same team that Pasi Nurminen played for the year before. In fact, Lehtonen was Nurminen's back up for 4 games in the 2000-2001 season.

If the Thrashers sign Kari Lehtonen then it would be a foregone conclusion that he would begin the season in Chicago of the AHL and work his way up. This would also give the Thrashers time to deal either Hnilicka or Nurminen.

The decision of Red Wings goaltender Dominik Hasek to retire this season could increase the value of Hnilicka. Free agency begins July 1, and the top goaltenders include Toronto's Curtis Joseph, Boston's Byron Dafoe and Rangers Mike Richter. Now, the Red Wings could be looking for one of these and there could be at least one team left in the cold and looking for a number one netminder.