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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Knightfall" data-source="post: 3088217" data-attributes="member: 2012">Who's going to feed Kovalchuk?Canadian Press9/26/2006 5:29:08 PMWanted: Able-bodied centre who can feed Atlanta Thrashers 50-goal man Ilya Kovalchuk.The top applicants are Steve Rucchin and Niko Kapanen with Jim Slater and Glen Metropolit also in the mix.When Marc Savard left Atlanta for Boston this summer, he brought with him the team-high 69 assists that spear-headed the Thrashers attack last season and complemented Kovalchuk so well.Complicating matters is that Thrashers head coach Bob Hartley is also trying to determine who will play centre on another scoring line with winger Marian Hossa after the underachieving Patrick Stefan was shipped to Dallas."We obviously lost 100 points with Marc Savard and that's a lot of points," Hartley said Wednesday from Atlanta. "But in the NHL, to go out and get a 100-point guy will cost you $5 million to $6 million, and with Hossa and Kovalchuk, we're not in a position to get another $5-million guy. So the way that we look at this with the players that we got, we feel it can be a joint effort to replace Savvy's 100 points while being a more responsible defensive hockey club."Still, hockey poolies everywhere are dying to know who will centre the top line."Honest to God, I'm not set yet there," Hartley said. "I have Kovalchuk on the left side on one line and Hossa on the right side on the other line. Can I get the perfect fit for both guys? That's what I'm hoping for right now."We're starting to have a good idea but my decision is not final yet," he later added. "We still have three exhibition games to play and some practices."Rucchin, 35, had 13 goals and 23 assists last season in 72 games with the Rangers, his first year in New York after 10 seasons in Anaheim. His career-best came in 1996-97 when he put up 67 points, including 48 assists, in 79 games while feeding star winger Paul Kariya."Yes, and that's basically the reason we went to get him," Hartley said of Rucchin's past experience as a No. 1 centre. "He brings a good control game. He's a veteran, he knows the tricks of the trade at centre. He's a good skater that can jump in the play real well but also recognize danger as good as any centreman in this league. To be able to win faceoffs and play on both sides of the puck, that's something we were looking for. That's going to bring some balance to our lineup."Kapanen, 28, came over in a trade from Dallas after putting up 14 goals and 21 assists in 81 games with the Stars last season. So far in camp and pre-season he's mostly skated between Hossa and veteran Slava Kozlov."He's got lots of spark, good speed and good jump," said Hartley. "He has a good nose around the net for loose pucks. He has a great understanding of the game. He's a great fit."Slater, only 23, had 10 goals and 10 assists in 71 games last season, his rookie year in the NHL. He can play both wing and centre."What do I do with Jimmy Slater?," wonders Hartley. "He was one of our best players after the break last year. Where does he fit best? One thing we did which I think was good last year was that we got him to play all three forward positions. So we can move him around, he's my rover. He's a very valuable player for us."Metropolit, 32, hasn't played an NHL game in three years but impressed last year while winning a scoring title in Switzerland, putting up 65 points (23-42) in 44 games with Lugano. He also played for Canada at the IIHF world championship in Latvia last spring."I played Metro at centre for the first few games and now I'm going to try him at wing (Wednesday versus Florida) to see where he can fit," said Hartley. "I want to make sure I explore all of my avenues."I think that Metro brings great abilities like shooting, skating and stick-handling, and under the new rules he's a guy that can be pretty productive for us."The only thing set in stone is that Bobby Holik is the checking centre, where he best fits. The Thrashers aren't entertaining the thought of moving him up with either Kovalchuk or Hossa."We know what we're going to get from Bobby Holik," said Hartley.</blockquote>

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