Unrestricted free agent would like to remain with Thrashers, and hopes others will too

With Slava Kozlov's impending departure from the Atlanta Thrashers as the 2009-10 season comes to a close Saturday, the player next in line in terms of seniority is one of 10 unrestricted and four restricted free agents general manager Don Waddell has to deal with before or after July 1.

Jim Slater, a former first-round selection out of Michigan State in 2002, will complete this season with 335 regular season games played for the Thrashers during his five-year NHL career.

Slater is a role player, a speedy combination of agitator and checker, who scores an occasional goal and plays some on the penalty-kill unit for head coach John Anderson. He isn't overly gifted with offensive skills, yet he is a notable hard worker and a guy his teammates can depend upon for effort, a solid check and being a pain in the butt to play against for opposing forwards.

Slater is popular with both teammates and fans, and is the type of player all NHL teams want and need. He flourished centering Evander Kane and Colby Armstrong for a few months this season and scored a career-high 11 goals in just 59 games thus far. In four of his five seasons in Atlanta, his plus/minus rating has been even or better, no small feat for a team that typically winds up near the bottom of the NHL in goals allowed.

Once inserted into the lineup on a regular basis in late Dec., Slater's average ice time of 12:20 is more than a minute greater than any prior season.

"I definitely think that’s how a career is supposed to go. You’re not supposed to get everything right off the bat," Slater said. "I think you have to earn your time, and put your time in to get that reward. I’ll be the first one to say that I have had some tough times here, some mind busters, but if you continue to stick with it…

"I can’t believe it has already been five years since I first put on the jersey here. Looking back, I’ve played with some great ones, and my first coach Bob Hartley taught me the game. I came in pretty raw, and Bob was tough on me. I was pretty much the only rookie for two years," Slater said.

"Knowing Bob's personality, it’s never easy on a player to be the rookie, but I look back and can say that it was good for me. I think he taught me to play the game the right way. I am going to work hard, that is one of my strengths. When you care about a team, and are a team player, that’s why you see me getting more ice time and more time on the penalty kill."

Born in Lapeer, Mich., about 60 miles north of Detroit's Joe Louis Arena, the 26-year-old's one-year $840,000 contract expires this summer, and he holds the cards as to where he wants to play. He hopes things work out with the Thrashers.

"I want to be one of those guys that plays 1,000 games for the same organization. That’s just the way I am. When I made it to the NHL, my goal was to play 15 years or more, be a tough player to play against every night, and if that happens to be with the same organization, then that’s the best thing," Slater offered. "I grew up watching Steve Yzerman, and to play 20-plus years with the same organization, that’s a feat in itself. Some guys get traded six or seven times during their career, that’s tough, especially when you have a family. I like it here and hopefully everything works out for the best."

The Thrashers were eliminated from playoff contention for the ninth time in 10 seasons by the New Jersey Devils April 6. The Devils' organization has a knack for retaining its core group of players. In fact, Slater's tenure of 335 games would rank ninth if he played for the Devils, where familiarity breeds respect and success.

"If we can get more guys to get up to that 600-, 700- 800-game range with the same team, I think that’s going to be the best thing for the organization," Slater said. "You look at New Jersey, that’s the core of their team. They know each other probably better than they know their families.

"Many of them have been together so long. They [Devils management] have treated those guys very well there, made that group the priority there, and filled around those core guys," he added.

Devils' goaltender Martin Brodeur, who earned his 600th career win and 110th shutout against the Thrashers Tues. night, said few NHL teams can achieve what New Jersey has during his 16-year career.

"There are not many organizations that are like us. You look at Detroit, they have been able to do it and Colorado for awhile was able to do it. It's not an easy thing to do because of they way things are structured, especially when you are in different markets," Brodeur said. "We have an organization that is committed to winning. I've been here for 16 years, and we didn't take one year to rebuild. There are not that many teams that can say that. In 15 out of my 16 years we have been in the playoffs. It's all part of the big scheme."

During his career, Brodeur has played with several players for more than 10 seasons

"All my career, I played for a long time with the same guys. I played 10 years with Scottie Stevens, played 10 years with (Scott) Niedermayer, played 10 years with (Ken) Daneyko, and now I have played 10 years with Whitey (Colin White). It's the stability that we have in our own organization, not just defensively, but with guys like (Jamie) Langenbruner coming in for a long time, with Zach (Parise), (Patrik) Elias and (Jay) Pandolfo. For a team, it makes it easier because even though you're not going to win all the time, you know what to expect from the guys," Brodeur related.

It's tough to argue with the concept since the Devils have won three Stanley Cups (1995, 2000 and 2003) and lost once in the Finals with president, CEO and general manager Lou Lamoriello in charge since 1987.

"That’s a great franchise. They treat those guys very well and in return they get championships," Slater said. "Detroit has done that too, and you always hear from a lot of people around the league that those are the franchises that others want to emulate."

After Tuesday night's game, a fan asked Thrashers radio broadcasters Dan Kamal and Darren Eliot during the post-game call-in show, which of the Thrashers unrestricted free agents should be designated as those the team "must re-sign." The pair said defenseman Pavel Kubina and Slater.

"Those guys have seen a lot of hockey games, they’ve been around the team a lot and they know what I bring to the team. I don’t try to impress anyone off the ice, I just go out there and do my job to the best of my capabilities, to try to help the team win every night," Slater said when told of the broadcaster's comments. "If people recognize that I am trying to do that for this team, pretty much to do anything I can to help this team win, then that makes me feel good, because I do work hard every day."

With the sting of being eliminated from the playoff race still fresh in Slater's mind, it was difficult for him to point out why it happened.

"We were right there and we just didn't get the job done when we needed to while the other teams did. You can go back and look at December, the nine-game winless streak that we had," Slater said. "You go back to those games after we beat Philly twice, we were looking real good. We come home in a crucial game against Boston and we don't score, play Toronto and get beat in overtime and then lose to Carolina too.

"We knew we had a tough April coming up with two games against Washington, two against Pittsburgh and New Jersey. We needed to win those games against those teams that were below us and we didn't get the production we needed to take us into April. We showed a good perseverance to come back and make it interesting down the stretch," Slater said.

To get over the hump next season, personnel decisions during the off season will again be crucial for the Thrashers.

"I’m sure the management has plans for what they want to do, I’m sure it will be a busy summer for the organization. Hopefully, they can put a very productive group on the ice next year," Slater said.

Signing Slater to maintain a certain semblance of on-ice continuity might be a good first step.

With a solid group of young players like Kane, Zach Bogosian and Toby Enstrom, combined with veterans Nik Antropov, Marty Reasoner, Ron Hainsey, Rich Peverley, Chris Thorburn and Johnny Oduya under contract for the 2010-11 season, Thrashers' management might be seeking the familiarity teams like Detroit and New Jersey have used to their advantage for the past 15 seasons or more.

Thrashers Unrestricted Free Agents
Slava Kozlov
Jim Slater
Colby Armstrong
Maxim Afinogenov
Eric Boulton
Evegny Artyukhin
Pavel Kubina
Mark Popovic
Christoph Schubert
Johan Hedberg

Restricted Free Agents
Bryan Little
Clarke MacArthur
Niclas Bergfors
Ondrej Pavelec

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