The Thrashers have re-signed sparkplug Jimmy Slater who was a restricted free agent. Slater works as hard as anyone on the team and is one of the most well-liked players in the locker room. Slater doesn’t necessarily have high-end scoring skill but he’s an effective fourth-line center who works well with his linemates. It was more or less a foregone conclusion that he would be back once he was given a qualifying offer (along with Colby Armstrong, Kari Lehtonen, Boris Valabik, Jordan LaVallee and Scott Lehman) so the signing should come as no surprise. Slater actually accepted the QO, so his new deal is for one year.
With Slater signed and the UFA market dying down there will likely be more RFA signings around the league over the next week or so. RFA’s are usually lower on the priority list since offer sheets aren’t a concern in the vast majority of cases. I’ll keep you posted on any other RFA news.
**UPDATE**
I was perusing the Thrashers message board and came across this great post by user ChecksAndBalances:
Team Rankings for Jimmy Slater (minimum 10 games played, total players: 20)
5v5
TOI/60 minutes: 19th
Goals/60 minutes: 7th (ahead of Todd White)
Points/60 minutes: 6th (ahead of Bryan Little)
Plus-minus: 7th
GA/60 minutes on ice: 7thOverall:
Faceoffs: 1st (53%)
Hits: 5thJimmy is by no means an elite player, but his stats look better than many other Thrashers. I know stats aren’t everything, but for a guy who puts up respectable overall numbers and is cheap, he’s a good 4th line center. If need be, he could be an effective 3rd line center. Guess what? You need bottom-six players too.
Like I said- not necessarily the most skilled guy on the team, but he makes the most of the time he’s given.
Gotta have your “ham & eggers” to be successful as a team. Jimmy’s a lunch-pail kinda guy and seems to always be a positive force in the room as well. Here’s to Jimbo further distancing himself from the unfortunate moniker “Slippin’ Slates”!!
Let’s go Slatesy!!
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Thanks for the props, Ben! I was a bit surprised myself when I crunched the numbers on Slater. Perhaps I’ll do a player-by-player evaluation on my blog… whenever I get time.
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Love his work ethic. Hopefully he can stay healthy this year and have an even bigger impact on this team.
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I’ve always been a big fan of Slater. Not only is he a spark in the locker room, when he gets on the ice you can tell he electrifies his linemates with his work ethic. Like stated above, lets hope he can stay healthy for the season cause I can see good things on the horizon for him.
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