Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution added an interesting name to the NHL Trade Deadline conversation this morning with the following tweet: "Slava Kozlov has requested a trade from Thrashers and is willing to waive No Trade Clause."
Kozlov, in his 18th NHL season, is having an unproductive year; but is that due to the turnover in Atlanta, or has his ability to contribute finally fallen victim to the ravages of time? The Falconer over at Bird Watchers Anonymous looked into that question recently.
For my money, yes he's on the decline but could still be useful in the right role. He's always been known to keep himself in peak physical condition, and I don't believe you'll find a more respected player throughout the league.
Last season, Kozlov set a career-high with 12 power play goals, and was nearly a point-per-game player for the Thrashers (26 goals, 50 assists in 81 games). Might he be the guy to boost an awful Nashville Predators power play?
We all know that the Predators and Thrashers have been scouting each other consistently throughout the season, much more so than teams from opposite conferences would otherwise have reason to. While I doubt that Altanta would be interested in Dan Hamhuis (having just obtained Johnny Oduya from New Jersey in the Kovalchuk trade), might there be another match here?
