Thrashers make blockbuster deal to acquire Byfuglien, Sopel

By Chris Vivlamore

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

It didn’t long for Rick Dudley to do business with his former employer.

The new Thrashers general manager pulled off a blockbuster trade early Thursday morning,  acquiried forward Dustin Byfuglien, defenseman Brent Sopel, forward Ben Eager and prospect Akim Aliu from Stanley Cup champion Chicago.  In return, the Thrashers will send forwards Marty Reasoner and Joey Crabb, prospect Jeremy Morin and first- and second-round picks (Nos. 24 and 54) in this weekend’s draft to the Blackhawks.

In order for the deal to be completed, the Thrashers needed to get under the maximum of 50 players under contract. To do so, they traded defenseman Mike Vernace, forward Brett Sterling and a seventh-round pick in this year's draft to San Jose for future considerations.

Dudley served as the Blackhawks' assistant general manager for three seasons before joining the Thrashers last year as associate. He waited until after the playoffs to interview Blackhawks assistant coach John Torchetti about the team’s vacant head coach position. Now, 14 days after the Blackhawks won the NHL title, he pulled off a deal that dramatically re-shapes the Thrashers’ roster.

Dudley said he contacted Blackhawks GM Scott Bowman shortly after the playoffs to make a deal knowing the team was facing salary cap issues. He estimated they talked 50 times over the past couple of days.

"We understood the situation Chicago was going to be in a  long time ago," Dudley said. "They need to make some moves. ... We talked a lot and it really heated up the last three days.

"I won't say there were no bumps in the road, but we got there and this deal helps both teams."

Byfuglien, a 6-foot-3, 246-pound right wing, had 34 points (17 goals, 17 assists) for Chicago last season. In 22 playoff games, he had 16 points (11 goals, five assists). Byfuglien (pronounced BUHF-lihn) has one year remaining on his contract which will pay him $3 million.

"It is what it is," Byfuglien told Chicago radio station WMVP-AM 1000 on Wednesday before the deal became official. "It's part of the job. You're not going to stick in one spot the whole time, so I've got to go."

Sopel, a 6-2, 205-pound blue-liner, had eight points last season and was a plus-3. He nearly matched his season totals in the playoffs with six points (one goal, five assists) and was a plus-7. He has one year and $2 million on his remaining on his contract.

Eager, a 6-3, 227-pound left wing, had 16 points (seven goals, nine assists) last season and was a plus-9. He appeared in 18 playoff games and had three points (one goal, two assists). He is a restricted free agent who earned $965,000 last season.

Dudley said he expects Byfuglien can be a 20-30 goal scorer for the Thrashers and that his performance in the playoffs showed the forward's upside.

"His abilities and upside are enormous," Dudley said. "We think we got something special."

The two draft picks the Thrashers sent to Chicago were obtained from New Jersey in the Ilya Kovalchuk trade. The franchise player, dealt before the trade deadline in February, helped bring the Thrashers first Johnny Oduya, Niclas Bergfors, Patrice Cormier and now Byfuglien, Sopel and Eager.

Reasoner, who is entering the final year of his contract, had 17 points (four goals, 13 assists) last season. He was a team favorite, winning the Players’ Player award the past two seasons.

“You can't beat going to a team that just won the Stanley Cup,” Reasoner said. “I'm pretty excited. ... It's always a little shocking to be traded, but we've been through it before. I would have liked to have stayed in Atlanta another year and help that team build, but it's a new chapter. You can tell from watching the playoffs that the Blackhawks have taken over the city.”

Dudley recently complimented the aggressive play and ability of Morin, a second-round pick last year. Morin finished with 83 points (47 goals, 36 assists) in his first season of junior hockey with Kitchener of the Ontario Hockey League.

“Morin is a miserable SOB who is a pure goal-scorer,” Dudley said. “They don’t come along easily.”

Dudley worked the blockbuster trade from Los Angeles, where he and other team officials arrived Wednesday for this weekend’s NHL draft.

“We added some great pieces today,” Thrashers defenseman Ron Hainsey said. “We hate to see Marty go, but we got a lot back. We got a player who was a huge part of their playoff run, a veteran right-handed shooting defenseman, another good player and a prospect. Those are some pretty big pieces.”