Lehtonen, Kari

Lehtonen returned to Thrashers practice on Sunday - one month after he injured the groin against the Rangers, reports the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Coach Don Waddell said the team will not rush Lehtonen back as they may have done in the past and with two capable goalies in Johan Hedberg and Ondrej Pavelec on the team, Wadell expects it will be at least two weeks until Lehtonen is actviated. When he does return, Lehtonen will quickly assume the starting job and now that Bob Hartley has been ousted in Atlanta, his margin for error is probably much greater. He could be a top-10 goalie over the rest of the year.

Lehtonen continues his recovery from a groin injury and the Thrashers hope that he can get back on the ice and begin practicing sometime next week, reports the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. If that holds true, we'd assume it would be another couple of weeks before he's back so a best case scenario right now is probably the beginning of December. Ondrej Pavelec and Johan Hedberg will continue to see playing time in Lehtonen's absence though it's unknown how the games will be split up.

Lehtonen will be sidelined at least four weeks and probably closer to six weeks with a groin injury, reports the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. And MRI determined that there was no tear present in the groin, but suffice to say the Thrashers are going to be extremely careful with a guy who has a significant history with similar injuries. Johan Hedberg and Ondrej Pavelec will fill in for Lehtonen, with Hedberg getting the bulk of starts and thus having value in fantasy leagues.

Lehtonen injured his groin during Thursday's victory over the Rangers and will be sidelined indefinitely. He underwent an MRI Friday morning and while results are not yet available, coach and GM Don Waddell already stated that this isn't the type of injury that will take only one or two weeks to recover. Reading between the lines and taking into account that Lehtonen has a significant history of groin injuries, leads us to believe that he will be lost for several weeks if not months. Johan Hedberg assumes starting duties while Lehtonen is out but rookie Ondrej Pavelec will see action as well and is a threat to steal starts from Hedberg almost immediately. Keep your eye on him.

Lehtonen will start the season opener against the Capitals on Friday, reports the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. There was some speculation that Lehtonen would lose starts to Johan Hedberg and while that is still a very real possibility, it is a bit re-assuring that coach Bob Hartley is planning to start things off with Lehtonen between the pipes. While the talent is certainly there, the volatile goalie situation makes Lehtonen only a top-15 goalie in fantasy leagues.