Marty Reasoner, Jason Williams and Ron Hainsey. Not exactly household names, are they?

So far, they're the best the Thrashers have been able to do with their off-season free agent pursuit. The team's best signing, and biggest no-brainer however, was the re-signing of starting goalie Kari Lehtonen to a new one-year contract.

Lehtonen, who will continue to be challenged by veteran backup Johan Hedberg for the starting job on a nightly basis, also didn't cost the team much. The 24-year-old Finn said he was given only a small raise over his $2.2 million salary from last season. Interestingly, Hedberg was signed to a two-year contract earlier this summer.

Reasoner, 31, is a reliable veteran center who will help fill the hole left by the departure of rugged Bobby Holik. However, the upstate New York product comes with a lot less baggage than the opinionated Holik, who didn't handle the team's captaincy responsibilities well last season before returning to his former team in New Jersey.

Williams is a smallish (5-foot-11, 190 pounds) right wing who missed 39 games last season with injuries. When healthy, he collected 36 points in just 43 games with the Blackhawks. Put with the right players, Williams could produce even more.

The Thrashers signed unrestricted free agent defenseman Ron Hainsey to a multiple-year contract in early July.

Still, it sure would have been nice to convince at least one big-name free agent to give Atlanta a chance. But, that appears to be too much to ask for a team with just one short-lived playoff appearance and an unproven rookie NHL coach.

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