Atlanta Thrashers
Despite only spending three seasons with the Thrashers, this is where his career would peak. In the 2005-06 season, he would finish with 92 points in 80 games. Somehow, this team featuring the likes of Ilya Kovalchuk, Marc Savard, Hossa and Vyacheslav Kozlov wound up out of the playoffs, even though they had a better goal differential than the three teams directly above them.
Hossa set a franchise record with Atlanta the next season, with 100 points, and the Thrashers actually made the playoffs. With this spectacular lineup, the Thrashers still got swept by the New York Rangers. Despite having an outstanding roster, they still weren’t able to win a postseason series. In fact, it took the franchise until 2018 (as the Winnipeg Jets) to win a single series in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Hossa would score 56 points in 60 games the next season before being traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins along with forward Pascal Dupuis. In return, the Thrashers got Colby Armstrong, Erik Christensen, Angelo Esposito and Pittsburgh’s 1st round pick (Daulton Leveille) in the 2008 NHL Draft.
His time in Atlanta was overshadowed by Kovalchuk and others. But Hossa still put up some really impressive numbers despite not always playing on a good team in Atlanta.