CBC-Sports

Senators avoid distraction by dealing Heatley

September 12, 2009 07:36 PM | Posted by   Elliotte Friedman  

Clearly, Bryan Murray felt like he had no choice.

That's the reaction across the NHL this afternoon, as the Senators dealt former 50-goal man Dany Heatley to San Jose for Milan Michalek, Jonathan Cheechoo and a second-round pick. (The other reaction: Boy, the Sharks are loaded offensively.)

It's the end of a strange chapter in Ottawa, the rumour and innuendo capital of English Canada. (Montreal is the unquestioned overall leader.) Even when the Senators were competing for the Stanley Cup, there were rumblings about how well their players got along.

When Ray Emery melted down two years ago, there were still players willing to publicly back him. With Heatley, the Senators barely tried. It was stunning to hear Daniel Alfredsson come out and say it would be best to make a deal. It's rare to hear the captain so publicly emphatic on this kind of topic.

That, as much as anything else, indicates how bad things were. Heatley said he was relieved about the timing. The distraction would have been immense for everyone in the organization. I wonder, however,what Eugene Melnyk's reaction was when Murray told him, "I know you just gave him $4 million and don't want to send him to the team he wants to go to, but we have no choice."

In the end, Heatley got what he wanted. Even before he vetoed Edmonton, word was he wanted to go to San Jose. By now, his father's relationship with Wayne Thomas, the Sharks assistant general manager, is common knowledge. Heatley is also smart enough to know that if he's not going to play with Jason Spezza, he'd better be with someone like Joe Thornton.

If you go by the rule that the team who gets the best player wins the trade, then the Sharks are it. However, there are some concerns. The team is right at the cap, and this is not an organization that wanted to be that high. They will have more than $15 million coming off the books next summer when Patrick Marleau, Evgeni Nabokov and Rob Blake are up, but that's assuming none will be re-signed, or traded. (And, Marleau has not been asked to waive his no-trade, no matter what rumours are out there.)

Heatley is at $7.5 million for the next five seasons. Thornton is $7.2 million for two. Dan Boyle at $6.66 for five. If the Sharks aren't right about this combination (only Boyle and Blake are proven playoff performers), it's going to be hard to fix, especially with expectations that the cap is going down.

The other concern is Heatley himself. That's twice now he has asked to be traded, although he really can't be faulted for wanting to start over outside of Atlanta. The Senators could have forced him to show up and play, but decided not to draw a hard line. They wanted him out, even at discount prices.

Doug Wilson said he has "zero concerns" about Heatley. However, at 28, it's a crossroads for him; a final chance to reach his enormous potential.

Ottawa's outlook? Well, you're not going to find anyone who feels the Senators got equal value. However, if you're a fan looking for a silver lining, here it is: you're getting two guys who will come in and play hard. Although Cheechoo's value around the league dropped significantly -- the Sharks were trying to trade him all summer -- the organization really respected the fact that, 1) he never complained about being dropped from the top two lines, and 2) he never quit working as hard as he could on his game. He's going to get another chance at a scoring line here.

As for Michalek, a couple of people I spoke to today had really positive things to say about him, although it's time he gets to the next level. "If he ever figures out how good is, he'll be a great player," one said.

The best-case scenario: between them, Cheechoo and Michalek score 40-50 goals for a team that's been craving offensive depth for years.

The worst case: Heatley scores 60.

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