Viewpoint

Good move.I am an Ottawa fan from Sudbury Ontario. Love Dany Heatley. GO SENS GO!!

Great for Heatley, but Murray has raised the bar for every other star on the Ottawa team to aim for. (e.g.) Spezza and Alfredson. I wonder if Ottawa can afford it or will they go into bankrupcy again.

I agree that the Heatley deal was a no brainer for the Senators. He could have commanded a huge contract on the open market but for the Senators, they knew how coveted he would be to the other 29 teams so it was indeed money well spent. In 6 years time from now, Heatley will look like an absolute steal for the price they paid. Smart thinking Bryan Murray

Sens, who are they?... #1 in class, within the top 5 in grit, and #1 in structure... wich gets you a winning record and fullfillment. How could more $ ever make a true hockeyplayer want to walk away from that?
Thats why this team is number one again this year and is also why players dream of coming here near the trade deadline. Too bad for the other players out there... this team doesn't need to make moves before the playoffs, they have what they need since training camp.
P.S Leafs suck

If Heatley is to come out west, it would make much more sense for him to return to Calgary where he was born, adding to a flames team already holding potential

I think its funny that on your main page, you posted a comment from an Oilers fan ("Tim, Alberta") who thinks that someone like Heatley would sign in Edmonton. You folks need to get over yourselves and stop living in the past.

Makes me wonder why they fired John Muckler if thiers not gana make mouves?Melnik probobly never liked him

enough with the jail comments...the guy made are horrible mistake and lost a dear friend something i am sure he touches upon everyday. as for this opportunity he has been presented with i say he is out there every time living the dream for both of them... get it done Heater....

As an Ottawa Senator fan, I was ecstatic about the signing of Emery(one of my favourite Sens), McAmmond, Fisher(my favourite Sens player) and now Healtey(the goal scoring machine).

Spezza is more than likely the next target for Murray, which unfortunately means Redden will go. I've never really had anything against Redden, he didn't play a great season last year due to injury etc. However, he loves Ottawa and I'm glad he enforced his no trade clause for this season and I hope he plays the way he has over the past two regular season games for the rest of his time in Ottawa. He's a very talented player and there can be no argument about it.

It would be nice to keep Redden at a cheaper price, but I don't see that happening. So if he goes to another team after seasons end, I'd hope it's a Canadian team. Edmonton, Caglary or Vancouver. Definitely not Toronto.. heh.

To all you Edmonton Oiler fans out there, you're future looks bright. The Rookies Gagne,Cogliano, and Brodziak the old core like Stoll, Moreau, and Hemsky along with the addition of Penner and Souray is going to prove to be something good I'd say.

GO SENS GO!

Dylan

Thankyou Sens for Mike Comrie 2 goals 2 assists 4 points first night as an islander thanks again!

ottawa is a good team i must say but if you ask me there over rated... they had a chance to win the cup and blew it and its gunna be a while before they make it to the finals again them teams that are gunna be in the finals this yeah is the calgary flames and the pittsburgh penguins ... and i actually used to like ottawa but i stopped liking them when they got rid of marion hossa ... hes the greatest player to ever play on the team not besides jason spezza... and crosby is the future of the game not heatley.... ottawa will make the playoffs but not to the finals this year just wait and see

Just goes to show the type of person Heatly really is. He could have made at least another $2 million a season in the open market but decided to stay and go for a cup instead. 6 years is a long time in the NHL, he could have signed a 3 year deal, scored another 150 goals and write his own ticket. All you morons out there that say he should be in jail are the same losers that sit in the bars and your basements bt yourselves and think you could run any team in the league…get a life…

Its so refrshing to see the class of a talented guy like Heater take less money to stay with the team he wants to win with and becasue of that I know Spezza will follow suit. Now all we need to do is set Redden free and develop his replacement from within and find a team who could use Gerber because he just isnt the guy we need to back up Razor, especially at that price (see Jose Theodore) Luring Forsberg for a playoff push is not a bad idea either.

Reading through the comments I am amazed at the amount of money some people want to throw at Spezza to get him to stay in Ottawa.

Spezza has talent and anyone would be a fool to deny that but his commitment to better his game can be questioned. The no-look passes get extensive coverage by the media and are typically condemned by his coach several times over the course of the year. In addition, since he was drafted the Sens have asked him repeatedly to put 10 - 15 pounds of muscle on his frame so he can play more physical and fight off checks but every off-season comes and goes without any progress on this request.

Spezza will get good money but more in the $6 - 6.5 million range. He is not on par with Heatley in terms of cash. If he wants to be worth that type of money he needs to commit himself more to improving his game and correcting the little things that he generally does not do.

There is still hope that this will happen. He is 24 years old and after returning from injury last season it became a frequent occurrence to see him playing deep in the defensive zone.

Spezza is not a skilled player with a suspect mental game (ref: Martin Havlat) but his maturity does not merit Heatley-esque money. If he wants that type of cash he will have to do more than absently turnover the puck with one of his characteristic no-look passes.

Hugh in Ottawa: I can't believe you even mention Smyth in Edm being traded in the same breathe as Heatley's deal and possibility of being traded. Please...

Smythe didn't want to stay in Edm. He's not a 50 goal (not even once) calibre player. And he's not, and wasn't, a player you build a team around.

Got to be clear on these kind of things. By the way, I'm an Oilers fan and also a Sens fan.

Mike G.

Great deal for Ottawa long term but will have a tough time signing the rest of their quality RFA's and UFA's next year if they still want to be a premier team.

Ottawa has commited just under $36 million and have only signed 13 players, leaving approx $16 million, if the cap goes to $53 million). If Fish is worth 5 million a season only scoring 50 to 60 points a year then spezza is worth at least 6 to 7 million per season. Making Ottawa at approx. $43-$44 million and 14 players signed. What are they going to do with Vermette (RFA), Kelly (UFA), Meszaros (RFA), Eaves (RFA), and Redden (UFA). It is do or die for the Sens this year.

You lot are missing the big picture -- the key player that the Senators stand potentially to lose, and a player who (unless he is given a chance to develop offensively this year) will leave for Montreal, is Antoine Vermette. This guy is dynamite, and he can do it all. His importance to the Senators future just cannot be underestimated: the problem is not the cost the trade-offs with respect to Heatley, Spezza and Redden, but whether Ottawa will lose its second best offensive centre and best defensive centre, a player who has not yet even scratched the surface of his potential.

Pretty good deal for someone that should be in jail

Great deal for Heatly what does this mean for Spezza now??? Will Ottawa fall into the same trap that Tampa did is the next question. They cannnot afford to have 2 guys making this kinda money, and expect to still have a dominant team. A fact of sports in todays day and age is losing guys to other teams due to financial self glory...This to me means most certainly that the fans here in Ottawa will not be using Jason's name in vain next season. There will be changes in the offseason so this is the last big push with all the guns for Ottawa. Its do or die Ottawa I hope its a die one more time lol...

Too bad Heatly re-signed with Ottawa .
Only $ 7.5 mill per year. Lowe would have
offered him $ 10.5 mill per year....

This is a good signing for Ottawa to keep one of its core players in the fold. However, I still don’t think the Sens will win the cup this year, they do have probably the best team in the Eastern Conference.

However something tells me the cup will be won by the West again. Sorry Ottawa fans, but I think Ottawa is still missing one ingredient to win the cup. We saw that in their series against Anaheim.

I think San Jose, Detroit & Anaheim all have a very good chance to win it this year.

Before anyone jumps all over me, let me clarify that I am not saying this to bash the Sens in any way.

Although I am in Toronto, I am not a Leafs fan. So please don’t take this the wrong way, I actually cheered for the Sens in the finals. I think the Sens need to get a little tougher because the Ducks just ran all over them and smothered their offence completely in the finals.

Spectacular move!

Being in the middle of the crumbling 'Leafs Nation' allows me to see how great GMs work (Ottawa) and how horrid GMs fail (Toronto).

This was an essential move by Ottawa, because we now get a top 3 NHL player, who is on the cusp of his prime, and his salary gets lower as the years go on, freeing up room down the road for resigning guys who's contracts will be up.

Heatley is a star in the NHL and even with all the hectic things that have gone on in his life, he still manages to go out there and play well every single night. He's a grinder, hes a scorer and he's a leader. I think he will no doubt be Ottawa's next captain in the coming years.

GO SENS GO!

Awesome deal, now we can go after spezza at $6-6.5M, he is younger then heatley, still restricted and seeing as scoring is a premium should be a solid sell to stay in Ottawa on a 3-4 year deal...if murray can pull off similar contract it may be worth paying same amount for heatley....That would solidfy Ottawa as a contender for a long while...

Awesome deal. Avergae of 7.5 towards the cap, thats fantastic. Let me be one of the many to say, thanks Heater for taking less to save more to keep the core of this team together. Throw 7-7.25 at Spezza for 4 or 5 years and he'll take it. That is, if he truely likes Ottawa he will.
The key signing was Fisher, he's a tempo and intensity type player. When Fish' goes out and has an awesome shift, his teammates respond by trying to match his effort. I'll always take a guy like that on my team.
They gotta find somewhere that Redden wants to play and then make a deal with that team. I don't care for what, just get him and his overpriced salary out of here. Where ever he goes, can we try and get Gerber into his suitcase or something. Getting rid of the two of them would free up 10 million. You could bring in some quality players for that.

Great game and am very glad to see that Heatley will be staying. He's an amazing player. Spezza will stay - another great player. We need to give up Redden. I think he knows that will happen and so does management. It's just a matter of when. He's just too injury-prone to keep on at that salary. Trade him for some young up and comers.

good for heatley.
makes jarome look like a fool.

And the end of this season, Ottawa will have 34$ million committed to salary. They should be able to sign both Spezza and Redden with 16 million available. However I think Murray is going to let Redden go. I think he will go after a physical defenceman. Besides in a couple years Brian Lee should take Redden's spot on the roster.

Great signing, especially when you compare the average cap hit for Heatley against someone like Briere (7.5 for Heatley compared to 8 for Briere), and when you consider age (Heatley only just recently turned 26 and will be 33 when this deal ends, compared to Briere who is 29 and will be 37 at the end of his). Points wise, well I don't need to point out that only a small handful of players have been better than Heatley in the past 2 years.

Hugh - I whole-heartedly disagree with your take on Ottawa fans. While there was a loud minority of people that didn't like the Hossa-Heatley trade, the vast majority of us real fans loved it for 2 main reasons: 1 - Hossa was soft and never showed up in the playoffs, while Heatley was a Canadian kid with equal talent and greater motivation, and 2 - Heatley made half the salary of Hossa for the past 3 years. As for your Emery comment - no one booed him 2 years ago. He was a rookie that got thrown under the bus by the game's premier quitter: Hasek. You may recall that he tied the NHL record for victories in a month (March) that year, and we all knew that he was going to be good for years, but that he wasn't ready to be the goalie for a Stanley Cup contender at that time. But he was never booed. And since I went to every playoff game 2 years ago, I know this to be true.

This is a great deal. If guys like Briere, Penner, and the rest of the free agents this past offseason were getting 7 and 8 million/year contracts, Heatley would have probably been 8 to 9 million, and out of the Sens price range. This contract virtually guarantees that we won't see Redden in a sens uniform past this season, unless he's willing to take a rather hefty pay cut. It's gonna end up being a decision to keep Spez or Redden, and that's a no-brainer. Can't say i'm sad to see Redden gone though. As soon as he got his big contract, he stopped playing hockey. I'd argue, that at 6 million/year +, he's probably the worst of Ottawa's 6 defencemen. Trade him at the deadline for a couple of draft picks or something. Anyways, great job Murray, keep up the goodwork. On my way to Scotiabank place to see the Sens throw a beatdown on the Maple Laughs.

Spezz isn't going anywhere. Heatley took less money to keep playing with Alfie and Spezz, because he (heater)more than anyone, knows how close this team is to being a dynasty type of team. As for redden hey may still be gone but he activated his no trade clause over the summer for much the same reason, and while I think he will ultimatley be moved, if he still plays as well as he did in TO last night he may be forced to take less money and stay in Ottawa too!!! It was Awesome to see Redden display some intensity last night. I cna't berlive it 2 fighting majors in the same game. bloody but not bowed, Thats a wade redden I look foreward to seeing!!! I have him in my pool this year and I'm looking for him to be a big part of this team again. Go Sens Go

Yes, definitely a no-brainer for Bryan Murray to want to keep Heatley, but Murray shows us his acute hockey sense and business savvy to get this deal done now. If this had dragged out till after the season was over, I doubt very much if Heatley would have been back in Ottawa. If the Senators win the Stanley Cup this year, it may have been a sense of mission accomplished for Heatley, and he may be content to move on to another team and start over(no doubt with 8 to 10 million per year in his pocket). If the Senators do not win the Stanley Cup this year, he may have very well also felt it was time to move on and try somewhere else amid a sense of Ottawa being unable to get it done, because the team is probably not going to get much better than it has been last year and this year. Even though Heatley wanted to stay, the timing was critical. Remember, Chara wanted to stay too!
Murray has done an excellent job since taking over as GM. The Heatley deal will also help sign Spezza to a long term deal, and I am sure Murray will also get that deal done... sooner rather than later.
Redden is a tough call. I think it depends on how his season goes this year. Last year was definitley sub-par for Wade. As is stands now, unless they deal Gerber, the Senators probably cannot afford him. He wants to stay too he says, but he would probably have to take a pay cut, which is why he would likely choose to go to free agnecy where some team will overpay him generously for his services.

I'm a Flames fan but I definately love the Sens because they are an excellent organization and signing Heatley shows that. The Sens are well managed, well coached, good class act players too. Completely the opposite of the Maple Leafs which is awesome to see. I'm happy the Leafs are a horrible organization, from the owners to the towel boy... and it will continue to be a horrible organization for the next 6 years as Heatley will continue to be a Leaf killer. Toskala is probably wishing he was still splitting time in California. Unbelievable how Raycroft went in net for opening night! LOL! The Centre of the Universe is a dark place.

I cheered when the headline first flashed on my homepage! I jumped out of my seat when he scored his second goal. Heatley is now locked up and what a happy day it is for the Sens army.

Patrick H. yes I think you'll see Spezza sign for one to three years depending on the season he has. Redden gone? Probably. He hasn't really lived up to his salary for the last couple of years now has he?

Great job getting him signed. It's something that I love to see- a player willingly signing for less than his maximum. It says he loves the game, and his team, more than a few extra bucks. That's becoming rare these days, but it's a double win for Ottawa who gets one of the best scorers and saves some money to give him great support. Spezza will almost certainly sign on too, hopefully for a little less than he's worth too- following Danny's example! Redden didn't impress me in the finals last year, but he was fired up last night- two fights! If he can bring that intensity to the playoffs, where he can combined it with his skill, that'll be huge. Imagine if he had gotten into a fight or two against Anaheim? Totally change the nature of that series (so would have keeping Chara!!). Oh well, that's the past, and the future's looking good!

This certainly bodes well for Ottawa's ability to field a competitive team. With the likes of Fisher, Phillips, Volchenkov, Emery, McAmmond and Alfreddson still under contract for the next 3 years, Ottawa fans can expect the Senators to make another run for that most elusive Holy Grail, the Stanley Cup. The re-signing of Spezza is now almost all but assured (unless of course a Western Conference GM makes another "Lowe" move and overprices an offer sheet). The only question that remains is what does Ottawa with the expendable players (Gerber, Redden & Corvo)? Let the trade rumours begin anew.

OILERS FANS YOU ALL SUCK BECAUSE EDMONTON WILL FINISH LAST IN THIER DIVISION AND SHOULD STOP GAMBLING. I AM GLAD THAT THEY SIGNED HEATLEY BECAUSE IF HEAT WAS GONE THEY WOULDNT WIN AGAINT THE LEAFS AS MUCH AS THEY DO NOW. HES ALSO ONE OF THE BEST IN KEY SITUATIONS LIKE OVERTIME.

Good deal done, for all concern. Mr Murray should submit the same kind deal to the Spezza clan, I'm positive that the respond would be positive. With eleven (twelve) at this time under long term contract, this should be very interesting for the spezza group. As for Wayne Redden, don't get me wrong he is a supperb hockey player but they should try to get the max for him on the trade market because the Sen have a very good nucleous of defense with the all-star duo of Phillips/Voche and the upcoming of the Mez. They should keep the two goaltenders that they have if they can, with the cap going up in the near future two goalies at that price will be very cheap in the future. In all, it seems that they (Sen) are willing to build on a sound foundation for the future, and I am positive that the Lord Stanley will be coming to Ottawa for at least 2 of the next five years.

Long standing Oilers fan here, and it was a sad day to see Ryan Smyth leave town. Brian Murray, being the bright man he is, with some cash at his disposal, did the right thing in signing this deal.

I remember very vividly when Heatley was first traded to Ottawa after some not-so-great years in Atlanta, and the myriad of Ottawa fans thinking Hossa for Heatley was a bad deal. Those same Ottawa fans hated Ray Emery too when he let in a weak goal or two during the playoffs while Hasek was out injured.

Brian Murrary as a coach did the right thing and stuck with Emery, now as a GM he's done the right thing again and stuck with Heatley. It saddens me to say Ottawa's Cup chances are significantly better than my Oilers'.

Kudos to the man running the show though - he knows hockey, while many others in Ottawa do not.

Ottawa Fans,

What do you think this means for Wade Redden and Jason Spezza?

Can it be assumed that Redden is a goner after this season and that the Sens' will keep Spezza in the fold for years to come?

Keep up the great work as always, Scott.

It's too bad that Heatley didn't wait until free agency. He would look good in blue, Oilers Blue.
Good for the Senators, my eastern team, they locked up a key aspect of there team and I'm glad that Heatley didn't go south.

i'm a sens fan & i'm happy that they can keep their players..i remember the day when canadian teams could never retain their stars. but, evertime these signings are done,i can't help being amazed at how much money pro athletes make. anyways, good for the sens

There are certain players in the NHL that make an impact on the bottom line of a team. One category of those such players are guys that score 50 goals in a season. How many of those type of players are there out there? Not many the last time I looked. Getting Heatley under contract was a necessity for the Senators. They sure would not be able to replace him with another 50 goal scorer for any less money. Heatley signed for less that he could have gotten on the open market, giving Ottawa a hometown discount. That is very admirable. Now it is up to Mr. Spezza. We all know what type of player he is, now let's see what type of person he is. Given that the opportunity to be part of an organization like the Senators is a privilege and not a right, will Mr. Spezza do as Mr. Heatley did and give the Senators the same respect?
Only time will tell....

Congrats to both Heater & Murray for getting 'er done.
But the icing on the cake was having this happen on opening day facing the Leafs and having Dan do what he did.
I chuckle about all the posts I read about how good Dan would look in blue. Looks like the blue will be seeing alot of black (in the back of the net), with plenty of red (lights).