Dany Heatley had an exit meeting with Ottawa coach Corey Clouston after the Senators' season ended in mid-April, following which the forward demanded a trade. (Nick Laham/Getty Images)

Corey Clouston says he never saw it coming when Dany Heatley asked the Ottawa Senators to trade him because he was upset with the way the rookie head coach was using him.

Clouston broke his silence Thursday on Heatley's trade demand, and while he did not say that the forward is not a team player, the coach certainly implied it.

Clouston said that the coaching staff did "what we felt was right to turn the team around'' by stressing team play along with consistent effort and practice.

"Looking back, there are things you would like to do a little bit differently, but overall we are proud of the way we finished," Clouston said at a news conference during events surrounding Friday night's NHL draft in Montreal (7 p.m. ET).

"We wanted consistency in effort, consistency in practice and to play a team game, and all you have to do is look at the Stanley Cup finals to see what can be accomplished when you play as a team."

Asked whether Heatley met those goals, Clouston replied, "For the most part."

"It was just consistency. When Dany is moving his feet, when he is playing his game, he is one of the best players in the NHL," he said. "I think if you asked him to assess his season, he would probably say he was not as consistent as he wanted to be."

Clouston held an exit meeting with Heatley when the NHL season ended in mid-April and talked to him again before the Senators forward's agents sent a letter to general manager Bryan Murray demanding a trade.

"It bothers me that a player like Dany, who is a big part of the organization, all of a sudden doesn't want to be part of that. But I am still confident in that I believe we did what was right," the coach said. "The proof is in the wins and loss column and the proof is in how the guys played toward the end and how well they felt going into the off-season.

"I had no indication [Heatley wanted out]. I did read that he mentioned his ice time had dropped to between 12 and 14 minutes [per game], which wasn't accurate. But no, we never had any big arguments and we never had any conflicts on the bench or anything of that matter.

"The biggest concern is with the dressing room. Those are the guys that I feel bad for. I believe we did what was right for the team and that is the bottom line, and no organization will win unless you have that team concept and that team focus — and for the most part, we did that."

Heatley has five years left on his contract, which pays him an average of $7.5 million US per season.

CBCSports.ca is hosting a live draft chat beginning at 6:30 p.m. ET, with coverage also on Hockey Night in Canada Radio on Sirius from 4 to 10 p.m. ET.