The Heatley Saga ... my take.

Today my good friend and infinitely more talented blogged, JC of Senschirp.ca, speculated that Dany Healtey will be dealt before training camp. While I usually do not make it a habit to refute whatever is said on Senschirp, I do not think Heatley will be traded to a team waiting in the wings any time soon.

Dany Healtey produced his list of clubs he would go to and he has already nixed a trade, twice, to a club not on said list. Of the clubs that JC is reporting having some interest only one is on Dany's list; the San Jose Sharks. The asking price, however, is exceptionally high and I have already stated who I want to see coming back from the Sharks... I doubt it is the same as Bryan Murray, but who knows.

I fully believe with the Olympics looming Dany is looking to be motivated in any market. He wants to make that team and Yzerman will unlikely take a prima donna who tries to sit out. Count on Heatley being at camp and showing up to open with the Senators, but I wouldn't go too far past November when clubs realize that they want Heatley. Why? If a club truly wanted Heatley and knew that the Oilers already put up their best offer, they would be going out of their way to acquire him with better deals. It's just that simple.

However, Murray needs to sign Elliott after trading Auld and there is a matter of cap hit. In order to get under the cap either Chris Kelly or Jason Smith have to go. There has been a lot of talk online about Christoph Schubert in the mix with Smith and Kelly for getting traded out of Ottawa, but that remains to be seen. As it stands, those three names keep coming up if Heatley is going to remain an Ottawa Senator for at least part of the season...

Sorry JC. We usually see eye to eye. I just don't see a club caring until they know Dany wants to and can play on a team again.

Not Sens related, but still important.

I made a group on Facebook today and enlisted the help of Stuntman Stu and Dylan Black from two of our local radio stations to help spread the word. Since the City of Ottawa vis-a-vis OC Transpo are woefully out of touch with the modern student they felt that students over 27 years old were freeloaders and should need to pay the full adult bus pass amount rather than the discounted student one. This is insulting to the students of Ottawa, your or old(ish) and poses that if they wanted to change how students are treated they could do so at a whim.

Help me put preasure on the city and make this group means something. Join Against the Age Cut-off for Student Bus Pases!

Salaray Dumping...

Today Bryan Murray moved Alex Auld to the Dallas Stars for a sixth round pick in 2010. What does that mean? Well, a couple of things. The Senators can now have Elliott up full time to backup Pascal Leclaire for 30-35 games which will do wonders for the kid's development. It also means that the Senators dropped additional salary ($1mil to be exact) and are closer to getting the club under the salary cap.

Meanwhile, Alex Kovalev wants to reach out to Dany Heatley and asked the pissy winger to stay. Kovalev wants to be a team player and not be the torch carrier in Ottawa, which speaks volumes about his character. I could have been wrong, but one day does not entirely convince me that Kovalev will hold to his word. However, Bryan Murray and owner Eugene Melnyk have postured that Heatley is staying in Ottawa unless a stellar deal comes through. In that idea and should Kovalev be successful in his attempts to convince the superstar to tough it out, the Senators still need to drop some salary to get under the cap. Moreover, Murray likes being a few million under so that he can add a part in the mid-season point ... Count on more changes and soon.

How do you feel about Heatley staying? Check the poll!

- BigW

ps. Most likely that $1mil dump will be offered to Elliott as he is a RFA still.

Is that Blood in the Water I Smell?

While talking about Dany Heatley is about as exciting as ramming nails into my eyelids it is unavoidable. I was pretty apathetic about him as an Ottawa Senator and I am still apathetic about him. However, I was hoping that Senators general manager, Bryan Murray, would at least go out and sign a free agent that can deflect some of the complaints about Heatley and turn them into positive energy. I was wrong.

Today the Ottawa Senators signed floatable right-winger, Alexei Kovalev, from the free-agent market a day after Montreal faithful held a rally to entice the star to stay. The signing came as a big shock to the Senators fans as Kovalev inks with the club for a whopping $5-million per year contract, but fortunately only for two years. As you can probably tell I am not a fan of this signing in the least and I think it is signalling the end of Murray's tenure with the club if Kovalev ends up being a bust.

Two seasons ago, Kovalev was only shy of his all highest points gain from 2000-01 by a slight nine points. However, every season comes and passes with Kovalev fans all asking the same question, "will he come to play tonight or not?" Consistency and teamwork are issues Ottawa has been plagued with since the disappointing cup run and bringing in a scorer who has a gifted talent for the game is a great idea. Someone who wants to play all the time and is willing to work for the puck. Someone who can inspire Jason Spezza to work equally as hard. Someone who can take a demanding coach and accept their style. Someone who buys into the philosophy that the coaching staff and club demand and has a desire to win every game

That's not Alexei Kovalev!

All too often Kovalev has been in the sports media for his poor attitude, his lack luster play and his willingness to quit on his club. Equally so he has been in Russian media about how much he does not like whatever coach or team for whatever reason. The Senators are struggling to get a tangible team identity again and signing a selfish and usually lazy player does nothing to help their cause short of comparing him to Heatley and saying "well, he's a bit better". Truth is, Heatley is miles above Kovalev even when Dany is playing his laziest... Alexei, on the other hand, just up and quits and loves to take spa vacations rather than win.

It would have been nice to see Murray address secondary scoring with a more affordable option. At $5/mil per season for two seasons, Kovalev is a hefty gamble. I can't see him winging for Fisher. He will demand being on the top line and I cannot see Spezza and Kovalev clicking consistently when both of them tend to zone out and go their own way too often. Some are hoping Clouston will straighten it out--fans and Murray alike, I assure you--but I am tired of hanging my hat on hopes and dreams. We were close to the cup once and since then it's been a rough skid on our ass down since.

Bad signing. Murray's contract renewal for next year is frayed down to its last thread and all of the weight of Kovalev is pulling down on it.

- BigW

Oh Dany Boy ... The Pipes Are Callin'

Free Agent Frenzy came and it went. On the good news front, Senators GM Bryan Murray was able to lock up UFA Chris Neil to a four year deal worth $8-million. While some bloggers and fan sites were stating that Neil was overpriced before the free agency period the reality became evident that other teams were willing to offer him upwards of $2.5-million per season for his services. In the end, Neil decided to stay where he has always been and continue his work here as our gritty forward. This shows a ton of character to the fans of the Senators when other players just lack it...

Speaking of Dany Heatley, the midnight deadline for Sens owner Eugene Melnyk to pony up a $4-million bonus to the disgruntled winger came and passed as well. You might remember that nearly a month ago Heatley's agent decided to go public with the trade demand in an obvous power play to score his client the big ticket. Murray played host to a few suitors, but the only deal he felt was worthy of Dany Heatley's talent was to get Andrew Cogliano, Dustin Penner and Vadislav Smid from the Edmonton Oilers. Now, I am not going to analyze that trade to death, but it would have been a bad one for Ottawa. However, it was the only trade worth noting in the end and the ball was in Heatley's court to waive his no movement clause to facilitate his trade demand...

I do want to take a brief moment and discuss the trade demand one more time and explain how come Dany did not get his wish before Free Agent Frenzy. To me, it all comes down to the teams Heatley put on his magic list and how it handcuffed Murray from the get go. According to Sun Media the teams Heatley put on his short list included the Los Angeles Kings, New York Rangers, San Jose Sharks, Detroit Red Wings, Chicago Blackhawks, Vancouver Canucks and Boston Bruins.

Kings: Rumours swirled surrounding Heatley and the Kings early, but it looked as though those were just rumours. In order for the Kings to be able to acquire Dany they would have to give up a lot of their young talent ... something that they wouldn't be too keen on. Los Angeles hasn't been a hot bed of hockey for quite some time and it would have given Dany a chance to fade away into obscurity while being the teams #1 guy, but the return cost was just too high.

Rangers: Another team that hosted a ton of rumours and it seemed a likely contender for a while when a trade started to materialize. Like LA, it could have easily had Heatley in the spotlight on the club and it seemed a likely contender for the winger to go here.

Sharks: The trade would have cost the Sharks more than they are comfortable with. They have a group of guys who mesh well together and have proven some success. If the first day of free agency is any indication, the Sharks are in no mood to tamper with what they believe is a winning club.

Red Wings: Just because they lost the Stanley Cup this year doesn't mean they are going to go out and start moving names around. While Hossa was set to test the market--then land the big deal in Chicago--the golden rule in Detroit would be turned off by Heatley's cap hit.

Blackhawks: A young team with a lot of up and coming potential where a star winger would be an ideal fit ... if the Hawks felt that winger were a team player. They would need to be capable of not only leading by example, but also taking the team on its shoulders. Heatley's attitude about how his club performed and his role on it last season under Cory Clouston cast a lot of doubt on his character and no doubt the Hawks (as well as other clubs) stayed away because of it.

Canucks: Dany's own agent is the same agent for the Sedin twins ... In order for Heatley to even have a shot at signing in V-city, the Sedins would have needed to have been handled. Needless to say that wasn't dealt with until less than an hour before the twins became UFAs.

Bruins: Who can the Bruins easily afford to trade away to Ottawa for Heatley? The Sens and Bruins are in the same division and would see a lot of one another in coming seasons ... a trade for either side could prove to be frustrating in the long. Not many teams trade in the same division and it was immediately unlikely that Murray would find a trading partner.

Basically Heatley and his agents knew full well the only real option for Dany was either Los Angeles or New York (Rangers). While it was rumoured that the Rangers and the Senators had a deal in the making there was a lot of confusion surrounding that $4-million signing bonus and how it came into play. Sadly, in the end, the only team truly interested in Healtey turned out to be the Edmonton Oilers and although they were not on Healtey's short list, Murray tried to get him to go ... It is clear the GM does not want him in the locker room next year.

The day after there are press releases and reports that JP Barry, the all-star agent of some of the biggest names in the NHL including Heatley, was very displeased with how Murray treated his client's trade demand. Naturally the agent is ticked off at Murray because no one is interested in a prima donna who doesn't appear to be a team player... Sorry JP... but if your client wants out of here so badly he needs to make concessions as well.

I think Heatley should be made an example of. Naturally the Ottawa Senators want to do the same thing, but I also mean by the NHL and NHLPA. I fully believe that:

1) If a player that has a no-movement or no-trade clause demands a trade they automatically forfeit their right to veto.
2) If a player signs on with a club they are not permitted to demand a trade.
3) The only bonus that should be given at the end of a season is production related. If a signing bonus is involved it should be dealt with at the time of signing the contract.
4) If a player has an issue with a coach, they should take every stop possible to work out the issue rather than making a scene. Heatley only spoke with Clouston at the end of season meeting and not since ... how can the issues he had be addressed let alone handled?
5) An alternate captain of any team should be held accountable to his actions.

The next time I write about Heatley I hope it's to tell him good bye and not to let the door hit him on the ass on the way out ... I am beyond the desire to talk ad nasseum about this pathetic excuse for a grown adult.

If I were Bryan Murray I would present Dany (not his agent) with the following options:

1) You work out a trade that is fair for both teams between the Senators and whoever is interested.
2) Accept the Edmonton trade.
3) Sit out the season.

In other news ... Team Canada announced it's orientation roster and the only Ottawa Senator to get the invite was Dany Heatley.

- BigW