The SBP Archives - Your less than frequent dose of SBP!

As pointed out to me by a good friend, it seems the Senators can never have a quiet summer without some sort of distraction that would cast some doubt over the organization. In recent years: the Emery saga, the Gerber Saga, the Redden/Chara debate, the revolving door of coaches: It seemed that finally, this year, new coach Cory Clouston stabilized the team, had them playing well again and put Ottawa in a position to strengthen their team in the off-season and not have to blow it up and start all over. Well, at least that's what I thought.

But now, Dany Heatley apparently wants a trade. There are two rumours circulating as to why: One is he does not like the style of play Clouston has imposed on the team (which seemed to be more attack oriented, so I don't quite get that) and the other is that he wants to be closer to his girlfriend who lives on the west coast. Perhaps this is true, but if he really wants out, he must know his contract will severely limit the Sens' options for a trade if there is just a handful of teams he wants to play for.

Heatley apparently has a $4 million bonus due July 1st and you know Melnyk won't be happy to pay that when his player is going to be out of here next season. GM Bryan Murray is definitely under pressure to get a deal done in the next three weeks.

Murray can try to trade for prospects and draft picks if he thinks he can sign a significant free agent this summer, but technically he isn't allowed to speak to anyone until that July 1st date so there are no guarantees. A team with cap space to take him in (the L.A. Kings come to mind) would be an option. But Melnyk isn't interested in rebuilding and the Ottawa fanbase won't stand for that so I don't see this happening.

A trade will likely be contract for contract. The first player that comes to mind is Joe Thornton. The Sharks had a bad playoff again, Joe is getting a ton of grief and the pressure might be getting to him as their team captain. The team might feel a shakeup is needed, and their contracts are virtually dollar for dollar, although Thornton's deal has only 2 years left on it.

Another player is Vincent Lecavalier. Heatley's contract is big, but not as big as Lecavalier's and every day there seems to be a rumour that Tampa Bay wants to unload the expensive Lecavalier contract. If the additional cap space needed can be had, perhaps this is a viable option. However it's not a Western destination, and unless there's flexibility in his choices that may not be a possibility.

It's all speculation regardless, but I'm not going to sit here and say I'm not disappointed. I like Dany Heatley, and certainly fans are very quick to throw him under the bus right now, but I truly believe last year's sub-par performance was an anomaly and he can rebound back to the same player who scored 50 goals in back-to-back seasons. What's most upsetting is the fact he doesn't want to be a Senator anymore. Alfredsson, Phillips, Spezza: Those are players who've gone on record saying they don't want to play for anyone else. I was hoping Heatley felt the same way.

But I guess I was a fool for thinking so.