Heatley's Return 'Doable', says Melnyk

SeawaySensFan wrote:

Cap'n Clutch wrote:If that was all he was going to do why didn't they just replay the CFRA interview and go get breakfast? LOL.

Because these low-rent "personalities" like to play radio host whenever they get the chance.

well when GM hockey gets to be big enough to have a radio station, I nominate SSF to be the radio personality as he will be a welcome change from those low rent personalities. :___:

SensFan71 wrote:

SeawaySensFan wrote:

Cap'n Clutch wrote:If that was all he was going to do why didn't they just replay the CFRA interview and go get breakfast? LOL.

Because these low-rent "personalities" like to play radio host whenever they get the chance.

well when GM hockey gets to be big enough to have a radio station, I nominate SSF to be the radio personality as he will be a welcome change from those low rent personalities. :___:

Then every day would be "Metal Monday".

Seriously, these 1200 guys are under the thumb of the Senators organization, as was proven when they complied with the cease and desist order regarding making fun of the "Spartan".

Besides, they're all there to try and take a step up to bigger and better things. They're like the Rogers 22 of radio.

I think the Senators should always consider the possibility of bringing Heatley back. Given the current trade landscape and cap situation of the teams that Heatley has on his list, it's evident that any trade will not involve an elite or premier talent coming back.

This guy is still a 50-goal, 100-point player on a team that doesn't have a coach who couldn't coach his way out of a paper bag.

Should he return? I don't think so, unfortunately. Too much damage has been done in my estimation. There are always going to be questions asked of him during the season about his willingness to play here if he has an off game or whatever. It's a tricky situation for sure. But it's the type of scenario the Sens should just move on from.

At the same time though, I'm definitely a proponent of waiting for the right trade to materialize rather than just offloading him for the sake of it.

Hopefully things work out with this Heatley situation. This team seems to be turning a corner rather quickly on the coming season, it would be a shame to have something like this hang over the players and team.

I'm surprised anyone voted 'Hockey's Biggest @#$#$' in another thread would get any consideration.

If they can't make a half-decent deal, then keep him. But if you take simply prospects, it removes the huge distraction that this will be. Do you want Karlsson, Regin, Elliott, etc. having to deal with this nonsense?

My real vote isn't on the list - put him in goalie pads for the first practice and let Neil and Bass work on their breakaways. He'll waive then.

PKC wrote:I think the Senators should always consider the possibility of bringing Heatley back. Given the current trade landscape and cap situation of the teams that Heatley has on his list, it's evident that any trade will not involve an elite or premier talent coming back.

This guy is still a 50-goal, 100-point player on a team that doesn't have a coach who couldn't coach his way out of a paper bag.

Should he return? I don't think so, unfortunately. Too much damage has been done in my estimation. There are always going to be questions asked of him during the season about his willingness to play here if he has an off game or whatever. It's a tricky situation for sure. But it's the type of scenario the Sens should just move on from.

At the same time though, I'm definitely a proponent of waiting for the right trade to materialize rather than just offloading him for the sake of it.

Hopefully things work out with this Heatley situation. This team seems to be turning a corner rather quickly on the coming season, it would be a shame to have something like this hang over the players and team.

I think the Melnyk is merely playing the politician. There's no question that they've considered Heatley coming back, just as there's no question that it's a "worst case scenario."

Melnyk's comments (from what I've read, don't get to listen to much Sens talk where I am) seem to be laying the groundwork in the event that BM doesn't get the right trade. They're playing this like the politically charged situation that it has become.

I absolutely agree with PKC that a return is not ideal. As he said, the damage is/was substantial and it's gotta be next to impossible to play through that. The Ottawa media is ravenous for this type of situation. Every time #15 spends a second less than his average on the ice, the scrum around his stall will be ridiculous. Of course, it'll be ridiculous anyway, but the point remains the same.

That said, it seems like Melnyk is trying to fill the gap right now. The fans want to see a trade, BM isn't getting the offers he likes, and Big Poppa Melnyk is placating us with interviews. That and preparing for the possible return that few of us want to see.

dennycrane wrote:I'm surprised anyone voted 'Hockey's Biggest @#$#$' in another thread would get any consideration.

If they can't make a half-decent deal, then keep him. But if you take simply prospects, it removes the huge distraction that this will be. Do you want Karlsson, Regin, Elliott, etc. having to deal with this nonsense?

My real vote isn't on the list - put him in goalie pads for the first practice and let Neil and Bass work on their breakaways. He'll waive then.

Fisher has a hell of a shot, maybe do the goalie pad scenario, no cup, and Fisher unloading snap shots at Heatley if the Bass/Neil scenario doesn't work out, either way, Heatley will not be a welcome character to the "group" come training camp.

I think it'll be very interesting to see the fans' reaction if Heatley is back. On one side of the coin, he's a 50 goal scorer who gives us 4 ELITE hockey players on our club- which is a recipe for success- and will undoubtedly take our team to a next level.

On the popular and heavier side of the coin, there's the fact that he openly stated he doesn't want to be here- which is basically a slap in the face to each and every fan, player, management, media, and citizen of Ottawa.

I wonder what happens.

Jordo wrote:I think it'll be very interesting to see the fans' reaction if Heatley is back. On one side of the coin, he's a 50 goal scorer who gives us 4 ELITE hockey players on our club- which is a recipe for success- and will undoubtedly take our team to a next level.

On the popular and heavier side of the coin, there's the fact that he openly stated he doesn't want to be here- which is basically a slap in the face to each and every fan, player, management, media, and citizen of Ottawa.

I wonder what happens.

I agree with some of the comments I've read on here that indicate that this is the time to move past elite players (to some degree, don't get me wrong) and take this opportunity to spread out the offense. IMO, there's no question that the success of this time thus far has come from having elite players. That said, I also think it was the Sens downfall in the SCF against Anaheim. Having elite players is great, but a lack of secondary threats made it possilbe to reach the SCF, but not to win.

I think getting 2 or 3 players back that can provide 15-25 goals is undoubtedly the way to fix the problems the Sens have had. Elite players are great, but a more rounded team will have greater success.

One more thing, slightly off topic. I've read pages and pages of comments on various sites. Most of them are completely useless. You guys do a good job here. Glad to be a member.

sorry, that was 15-25 goals each, not total

spader wrote:

Jordo wrote:I think it'll be very interesting to see the fans' reaction if Heatley is back. On one side of the coin, he's a 50 goal scorer who gives us 4 ELITE hockey players on our club- which is a recipe for success- and will undoubtedly take our team to a next level.

On the popular and heavier side of the coin, there's the fact that he openly stated he doesn't want to be here- which is basically a slap in the face to each and every fan, player, management, media, and citizen of Ottawa.

I wonder what happens.

I agree with some of the comments I've read on here that indicate that this is the time to move past elite players (to some degree, don't get me wrong) and take this opportunity to spread out the offense. IMO, there's no question that the success of this time thus far has come from having elite players. That said, I also think it was the Sens downfall in the SCF against Anaheim. Having elite players is great, but a lack of secondary threats made it possilbe to reach the SCF, but not to win.

I think getting 2 or 3 players back that can provide 15-25 goals is undoubtedly the way to fix the problems the Sens have had. Elite players are great, but a more rounded team will have greater success.

One more thing, slightly off topic. I've read pages and pages of comments on various sites. Most of them are completely useless. You guys do a good job here. Glad to be a member.

sorry, that was 15-25 goals each, not total

glad to have you as a member, thank you for the kind comments, hope your stay here will always be pleasant.

That looks like an adorable puppy

TheAvatar wrote:That looks like an adorable puppy

Ha, not mine....belonged to a family near my work. It would come to see me as I biked past going home.

Cap'n Clutch wrote:No brainer to answer this one.

Dany goes if they can find the right deal for both sides. If not then keep him here and wait until that deal materializes. With Kovalev here it allows Murray the luxury of waiting. The amount that they're over the cap is small enough that they can find ways to move out salary to be cap compliant for the season.

I agree with this. ^

I vote to let him play until the right deal comes along. Which could very well be never. We're better with him than without him. It will take me a Diddle of a long time to forgive him though, I don't think I ever will.

SensGirl11 wrote:I vote to let him play until the right deal comes along. Which could very well be never. We're better with him than without him. It will take me a Diddle of a long time to forgive him though, I don't think I ever will.

it would be very hard, after basically spitting all over the organization that revitalized his career and saved it to a certain extent, he owes the Sens a lot, he personally owes Melnyk a lot for giving him a second chance, and this is what he does, he has a lot of apologizing to do before he gets anywhere near his stall in the locker room again, both publicly and privately.

SensFan71 wrote:

SensGirl11 wrote:I vote to let him play until the right deal comes along. Which could very well be never. We're better with him than without him. It will take me a Diddle of a long time to forgive him though, I don't think I ever will.

it would be very hard, after basically spitting all over the organization that revitalized his career and saved it to a certain extent, he owes the Sens a lot, he personally owes Melnyk a lot for giving him a second chance, and this is what he does, he has a lot of apologizing to do before he gets anywhere near his stall in the locker room again, both publicly and privately.

While I think it very possible that he does play in Ottawa this year, I think PKC had it right when he said the damage done was too extensive to facilitate a return. The only way the Sens take him back is if they can't use Heatley as a springboard to solve the cap and (balanced) scoring issues that they face.

Jordo wrote:I think it'll be very interesting to see the fans' reaction if Heatley is back. On one side of the coin, he's a 50 goal scorer who gives us 4 ELITE hockey players on our club- which is a recipe for success- and will undoubtedly take our team to a next level.

On the popular and heavier side of the coin, there's the fact that he openly stated he doesn't want to be here- which is basically a slap in the face to each and every fan, player, management, media, and citizen of Ottawa.

I wonder what happens.

I don't think that's correct. Heatley has said squat since this began. Not defending him, of course, but he still has an out -- fire the agents, say it was bad advice, play his *** off. Remember that scene from The Longest Yard (no, not the remake, the good one). Crew basically "quit" on the team (he had good reason to do so, but the team only knew that he'd done it before, and now was doing it again). He wasn't welcomed back with open arms, but had to endure a few plays where he got killed because the defensive line basically said "Uh-uh" (good thing it was not Canadian footbal with only three downs). Is a complete rehabilitation possible? Maybe. Probable? Doubt it. But I don't see a problem with him starting here until the right deal comes along. The only thing is we have to make sure he's *not* the go-to guy, so he'd have to play on the second line. That part should be very easy to explain to him.

I think the Senators are handling the Heatley problem correctly.

Try and trade Heatley but at the same time leave the door open for the very real possibility he may have to return here.

If he does come back I think he'll give it all he has (esp. if he wants to make the Olympic team), and I think the team and coach will be able to bury the hatchet.

Trading him is best for everyone involved but it's not looking good right now.

Hoags wrote:I think the Senators are handling the Heatley problem correctly.

Try and trade Heatley but at the same time leave the door open for the very real possibility he may have to return here.

If he does come back I think he'll give it all he has (esp. if he wants to make the Olympic team), and I think the team and coach will be able to bury the hatchet.

Trading him is best for everyone involved but it's not looking good right now.

Welcome Hoags, and good post-

As someone mentioned earlier- all of this Melnyk talk is just a political safety move in the event that Murray cannot trade him, and he ends up back at Scotiabank Place come fall.

I really think that as this thing starts to wear off, GMs will start to excuse all the Dung that has gone on, or at least forget about it- and pull the trigger on a deal.

I still think that something will go on between San Jose or Colorado in the coming days. It would be great to get Marleau in here. Ideally bring in Marleau + Cheechoo+ future considerations/picks for Heatley + Smith. it's a bit of a cap dump for both sides, but I BELIEVE will keep both under the cap- and everyone happy.