Poll: Trade Spezza, Heatley or neither

Which one would you axe to restart the franchise.

Or...do you keep both and build around them?

It's not about either player slumping. The team is slumping and something needs to change. It's been over a year now. Enough's enough.

Neely...was that you?

nope, i chose number 2.

Huh...

I think they both should go, but for now Spezza being moved as he has a no NTC for the time being. Should bring good value in picks and prospects, to be used to rebuild this tired old horse

Ideally I would keep both but i've agreed with Neely's prespective on this from the start. To get a true star #1 D we can't afford to keep the Pizza line intact. We have no chance at creating a balanced team without making a move like this.

With this in mind I chose Heatley. However, I thought he has a NTC and because of this I have originally supported trading Spezza. Given the poll doesn't indicate this, if there's a chance we can trade Heatley over Spezza I would prefer it. Not to say I dislike Heatley (despite his poor play this year) but he is older and I believe he's slightly easier to replace than a #1 centre. If we're talking about convincing players with NTC's about waiving I would explore trading Fisher before Spezza or Heater though.

I chose Heatley because he is a little more expendable than Spezza if all things were equal. He makes more as well. You need to get rid of 1 of those salaries, not both, thats why I chose Heatley.

Spezza is the guy that will more than likely go because all things are not equal, but Heatley should do. I still dont like Spezza as a player though.

where's both? If we could make a deal with Phoenix or Columbus for some of their young guys, neither are unmovable.

Imagine what you could get for Heatley - Filatov, Brassard and a 1st. Couple those 2-3 guys with our promising young guys and our solid first rounder this year and we are in great shape in 2-3 years.

Heatley is still probably my favourite Senator - but he is stand-of-ish with the media and hasn't done anything to show me he loves the city.

Hayden wrote:Imagine what you could get for Heatley - Filatov, Brassard and a 1st. Couple those 2-3 guys with our promising young guys and our solid first rounder this year and we are in great shape in 2-3 years.

Heatley is still probably my favourite Senator - but he is stand-of-ish with the media and hasn't done anything to show me he loves the city.

imagine of we could do spezza for Turris? or Boedker and Porter? :D

I'm not going to vote because it's a tough question and there really is no right answer. In Spezza, you've got arguably a franchise center, who when playing his best, is one of the most deadly offensively gifted players in the NHL. He's got tremendous ability, but his high risk high reward style wears thin with fans, teammates and coaches.

Dany Heatley is one of the league's premier snipers who if had not been injured last season, would have recorded three consecutive 50 goal seasons.

Both are well off their normal pace this season, but so is everyone else on the team. To panic and trade them away would be crazy. Whether you think it or not, they are also signed to good contracts.

While neither are going to be known for their defensive abilities, they are amazing offensive players.

You only move either of them if you absolutely must and cannot resist the offer. Obviously due to NTCs, Spezza is the obvious and easiest choice to trade, but again, depending on the return, do you really want to risk trading away an elite player?

Individually their contracts are not too bad, they are not great, but they arnt bad. Together, those 2 contracts are going to handcuff this team if they are not dealt with very soon the team will be up the creek.

Neely4Life wrote:Individually their contracts are not too bad, they are not great, but they arnt bad. Together, those 2 contracts are going to handcuff this team if they are not dealt with very soon the team will be up the creek.

I have to agree. Once Spezza's NTC kicks in I fail to see how management will have the manoeuvrability to balance this team in the foreseeable future. I have no idea how they can rebuild their top 4 D or address secondary scoring or goaltending (if Elliot doesn't work out) if they're saddled with that much salary tied up in 4 forwards. All 4 of which have long term deals and NTC's. Handcuffed and up a creek sounds about right. We'll be looking at years of mediocrity hoping the youth and cheap plugs that make league min. play like they're worth much more.

strachattack wrote:

Neely4Life wrote:Individually their contracts are not too bad, they are not great, but they arnt bad. Together, those 2 contracts are going to handcuff this team if they are not dealt with very soon the team will be up the creek.

I have to agree. Once Spezza's NTC kicks in I fail to see how management will have the manoeuvrability to balance this team in the foreseeable future. I have no idea how they can rebuild their top 4 D or address secondary scoring or goaltending (if Elliot doesn't work out) if they're saddled with that much salary tied up in 4 forwards. All 4 of which have long term deals and NTC's. Handcuffed and up a creek sounds about right. We'll be looking at years of mediocrity hoping the youth and cheap plugs that make league min. play like they're worth much more.

The conclussion that everyone has drawn no matter the argument is, one of those 2 has to go.

Cetrius Paribus - It's Heatley, reality - it's Spezza.