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Here's what the always controversial Al Strachan (he of the Hot Stove on HNIC) has to say about the Senators and Heatley:
Clubs trade contracts, not players
Al Strachan, FoxSports.com, June 19, 2009
The reaction of most fans to the news that Dany Heatley wants a trade out of Ottawa was that the Senators shouldn't have much trouble unloading the talented sniper.
That might have been true in the old NHL. It's not true any more.
Teams don't trade players any more -- if they trade at all. They trade contracts.
And Heatley's contract is an extremely difficult one to move.
It has both size and term, the two commodities than most GMs are trying to unload. It calls for him to be paid $8 million a year for the next three years, then $6 million in its final year. Because of the possibility of a reduced salary cap next year, the league is full of available players who have contracts with size and term.
The teams don't publicize that fact, but if guaranteed anonymity, any GM will give you a long list of stars he has been offered in trade.
Heatley is a one-dimensional player. He scores. He does that very well -- better than most as a matter of fact. But he doesn't do much else. And because the entire league knows that the Senators have their backs to the wall on this one, offers will be reduced even further.
Al Strachan can be reached at FoxSports.com:
http://msn.foxsports.com/writer/Al-Strachan?authorId=303
Clubs trade contracts, not players
Al Strachan, FoxSports.com, June 19, 2009
The reaction of most fans to the news that Dany Heatley wants a trade out of Ottawa was that the Senators shouldn't have much trouble unloading the talented sniper.
That might have been true in the old NHL. It's not true any more.
Teams don't trade players any more -- if they trade at all. They trade contracts.
And Heatley's contract is an extremely difficult one to move.
It has both size and term, the two commodities than most GMs are trying to unload. It calls for him to be paid $8 million a year for the next three years, then $6 million in its final year. Because of the possibility of a reduced salary cap next year, the league is full of available players who have contracts with size and term.
The teams don't publicize that fact, but if guaranteed anonymity, any GM will give you a long list of stars he has been offered in trade.
Heatley is a one-dimensional player. He scores. He does that very well -- better than most as a matter of fact. But he doesn't do much else. And because the entire league knows that the Senators have their backs to the wall on this one, offers will be reduced even further.
Al Strachan can be reached at FoxSports.com:
http://msn.foxsports.com/writer/Al-Strachan?authorId=303
