Bryan Murray Vs Dany Heatley: Who Blinks First?

If a player has negotiated a no-trade NMC and later demands a trade out of that location, the no-trade-NMC should be nullified. I guess that I'm preaching to the choir now. Diddle I hate Heatley. Praise Alfie! (And Spezza!)

ElliottRules wrote:Centre Jason Spezza spoke for the first time publicly and stated he just wants Heatley to make a decision.

"If he doesn't want to be here, it's important for him to move on
and for the organization to be able to make a trade," said Spezza.

This is as good as him saying "GTFO"

Looks like he may have matured a bit (or he was coached to say that)

asq2 wrote:

Pierre Lebrun, via davetherave, wrote:In other words, it is Heatley's negotiated right through the no-movement clause to have a strong say in where he gets traded.

True. But does he have the right to say if he is traded?

Well, that's why NTCs are dangerous for management. You give a player an NTC, you're saying you're committing to them...

Of course, in the best of all worlds, that committment is mutual.

IMHO Heatley may have insisted on the NTC/NMC, because he remembered how Melynk and Muckler signed Hossa and then turned around and traded Marian to Atlanta.

I also have a feeling Heatley asked to be traded more than a few months ago...his play last season looked like that of a player who wanted to be somewhere else.

So who knows what went on behind the scenes...

But any way you look at it, this is a nasty piece of business.

Jas this been mentioned yet?
http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/2009/07/02/murray_heatley/

Bill Daly says the Sens may have grounds for a grievance. I was thinking the same thing. This is going to involve lawyers and some precedent-setting litigation.

Now, Bill Dalyis the NHL, so the NHLPA will surely have something to say, but like the Yashin situation all those years ago, the NHLPA surely would not be very interested in helping him. Their hearts will not be in it.

asq2 wrote:

SpezDispenser wrote:I still think a deal with SJ can be had. I think the pieces are there, I think both teams want this kind of shake up. It seems pretty logical.

Want to know what the alleged offer was? Cheechoo + Ehrhoff. :^^^^:

In my estimation, that's the "insulting" one Murray was referring to.

Bah. No way Jose.

I beg to differ, the NHLPA will back up their player, and take up for the interest of their "estranged" brother. Jeez what a load of Dung.

It sure would help his situation if Heatley himself would sit down with the media. Whatever substance Heatley has to his arguments are totally voided by his silence. He looks like a tool, a little puppet being played by JP Barry, who IMO is totally leading Heater down the garden path. How this scene can be good for his career is beyond me.

THe sens may have a sh1tty season, but they will recover, but Heater could do irreperable damage to his career this way.

I think someone has to remind Heater that Yashin now plays in Russia, him being the last big name to Diddle with the Ottawa Senators

JP Barry is a drama junkie. Crazy eyes needs to fire him and throw him under the bus to save his own rep...

Here's a view from Edmonton on the Heatley situation by sportscaster Dan Tencer of that city's leading radio station, 630CHED:

THE HEATLEY SAGA: WHAT NOW?
Dan Tencer, CHED.com, July 2, 2009

So, Dany Heatley doesn't want to waive his No Movement Clause to come to Edmonton; at least not yet. Not on a timeline that would make life easy for the Senators, or the Oilers for that matter. So now, if you're Steve Tambellini, you have a decision to make. Do you continue to pursue this transaction? Why the answer should be yes Dany Heatley is an elite calibre scoring talent, something the Oilers have not had, arguably, in almost 2 decades. In Heatley's last 4 seasons he's scored 50 goals twice and his lowest total was his 39 goal output last year. To contrast, in the last 17 seasons the Oilers have had precisely 1 player score 39 goals; Ryan Smyth accomplished the feat in 1996-97. The team is coming off a season in which a defenseman led thim in goal scoring (Sheldon Souray had 23, tied with Ales Hemsky), the first time that's happened in the history of the franchise. While the argument can be made that the future of the offense is in good hands with talents like Sam Gagner, Jordan Eberle and Magnus Paarjavi-Svensson, this is a team that has missed the playoffs for 3 straight years. The franchise, and its fan base, want that slide to end. Now. Heatley would become the star player that the Oilers haven't had since Chris Pronger departed and lacked for so many years before that. The drawbacks and red flags have become obvious but, to paraphrase an old John Muckler line, "Having a bunch of great guys in the room is nice, but maybe we need a couple of asses that can play hockey." In today's NHL if you want the 'perfect' player, the Sidney Crosby or Alex Ovechkin who has all-star talent and all-star character, you need to draft and develop him yourself. And, that takes time. If you want to improve immediately it's not realistic to wait for one of those 'perfect' players to come available somehow. Especially if you're a franchise that has struggled to acquire elite talent via free agency. Dany Heatley isn't the perfect player; but he would be, inarguably, a significant upgrade to the current Oilers roster. Why the answer should be no I'd like to lead in to this by sharing with you one of the many text messages that I've received over the course of this crazy soap opera. The author, a source from another organization, gave this thought: "They need to demonstrate some show of pride. It's like they're begging him. Playing for the Oilers should be a privilege." Read that last line again. "Playing for the Oilers should be a privilege." He's right. It'd be a privilege to play anywhere in the NHL, of course, but especially here. The history, the passion of the fan base, the flat-out first class organization that has been taken to another echelon under the guidance of Daryl Katz. The Oilers might not be located in a tropical climate or on the verge of a Stanley Cup parade, but they oughta be damned if they beg somebody to play for them. By giving him the NMC in his contract the Ottawa Senators gave him the power in situations such as this; they don't have a bullet to fire, other than refusing to trade him. They are, without alternative, playing by Dany Heatley's rules now. The Oilers, on the other hand, are not. We don't know all the details here. Heck, we know very few of them. But, what we do know is that for 2 straight days, Dany Heatley has rejected every request to waive his NMC to move to the Oilers. There could be, for all we know, very specific reasons why Heatley is handling himself the way he is. And, for all we know, the Oilers might have been told straight up from the outset that it was a long shot. But, in any case, it's tough to continue down this path while retaining your dignity. The appearance, at least, is that this is another player rejecting this team and this city. They've asked him nicely, even traveled to his home to ask in person, and now it's time to move on. Time to find another player who would feel privileged to play here.

Can we reset the poll for the "Biggest ***hole of the year"?
https://gmcentralhockey.forumotion.net/gmhockey-choice-awards-f53/nominees-biggest-hole-of-the-year-t2527.htm

Andy Strickland's take on the Heatley situation:


Don't Blame Heatley this Time!

Look, I know I’ve been critical of Dany Heatley since he requested a trade a few weeks ago, but he should not be taking the heat (no pun intended) with this Edmonton situation.

Several days ago Heatley presented Ottawa with a list of teams he would accept a trade to and solid sources tell me Edmonton was NOT one of them.

Why should Heatley accept a trade to a city he never said he would go to?

So now Ottawa wants to basically trash Heatley publicly for not agreeing to this deal?

This is Bryan Murray’s fault for constructing a deal to a team Heatley never suggested he would play for.

Murray asked Heatley’s agent to provide Murray with a trade request in writing which specifically states Heatley will accept a deal to a “mutually” agreed hockey club.

They never mutually agreed to go to Edmonton.

You can’t force a trade on a player who has a no-move in his contract.

Murray had to have the trade request in writing to prevent a Joe Corvo situation from happening. If you remember Corvo said he didn’t ask for a trade after he was eventually moved. The club said Corvo did request to be traded.

So now it’s being painted like the club is waiting on Dany, but if the club would make a deal with a team he has identified as an organization he’ll play for we wouldn’t have this circus forced upon us. This is not about Heatley wanting to accept a trade on his terms. This is about accepting a trade to a team he said he would play for.

http://www.hockeybuzz.com/blog.php?post_id=21943&blogger_id=5


The one glaring omission in all this is, of course, Murray's assertion that he got Heatley's camp's 'permission' to pursue talkes with EDM, on 3 different occasions, over the last weekend. If true, that makes the 'list' issue rather redundant.

Urkie wrote:McKenzie thinks this is just the beginning and that this could become downright ugly.

http://tsn.ca/columnists/?id=283500

These two paragraphs are the ones I really focused on.

The Senators, meanwhile, angrily counter that no other team in the NHL
showed the interest that Edmonton did and now that the acquisition
price is likely to be higher because of the Sens will feel the need to
recoup some or all of the $4 million payout, there's even less of a
chance of another team stepping up to the plate.

So the prevailing thought is that, at some point, the Senators will
have to cut their losses and perhaps make an inferior deal (to
Edmonton's offer) that Heatley would find acceptable, just to rid
themselves of their problem. That, though, presumes that the Senators'
ownership and management are more concerned about practicality than
revenge or making an example of Heatley.

OH Revenge all the way! Diddle this Diddle! The simple reality of this situation is that Heatley will have to play in order to earn a spot on Team Canada. If he wants to be there, then he'll need to be playing in the NHL by mid-November at the absolute latest. I have no problem not letting him play until he agrees to waive to any of the 29 other teams in the NHL. And even if he'd rather play here, he won't.

I'm not a spiteful man, but I would spite the audacity right out of this mother Diddle.

Strickland should stick to blogging about the Blues.

Any defense of Heatley is trumped by the fact that he made this trade public and Diddle Murray out of getting a real offer from the teams that were on his list. Goddam idiot.

:n: Diddle right Cas you nailed it

Just out of curiosity, why is everyone convinced that he wants to be on the Olympic team above all else? He's already got the goal-scoring record for Canada in international play, right? He probably still has a few years left to play in the IIHC annual tournament.

wprager wrote:Just out of curiosity, why is everyone convinced that he wants to be on the Olympic team above all else? He's already got the goal-scoring record for Canada in international play, right? He probably still has a few years left to play in the IIHC annual tournament.

Well obviously there is no guarentee that he wants to play in the Olympics, but the fact of the matter is that the Olympics are probably the highest level of international play in which a player can represent their country. (Arguments could be made for the Canada Cup/World Cup/Whatever the hell it is now, if only we knew when and where and how often it was held, but since we don't)

The IIHF tourney in May is by far a second rate tournament compared to the Olympics. Teams send their best available guys that want to play if they feel like it, if they aren't injured and have nothing better to do with their first month of summer. I have never heard a player turn down the Olympics cause he didn't feel like it.

So if Heatley is willing to say yes to the IIHF, then it seems logical to assume he'd say yes to the Olympics should they invite his selfish little Donkey.

Then there is also the likelihood that this will be the final Olympics for NHL'ers, (although the Russians are begging, I doubt old Gary gives them a sniff). So it's not even like Heatley can say well screw this time around I'll go next. This may be the last chance deal for him. There will be plenty more IIHF tourneys if he goes to LA or whatever.

Maybe after all of this he doesn't want to go to the Olympics, but if he does want to he's going to have to be in 20 minutes a night game shape and looking good. Not sitting on the couch at home watching the game while holding out or even relegated to a bitter 4th liner playing 5 a night.

Heatley is great on Team Canada as he is never in the NHL playoffs long enough to do anything.

BREAKING NEWS: Heatley asks Yzerman for trade to Team Russia.

wprager wrote:Can we reset the poll for the "Biggest ***hole of the year"?
http://www.gmhockey.com/gmhockey-choice-awards-f53/nominees-biggest-hole-of-the-year-t2527.htm

http://www.gmhockey.com/gmhockey-choice-awards-f53/poll-by-popular-demand-biggest-hole-of-the-year-award-part-deux-vote-againfor-the-1st-time-t2651.htm

Reset.

Lyle "Spectors Hockey" Richardson had this to say in his recent Hockey News column...

RUMOUR ROUNDUP: THE COST OF FREE
Lyle Richardson, THN.com, June 30, 2009

MONTREAL - Senators GM Bryan Murray tried in vain during draft weekend to peddle left winger Dany Heatley.

The reasons Murray failed were the $4 million bonus owed Heatley on July 1 and the Ottawa GM’s reportedly steep asking price from interested teams.

According to the Ottawa Sun, Murray sought Dustin Brown and Jack Johnson plus the Kings’ first round pick (fifth overall); Pierre-Marc Bouchard and Brent Burns from the Minnesota Wild; and Marc Staal and either Brandon Dubinsky or Ryan Callahan from the Rangers.

With next season’s salary cap only marginally higher than 2008-09 at $56.8 million, Heatley’s $7.5 million per season salary is also proving a trade obstacle.

Murray had previously stated if he couldn’t trade Heatley by July 1 the winger wouldn’t be moved at all, but that sounds more like a bluff from a GM who knows he’s not dealing from a position of strength.

Teams that lose out in this summer’s bidding wars for the top free agent forwards could turn to Heatley as an alternative, but Murray might have to lower his asking price to get a deal done following July 1.