Heatley for Phaneuf: per Sportsnet's Mark Spector

Koivu would also be a nice signing...although he is likely headed to Minny to play with his brosif...

If that was the deal (and if the hockey gods are good to us, it'll happen early wednesday morning), it would leave just enough for Murray to play an active role in the UFA market. I think that guys like Hossa and Havlat are no longer options (if we trade 7.5M$ for 6.5M$) but I'm sure there are other top 6 forwards we can get that would help.

BTW, I didn't realise that Fa9 was so young; he's only 24.

Our D-corps would look great for a long time; unless of course, Fa9 pulls a Redden ...

I don't want to touch Afiniganov. He's like Havlat WITH NO FINISH. Way too frustrating for me.

true...although he used to have finish...the last 2 seasons he has been plagued with injuries...but prior to that he was scoring...

I just imagine these are the types BMurray will have to go after as our cap situation will not let us grab a big one...

While Phaneuf would/could be a good addition I don't see how this trade solves any of Calgary's salary cap issues. Hell, it only makes them worse.

In terms of personnel and what each team needs, this certainly makes a world of sense, but I think it's going to be very tough for Calgary to pull this off from a salary cap perspective.

On the other hand, if/when the deal is done, Calgary's cap issues are far from Ottawa's problems, so...

COLLAR UP wrote:true...although he used to have finish...the last 2 seasons he has been plagued with injuries...but prior to that he was scoring...

I just imagine these are the types BMurray will have to go after as our cap situation will not let us grab a big one...

NO AFINIGENOV (SP)....please!   While I agree, chances are we won't be touching the tier one guys, that's no excuse to sign a guy like maxim...I've always hated him.  I think its a good thing we won't be touching the top end guys.  They'll be over paid and aside from Hossa, there's not much of interest.  Both Havlat and Gaborik are so injury prone.  Havlat finally had a season where he managed to dress for the majority of the games but in my mind, still not enough for a big money deal.  I would however, love to have Koivu as our second line center.  Wonder what he'll sign for?

Saku Koivu would be nice on the Sens but I think it's off to Minny for him as most people have been saying.

This has been around for awhile. Initially, my reaction was no to this deal. Having gone through the mediocre offers of the draft, I'll say yes to this deal now. I can see more components to the deal, even to the point of Ottawa taking on a little more money. I think Ottawa sends another d-man back to alleviate their logjam on the blue line.

i'd say yes to this deal but i'd see the flames offering us jokinen first(which i would hope BM would turn down). hopefuly that would signal the end for Jason smith then we could have some serious money for a UFA. i'm not holding my breath though...

RobbyJ wrote:Fine.

If thats just an exasperated "fine" llike "if thats the best we can get, then fine" then I'm right there with you.

COLLAR UP wrote:Just throwing this out there but anyone willing to take a chance on Afinogenov...only if the price is cheap - which it should be considering his numbers the past 2 seasons...

Yes, although I got ripped for suggesting this awhile ago... someone also suggested at the time he would go back to Russia and the K, where he would be paid handsomely.

MurderOnIce wrote:

COLLAR UP wrote:Just throwing this out there but anyone willing to take a chance on Afinogenov...only if the price is cheap - which it should be considering his numbers the past 2 seasons...

Yes, although I got ripped for suggesting this awhile ago... someone also suggested at the time he would go back to Russia and the K, where he would be paid handsomely.

He's already 29. He's not going to mature or progress. This guy is a lost cause at any price.

Volchenkov/Phaneuf pairing = terrified forwards with their heads UP!

Also defensive backup for Phaneuf...

I do like that idea...

This comes from a poster named FlamesFanatic on the Sens forum:

Ding ding ding! We have a winner! Phaneuf is NOT BEING MOVED! How many times to I have to go over this? Sutter LOVES Phaneuf, he's had a single "bad" season in which he still got 47 points, and that was because he played since Nov. with broken ribs.

Calgary does not want Heatley.

Also, Brent Sutter was his Jr. Coach, the one who coached him into being a top 10 draft pick. I'm pretty sure Darryl Sutter is willing to wait and see what happens.

You trade players while their value is high. Phaneufs has never been lower.

If Phaneuf is traded, it is because Darryl Sutter is no longer the GM. He wants to build a team focused on Defense this season. We went from #1 overall in Goals Against in 06/07 to 23rd in the league this past season. He has repeated over and over again defense is the priority. How does adding Heatley, who couldn't find his own defensive zone with a GPS attached to his helmet, help that cause?

He has also said that he is NOT moving any of the Flames Core, and Phaneuf is the second most important piece of the core, only behind Iginla.

I wish these stupid rumors would stop.

He's pretty good with Sens news but he definitely knows whats happening with his team...

Oh well...Can we still get Roszival

Just to clarify, this rumour is being suggested by MARK Spector (of Sportsnet) and NOT the better-know and -respected Spector, aka Lyle Richardson.

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/blogs/2009/06/29/spector_heatley_phaneuf/

That knowledge certainly changed my opinion about how seriously I should be considering this issue.

To be fair it was more of a musing than him reporting a legitimate rumour. If you read the whole article you'll see that he says it's hard to get info from a Sutter run team. He also shoots holes in the idea as well.

I automatically knew it wasn't Richardson because all he does is pour water over ANY deal discussions.

Mark Spector is now reporting that the Oilers may be the front runner for Heatley with a package that includes Dustin Penner and Tom Gilbert.

Surprise, surprise.