The Heatley Saga: What's in store in the next 30 days?

The sticking point with Murray seems to continue to be that he doesn't want Cheechoo and wants Michalek and San Jose does not seem to be willing to include Michalek in ANY trade. Until that changes... they ain't dancing.

beedub wrote:Mark Christopher is throwing out there Cheechoo, Vlasic, maybe Couture and another prospect. You know what? Do it. Paramount here is getting Heatley off this team. He will kill the dressing room and Ottawa will end up challenging for that coveted #1 draft pick.

At least the Sens could go into the season with a fresh start. Who knows, start Cheechoo on the first line, perhaps he re-discovers that 50+ goal touch.

And I believe it would free up a tiny bit of cap space.

I am fed up with this Dung. Prior to July 1 I was too caught up in all the hype, but now, close to a month and a half later, there has no progress. Enough already!

IF the other prospect was Petrecky or McGinn I would do this in a heartbeat. Suffer a little now with the Cheechoo gamble but adding Vlasic and 2 Grade A prospects would be huge long term to this team. The depth a D would be almost unparraled in the entire league.

A top 6 of Spezza/Alfredsson/Kovalev/Foligno/Cheecho/Fisher is probably more balanced than last year and our D would be improved with Vlasic.

beedub wrote:Mark Christopher is throwing out there Cheechoo, Vlasic, maybe Couture and another prospect. You know what? Do it. Paramount here is getting Heatley off this team. He will kill the dressing room and Ottawa will end up challenging for that coveted #1 draft pick.

At least the Sens could go into the season with a fresh start. Who knows, start Cheechoo on the first line, perhaps he re-discovers that 50+ goal touch.

And I believe it would free up a tiny bit of cap space.

I am fed up with this Dung. Prior to July 1 I was too caught up in all the hype, but now, close to a month and a half later, there has no progress. Enough already!

I'm with you on this one beedub. We need to swallow our pride and avoid a catastrophe here. Murray has played the market for a long time, and unless there's something really significant in the weeds, I say you pull the trigger on this one. Compare it to the EDM deal.

Cheechoo > Penner .... is cheaper, is more of a goal scorer, and is in better shape :^^^^:

Vlasic > Smid .... and the same age if I'm not mistaken.

Couture = Cogliano ... I'm giving this one a draw because it's really unknown what Couture will amount to in the big leagues.

+ San Jose is throwing in an additional pick? I dunno guys, if we were ready to take the Edmonton deal, I think this one is better....

As deep as we are at D in the farm, we could use some additional strength in offense. Adding Couture and another forward like McGinn to our depth chart will help tremendously.

I highly doubt Couture and McGinn will be included together along with Cheechoo and Vlasic... if that was the case, this deal would have been done.

Can it even be done cap wise?

*checks capgeek.com*

They total up $8.3M in cap hit... we'd have to send someone along with Heatley to make it fit...

shabbs wrote:I highly doubt Couture and McGinn will be included together along with Cheechoo and Vlasic... if that was the case, this deal would have been done.

Can it even be done cap wise?

*checks capgee.com*

They total up $8.3M in cap hit... we'd have to send someone along with Heatley to make it fit...

What's going on with Smith though? Is he done? Is he waivable? What's the story here.

I have no idea what's gong on with Smith... it's been very quiet on that front. VERY quiet.

The only recent mention was on Senschirp about Smith likely starting the season on LITR.

M_Christopher is indicating that the latest offer from SJ was: Cheechoo, Vlasic and 2 prospects assumed to be Logan Couture and Samuel Groulx.

What's the word on Groulx?

I'm curious on what the Cheechoo-less offer was...

shabbs wrote:M_Christopher is indicating that the latest offer from SJ was: Cheechoo, Vlasic and 2 prospects assumed to be Logan Couture and Samuel Groulx.

What's the word on Groulx?

I'm curious on what the Cheechoo-less offer was...

That's in the ballpark of what I'd like. Although, I'd prefer the two prospects to be either Couture and Sexsmith/McGinn/Petrecki.

I'm warming up to Cheechoo. I think if he can provide 30 goals in a larger role in Ottawa, getting Vlasic and two nice prospects is worth Heatley.

hemlock wrote:

shabbs wrote:M_Christopher is indicating that the latest offer from SJ was: Cheechoo, Vlasic and 2 prospects assumed to be Logan Couture and Samuel Groulx.

What's the word on Groulx?

I'm curious on what the Cheechoo-less offer was...

That's in the ballpark of what I'd like. Although, I'd prefer the two prospects to be either Couture and Sexsmith/McGinn/Petrecki.

I'm warming up to Cheechoo. I think if he can provide 30 goals in a larger role in Ottawa, getting Vlasic and two nice prospects is worth Heatley.

So who takes on a lesser role? Who gets bumped to make room for Vlasic and how do you bump them?

SeawaySensFan wrote:

hemlock wrote:

shabbs wrote:M_Christopher is indicating that the latest offer from SJ was: Cheechoo, Vlasic and 2 prospects assumed to be Logan Couture and Samuel Groulx.

What's the word on Groulx?

I'm curious on what the Cheechoo-less offer was...

That's in the ballpark of what I'd like. Although, I'd prefer the two prospects to be either Couture and Sexsmith/McGinn/Petrecki.

I'm warming up to Cheechoo. I think if he can provide 30 goals in a larger role in Ottawa, getting Vlasic and two nice prospects is worth Heatley.

So who takes on a lesser role? Who gets bumped to make room for Vlasic and how do you bump them?

There's room on the top two lines for Cheechoo. Put him on the top line with Spezza. We've seen what he's capable of with a playmaker. And he'd have Alfie on that line too. If not, you could play AK27 there and put Cheechoo on line 2 with Fisher and Foligno. I like Shannon, but I am not convinced he can stand up to a full year playing 2nd line minutes. Cheechoo can. Plus his work ethic would fit right in with Foligno and Fisher. That's a really nice 2nd line, especially with teams keying in on the top line.

Vlasic replaces Karlsson. Sorry, but it's not that I don't think he's ready, I just think another year playing huge minutes in the SEL would benefit him more.

Kuba-Vlasic
Philchenkov
Campoli-Lee/Picard/Smith

Lee can be sent down. And Smith may start the season on LTIR. Problem solved.

I haven't seen any evidence that Cheechoo has ever played on the LW, which is the only place you could put him on either of the Top 2 lines.

I think we're headed for another revolving door of wingers for a 2nd line centered by Fisher if this deal isn't done right.

SeawaySensFan wrote:I haven't seen any evidence that Cheechoo has ever played on the LW, which is the only place you could put him on either of the Top 2 lines.

I think we're headed for another revolving door of wingers for a 2nd line centered by Fisher if this deal isn't done right.

Foligno is listed as a LW on cap central. What's the problem with:

Foligno-Fisher-Cheechoo

?

shabbs wrote:I highly doubt Couture and McGinn will be included together along with Cheechoo and Vlasic... if that was the case, this deal would have been done.

Can it even be done cap wise?

*checks capgeek.com*

They total up $8.3M in cap hit... we'd have to send someone along with Heatley to make it fit...

Schubert.

hemlock wrote:
There's room on the top two lines for Cheechoo. Put him on the top line with Spezza. We've seen what he's capable of with a playmaker. And he'd have Alfie on that line too. If not, you could play AK27 there and put Cheechoo on line 2 with Fisher and Foligno. I like Shannon, but I am not convinced he can stand up to a full year playing 2nd line minutes. Cheechoo can. Plus his work ethic would fit right in with Foligno and Fisher. That's a really nice 2nd line, especially with teams keying in on the top line.

Vlasic replaces Karlsson. Sorry, but it's not that I don't think he's ready, I just think another year playing huge minutes in the SEL would benefit him more.

Kuba-Vlasic
Philchenkov
Campoli-Lee/Picard/Smith

Lee can be sent down. And Smith may start the season on LTIR. Problem solved.

That's it in a nutshell, isn't it? We can supplement Shannon's minutes by having him man the blue-line on the 2nd PP unit. He'll get his ice time without adding risk injury.

Although I would dearly love to keep the FFS line together. Maybe a a 2B line?

hemlock wrote:

SeawaySensFan wrote:I haven't seen any evidence that Cheechoo has ever played on the LW, which is the only place you could put him on either of the Top 2 lines.

I think we're headed for another revolving door of wingers for a 2nd line centered by Fisher if this deal isn't done right.

Foligno is listed as a LW on cap central. What's the problem with:

Foligno-Fisher-Cheechoo

?

As a 2nd line? Fine. And when that doesn't work out, and it won't, what do you do?

Despite what's been discussed here, I don't think either Alfredsson or Kovalev will be switching wings. They are your 1st and 2nd line RWs, respectively, in whatever order.

wprager wrote:

hemlock wrote:
There's room on the top two lines for Cheechoo. Put him on the top line with Spezza. We've seen what he's capable of with a playmaker. And he'd have Alfie on that line too. If not, you could play AK27 there and put Cheechoo on line 2 with Fisher and Foligno. I like Shannon, but I am not convinced he can stand up to a full year playing 2nd line minutes. Cheechoo can. Plus his work ethic would fit right in with Foligno and Fisher. That's a really nice 2nd line, especially with teams keying in on the top line.

Vlasic replaces Karlsson. Sorry, but it's not that I don't think he's ready, I just think another year playing huge minutes in the SEL would benefit him more.

Kuba-Vlasic
Philchenkov
Campoli-Lee/Picard/Smith

Lee can be sent down. And Smith may start the season on LTIR. Problem solved.

That's it in a nutshell, isn't it? We can supplement Shannon's minutes by having him man the blue-line on the 2nd PP unit. He'll get his ice time without adding risk injury.

Although I would dearly love to keep the FFS line together. Maybe a a 2B line?

I think something will have to be done. I really have my doubts that he can withstand the punishment of an 82 schedule, especially on a line that's going to crash and bang like Foligno and Fisher will. We will need someone that can step in there when needed. Definitely giving him PP2 minutes will help keep his minutes up though. Question is, if we need to spot him out off that line from time to time, who steps in? Winchester, Ruutu, Regin? Or do we use a little bit of cap space to call up Zubov (assuming he is in Bingo again, because I don't see a spot for him)?

SeawaySensFan wrote:

hemlock wrote:

SeawaySensFan wrote:I haven't seen any evidence that Cheechoo has ever played on the LW, which is the only place you could put him on either of the Top 2 lines.

I think we're headed for another revolving door of wingers for a 2nd line centered by Fisher if this deal isn't done right.

Foligno is listed as a LW on cap central. What's the problem with:

Foligno-Fisher-Cheechoo

?

As a 2nd line? Fine. And when that doesn't work out, and it won't, what do you do?

Despite what's been discussed here, I don't think either Alfredsson or Kovalev will be switching wings. They are your 1st and 2nd line RWs, respectively, in whatever order.

You sound pretty certain that it won't work out. Why? I think that Cheechoo, with his scoring ability and hard work, would really compliment Fisher and Foligno, and vice versa.

I'm not putting any stock into this Alfie and Kovy as exclusively RW thing. Guys play out of position all the time. Great players will make it work. Heatley is a natural RW and he doesn't seem to struggle on the LW does he? I don't think this is an issue at all.

The only way I want Kovy, Spezza and Alfie together anyway is if we've got a solid 2nd line that can take some of the scoring heat off the top unit. Otherwise, we'll see teams load up, shut down the top line and beat us because we have no other lines that can score consistently.