I, along with a lot of other fans, have become a bit jumpy when it comes to Dany Heatley news. I think it mirrors how we are with the economy. If they tell us Apple didn't sell enough iPhones last week, the markets plummet. Then they say that there were fewer unemployment claims filed than they expected, the markets jump up. We've become such a sensitive group of people that even Alex Kovalev's lip service to Montreal media sends the city into panic mode.
With yesterday's news that the San Jose sharks had cleared beaucoup de cap space, we were ready to pick which Sharks forwards would be headed Ottawa's way in the inevitable Heatley trade that would follow. I'm as bad as anyone about it. I really thought for a moment that Doug Wilson would just go ahead and announce the acquisition of Heatley in the same press conference. After we all catch our breath and our heart rate returns to normal, we all realize that Heatley to San Jose isn't any closer than it was last week or last month. The Sharks do have the cap space available now, but they still have 10 forwards under contract with two weeks to camp. Any Heatley trade would involve two of those players, unless it is something like Marleau and a defenceman (which they have one less of after trading Ehrhoff to Vancouver).
After thinking this over, we have to wonder if Heatley to San Jose ever made sense for us or for them. If Booboo is right that they offered Cheechoo, Ehrhoff, and a first rounder, then it is clear why this trade never happened. Doug Wilson can't afford to give up two forwards for one and we can't afford to give up Heatley without getting two forwards back. So on we go with Heatley still on the roster and ready to jump up and down with the next league transaction, just hoping that it is a preface to our much-desired Heatley trade.
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Interesting yesterday how Bryan Murray thought enough of Kovalev's comments to make a formal comment. Again, we're so eager for news in this, the longest off-season of our freaking lives.
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I hope Nick Foligno gets a warm welcome to Ottawa this September/October. If anybody has had a worse summer than Dany Heatley, it is Nick and his family. Our hearts have to go out to this kid for what he's had to go through as it reminds all of us that there is far more precious things in this world than hockey and trade options and diminished roles. Here's to hoping Nick has a career year and the Foligno family continues to move forward, albeit with heavy hearts.
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There is going to come a time in the next couple of years when one of Chris Phillips or Anton Volchenkov is no longer an Ottawa Senator. With Patrick Wiercioch and Jared Cowen both coming in as big, defensive defencemen, we're going to have to make room somehow for some offensive blueliners to move the puck up the ice. This team will not have Phillips, Volchenkov, Wiercioch, and Cowen on the same roster, will it? It's a tough call - with Phillips, you have the community guy, loves the city, huge locker room influence (sounds like Muckler's justificiation for keeping Redden, no?), and with Volchenkov, you have the bruiser that blocks anything and is just happy to have a job and be on the ice. My bet is that Phillips stays, but I've been known to be wrong on just about every other prediction. Who would you keep?
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Has Dany Heatley been traded yet? How about now?
Saturday, August 29, 2009
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3 comments:
wiercioch isnt a defensive defenseman at all, hes just big. he was a point/game player for denver and their pp qb. by many accounts its actually his defensive game that need the most improvement. if he can develop a mean streak then this kid could become one of the bigger draft steals in a while.
Cowen's offensive game is massively underrated. He isn't a defensive defenseman like Schenn...he's an all around D-man like Bogosian. The difference being that if Bogo is 60-40 with an offensive slant, Cowen is 60-40 with a defensive slant.
I agree that I expect Phillips to stick around longer than Volchenkov, who has his first UFA contract coming up.
With Cowen eventually picking up some of the minutes Volchenkov was logging, and lots of good defensive prospects coming in, then I think Murray will want to keep Phillips around to teach them how to play responsibly.
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