Murray Finally Speaks About Heatley

by DarrenM on Jun 16, 2009 7:51 PM EDT

(EDIT: Story has been updated with a few additional quotes that have found their way online, and our reactions)

It took a full week, but Senators GM Bryan Murray is finally speaking out about the Dany Heatley trade situation. Prior to today, Murray had only stated that "at this point in time, he's a Senator." And while Murray is in no way letting fans know what is going to happen or what talks with other teams have produced so far, one can glean many positives from his statements:

1. Murray has spoken with other teams about Heatley

"I have had some conversation with several teams."

Of course, this is to be expected, but it's nice to see it actually confirmed.

2. A trade by draft day is ideal

"I don't really have a timetable but I have encouraged anybody that is really interested to try to make the contact before the draft and we will get something done by that time I hope."

Though Murray is not setting a timetable for Heatley's trade, he does hope to have something done by draft day. The days leading up to the draft tend to find GMs stressed out, tired, and looking to make a big splash, and Murray obviously hopes to capitalize on that atmosphere.

3. Murray wants something in return for Heatley

"I'm just not going to let him just walk away for nothing as you know. Whether we get the ideal trade or not that is one thing but I have to get something good for this organization coming back."

""We’re looking at a variety of avenues ... if it’s a draft pick or a flip of a pick and a couple of players coming back… we would consider anything."

Phew, there goes the worry that Heatley would garner zero in return. (So much for Yashin, Brendl, and a 3rd)

4. Regardless of a list of preferred destinations, Murray is still the boss

"If he doesn't want to be in Ottawa and there is team that offers me a deal that I think is a better deal obviously I have to put some pressure on them to accept that or he may end up playing back here."

Although Heatley has given the GM a list of ideal trading locations, Murray insists that he will not bow to Heatley's commands. Though people think that Murray has little leverage here, think again. 2010 is an Olympic year, and it's pretty obvious that Dany loves representing his country. He'll want to be playing for a team that offers him a positive atmosphere and a spotlight, not awkward dressing room situations and an arena filled with boos every night until a trade is worked out. If Murray gets a better offer from a team that is not on Heatley's list, he will do everything within his power to pressure Heatley to take the trade that is better for the Sens, not for Heatley.

This also shows that Murray has not ruled out the idea of Heatley playing here in 2009-2010, something most fans seem to have done.

More after the jump...

5. Murray, though disappointed, does not hate Heatley the way the Ottawa Citizen hates Heatley

"I really like Dany Heatley a lot. I think he’s a great player and a good guy."

"Dany never said anything to me but complimentary things about Ottawa. Never, at one time, do I remember him saying he didn’t like the attention and that he didn’t like the city. The fact that he signed a long-term deal (early in the 2007-08 season) indicated to me and everyone around him that this is where he wanted to be."

A bit of damage control on Murray's part. The ridiculous Ottawa media has decided to tarnish Heatley's name without any information as to what is going on, so Murray has to try and fix Dany's reputation so that we can find a decent suitor.

6. Murray is thinking depth

"What (trading Heatley) might do is balance our dollars a little bit. If the cap is going to go down in the future, to have maybe two players (earning) that amount of money rather than one might help us. It might give us a little more depth than we had."

This is the right thing to think about, and it's what I've been saying since the news first leaked out. We don't need to replace Heatley with another 7.5 million dollar player. The team needs to spread out its depth to several different lines to have a more balanced attack.

7. No offers yet involving a top ten pick

There is no quote from Murray on this yet, but the Senators' official website states it as fact. This means that all of those rumors about the Avalanche's 3rd overall, the Kings' 5th overall, and the Oilers' 10th overall picks are almost certainly false (after all, if they were true, Murray would want to get that information out there to create a bidding war).

Murray's long silence prior to today's press conference was a bit unsettling, but he has chosen his words carefully, and its hard to fault what he has said here (aside from the website letting slide that no top ten picks were offered). Let's just hope he can keep saying all of the right things in negotiations with the other teams.

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Comments

Wishing For "The Ghost"

Murray, instead of being fired for destroying one of the top teams in the NHL, gets a promotion! He will now also be a VP…

I sure miss Pierre Gauthier and all the great scouts that helped build this team before it went broke under Rod Bryden and the pressure of a 60-cent dollar!

The testosterone-infused bullshit we now get from Murray and Melnyck makes me want to puke.

We were one or two role players or a goalie away from a cup, with a stable full of home grown talent. What do we have now?!

by Wall Street on Jun 16, 2009 7:59 PM EDT reply actions

Read the papers, Wall Street

Seriously, can we stop talking about how great of an organization we were pre-lockout? We drafted pretty well and developed some nice players, but the Bryan Murray era is a totally different period of hockey where a salary cap has changed EVERYTHING. Losing guys like Chara, Havlat, Heatley, etc., isn’t Murray’s fault, it is just that we are the victims of our own success. We find and develop great players and they earn salaries beyond what we can pay. No team, besides the Red Wings, have been able to have consistent success both before and after the lockout and we’re in that same boat. We are going through a regroup and that’s it.

And we also need to get off Murray’s back a bit on where this organization is headed. Mlakar and Muckler turned this organization into a damn country club where players could do whatever they wanted off-ice, were mostly safe from the media (we’d pick 1-2 scapegoats per year), and started determining who would coach each year. As helpful as RAM was in selling tickets to this team, his meddling hands got too involved with the players and gave them all this attitude that they were bigger than the team and the organization. Murray has spent the last three years cleaning this mess up. Just because we made the playoffs and lost to Toronto each time doesn’t mean that we were a well-run organization. Everyone is just starting to see the laundry airing out on the clothesline now.

Point here is that Murray approached Eugene during the Cup run and said yes, we have a great team but the organization is a fucking mess as much as I like coaching, I’d like to have a managerial role so I can clean this thing up. Mlakar was part of that old guard that put the individual players above everything else and this has now been addressed, concurrently with the Heatley fiasco.

by duffyforever on Jun 17, 2009 10:01 AM EDT up reply actions

BAM!

Agreed. Most player losses—Chara, Havlat—were certainly not Murray’s fault. Some—Preissing, Redden—were signs of genius. Others—Stillman, Heatley—were either bad luck or numbers not adding up. Murray’s biggest flaw has been some of the faith he’s shown in players who couldn’t meet his expectations, but he’s not just building a team. He’s also re-building a team-based mentality.

www.silversevensens.com

by Peter Raaymakers on Jun 17, 2009 11:23 AM EDT up reply actions

Good news from Murray

Although it’s not necessarily the case, it’s at least good to hear Murray suggest things are going as well as can be expected. I sincerely hope this is resolved by the time the entry draft comes to a close, because I really don’t want to deal with it longer than is absolutely necessary.

www.silversevensens.com

by Peter Raaymakers on Jun 16, 2009 10:21 PM EDT reply actions

I don’t know that Murray has any leverage whatsoever (taken from an outside perspective that hopes that this blows up amazingly) because either way Heatley is making his money. So either Murray moves him quickly (and it likely won’t be at the draft since no team will want to pay that $4M bonus due July 1 – See: McCabe, Bryan) or he gets stuck with a sulking player making $7.5M whose value will continue to drop with his indifferent play (assume that he doesn’t play well and why would he when he’s going to have the boos raining down on his head.

There is some good damage control being done by Murray but I wouldn’t buy the ‘we are still in control’ line because he is not. The good thing from your viewpoint should be that he’s looking to address the senators’ biggest problem: lack of depth. Oh, and the fact that the senators have not drafted and developed players very well since they stopped getting top 5 picks.

It’ll be a hell of an interesting transaction and it’ll probably (it’ll have to right?) define Murray’s tenure/determine his future with the club.

Pension Plan Puppets: A Toronto Maple Leafs blog and a group therapy session.

by PPP on Jun 17, 2009 1:05 PM EDT reply actions

There is no issue here

I do not see why folks say Murray has no bargaining power. He has all the bargaining power. He has a signed contract. If Murray does not want to trade Heatley he does not have to.

If I was in Murray’s shoes, I would tell Heatley that the Sens will trade Heatley subject to the following conditions (1) Ottawa finds a trade that they deem fear, wholly at the Sens discretion and (2) Heatley agrees to waive his $4M payment due July (I think).

If not, than suit up for the Sens Heatley. You do not get paid to be happy, you get paid to play hockey the way the coach asks you to and to score goals. Do your job.

by aagoodfella on Jun 17, 2009 2:55 PM EDT reply actions

(2) Heatley agrees to waive his $4M payment due July (I think).

It’s due July 1st and he can’t waive it.

If not, than suit up for the Sens Heatley. You do not get paid to be happy, you get paid to play hockey the way the coach asks you to and to score goals. Do your job.

It’s a nice sentiment and I wish it were true but odds are he’ll sulk and moan and be a cancer on the team until he’s moved.

Pension Plan Puppets: A Toronto Maple Leafs blog and a group therapy session.

by PPP on Jun 17, 2009 4:29 PM EDT up reply actions

Did I just agree with a Leafs fan?

Yes, I agree that Murray doesn’t have nearly the amount of bargaining power that people think. He is a disgruntled player that is seen as a bad apple and that is as big as a factor as anything. Just read Burkie’s thoughts on it!

That being said, Heatley will have to play ball a bit, too, because while he’s a lock for the Olympic team now, sulking and shitting the bed in Ottawa and showing poor effort might be a detriment in the eyes of Stevie Y.

by duffyforever on Jun 17, 2009 4:39 PM EDT up reply actions

It's okay!

It’s an easy thing to agree on.

Heatley definitely has to budge. As you guys have noted, he wants to play for Canada and if there is one thing Canada has an abundance of it’s forwards but on the whole he still has the upper hand.

Pension Plan Puppets: A Toronto Maple Leafs blog and a group therapy session.

by PPP on Jun 17, 2009 5:37 PM EDT up reply actions

why can he not waive the payment

he and Senators are parties to the contract … Senators will not refuse $4M waiver so why cannot Heatley waive the payment

by aagoodfella on Jun 17, 2009 6:07 PM EDT up reply actions

I am pretty sure it’s not allowed in the CBA.

Pension Plan Puppets: A Toronto Maple Leafs blog and a group therapy session.

by PPP on Jun 18, 2009 1:17 PM EDT up reply actions

even Heatley not foolish

enough to sulk his career into the toilet

He has no bargaining power. Like I said, if I am sitting across the table it is (1) waive your $4M and (2) trade at our discretion or

SUIT UP LITTLE BOY! YOU ARE A SENATOR, LIKE IT OR NOT!

by aagoodfella on Jun 17, 2009 6:12 PM EDT up reply actions

in any case

there is no way I am trading Heatley without getting some money back for his being a pain in the arse … fair is fair. So waive the $4 M.

by aagoodfella on Jun 17, 2009 6:14 PM EDT up reply actions

moreover

he does not have to waive it .. he can just pay it back … there is certainly no law against that … and i remain very skeptical that Heatley cannot waive the $4M — although I am guessing he might change his view about trade if it cost him $4M but whatev, he is an adult (supposedly), he needs to learn there are costs and repercussions associated with his decisions

by aagoodfella on Jun 17, 2009 7:05 PM EDT up reply actions

I think it is in the CBA

i’m pretty sure that it is in the CBA per the Players Assoc that you can’t just waive pieces of a contract in the middle of the term to suit a trade. I think I heard somewhere that once signed and on file, you can’t fiddle around with those kinds of details. Whoever has Heatley on July 1st must pay him the bonus. Any argument on it would have to go through the courts and I doubt the league and the teams would let it get that far.

by duffyforever on Jun 18, 2009 10:12 AM EDT up reply actions

you think it is in there

because (1) you speculate it would be or (2) you have specific knowledge of the existence of a clause specifically precluding a player from waiving bonus payments in exchange for trade privileges?

FYI – the CBA is available at http://www.nhl.com/cba/2005-CBA.pdf

I cannot see anything that specifically speaks to the issue.

Like I say, the Sens hold the cards. They do not have to trade Heatley, they have a signed contract. Hockey is a business. If Heatley wants a trade, well, he has to offer something in return. That is the way the business works. I suggest the $4M July 1 bonus. If CBA specifically precludes waiver bonus than there are other workarounds. For example, the Sens can offer to sell Heatley a special seat in Ottawa for $4M to accommodate his guests when he comes to down. Bottom line, Sens are entitled to compensation, as is customary in any business for making contractual accommodations, and it can be done via outside business agreements beyond the reach of the NHL CBA.

by aagoodfella on Jun 18, 2009 1:30 PM EDT up reply actions

I 'think'

Since I used the phrase “I think I heard somewhere”, that should give a good impression that I am not a CBA expert. Moreover, I don’t plan on becoming one this afternoon.

Face it, these contracts and bonuses are in place and the only way to circumvent them probably require legal action. Nobody wants this easy peezy Heatley trade to somehow wind up in a courtroom. That’s ridiculous. Your suggestions of finding some other way to give him $4M sounds like you’re trying to scalp tickets on eBay or something. We aren’t talking about selling a $40 mug to some bloke that has front row Bananarama tickets inside of it. This is a legal contract that stipulates a $4M bonus. We’re complicating things here. Simplest answer is that there are enough suitors out there that Murray should still be able to get a decent return with the team picking up that $4M. It isn’t going to be some blockbuster with an All-Star coming back with prospects and first rounders, but a decent return.

by duffyforever on Jun 18, 2009 2:23 PM EDT up reply actions

unless it is a good deal for the Sens

than they should not do the trade, and they do not have to

if Rangers wanted to give, say Gomez + Drury and a draft choice, for example, than I would say let him go

there is really nothing Heatley can do and the Sens should not feel compelled to move him … frankly, the team’s reaction to moving him should be (1) if we get a deal we like and (2) we get something for our efforts, than we move you .. otherwise, you remain a Sen

I am not sure why folks are all like, oh poor Murray, it is just not that big a deal

by aagoodfella on Jun 18, 2009 3:34 PM EDT up reply actions

It is a big deal, though

I don’t want to start the season with Heatley in a Sens uniform, and I don’t think any of the other Senators do, either.

No matter what the Senators get directly via trade for Heatley, there’s one thing they’re almost guaranteed to get: Cap space. With some decent UFAs on the market, and slightly less competition for them (one would assume) because of the expectedly-declining salary cap, that might be close to worth it on its own.

www.silversevensens.com

by Peter Raaymakers on Jun 19, 2009 7:21 AM EDT up reply actions

Heatley as a Sen

personally, I would like to see the Sens win. If the best way to achieve that is with Heatley on the team, than I say fine.

The Sens are a very competitive team under Clouston. Since, He joined, the Sens played at a rate that would have generated 101 points over a full season. This would have seeded the Sens deeply in the playoffs.

Bottom line, the Sens do have a team that can win the cup right now. but to do that, they need both Clouston and Heatley.

If Sens were in rebuilding mode, than I would agree with you that cap space is a needed asset. But they can reasonably win the cup with the assets they have. As such, I think keeping Heatley is more important than cap space.

by aagoodfella on Jun 21, 2009 11:12 PM EDT up reply actions