Senators may have grounds for grievance in Heatley-gate
by PeterR on Jul 2, 2009 5:02 PM EDT
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NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly has suggested that the Ottawa Senators may have solid grounds to file a grievance with the NHLPA or Dany Heatley himself based on the fact that Heatley's trade demand may have compromised the contract signed, according to Sportsnet.
The grievance may be as simple as having any team which acquires Heatley (if he ever agrees to the trade that he demanded) to reimburse the Senators the $4M already paid to Heatley. It's unclear if a more significant grievance, such as one directly against Heatley, would be possible.
The cost which Heatley's demand and subsequent waffling has extended far beyond the $4M bonus paid to Heatley on July 1. When the demand was made public, it immediately lowered Heatley's trade value on an already timid market. When he refused to waive a trade to the Edmonton Oilers (and possibly other deals-in-principle that may have not come out), he did no favours to the Senators nor the Oilers. His uncertainty cost the Senators an opportunity to pursue other free agents, some of the best of whom are now off the market.
If those are grounds for a grievance directly against Heatley for significantly hampering the Senators' ability to ice a good team is uncertain, but even if the Senators did take such an avenue, it may be negative overall. A team that takes a player to court, no matter how extreme the circumstances, might not appear to be the top choice for players looking for new contracts.
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Didn't the Sens take Yashin to court?
Or was it the other way around?
Either way, I don’t think a grievance is the right path to pursue here. It sucks that he cost us the opportunity to get other snipers, but I wouldn’t have wanted to see the team pick up any of the contracts that Hossa, Havlat, or Gaborik or Cammi signed and put themselves right back up against the cap. I think the Sens can be contenders with a balanced attack and strong goaltending — I’d rather see our money spent there than on a sniper.
by Mark Parisi on Jul 2, 2009 5:37 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
you mean like the balanced attack sniper-less Penquins?
by aagoodfella on Jul 2, 2009 5:45 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I was thinking more like the ’08 Wings, ’07 Ducks, ’06 Canes, ’03 Devils… you know, teams that won with a team game and strong goaltending?
In fact, out of that group the ‘09 Penguins were the only team that didn’t have a 40-goal scorer during the regular season, and in the finals had GWG from: Gonchar, Crosby, Talbot, and Talbot (12 regular season goals) … so, yeah, I guess I do mean like the balanced attack Penguins.
by Mark Parisi on Jul 2, 2009 6:07 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
so do i
we would be fine with a big two rather than a big three. aagoodfella made a good point that heatley could come back, suck it up and we’d go back to being cup contenders under clouston carrying success from last year, but if that was the case depth would still be an issue, we could get some sort of depth if heatley stayed, not much but still. I see good outcomes in both sides as to moving heatley or not. Either way i’m all for depth. There should be 3 lines that can produce at some level, with a 2-3 offensively smart d-men in order to have a strong balanced attack. Which has been proven to be achievable without such a high caliber top line like the cash line. That much is an opinion i won’t change.
by xBKx14 on Jul 2, 2009 9:49 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Sens can’t go after Heatley for $4M – that’s his SALARY, and he has a right to it. He can’t lose out on half of his year’s salary because of miscommunications between him and Murray.
by DarrenM on Jul 2, 2009 8:41 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
i would hate to see it get that ugly, but i’m glad to see people all around the league agree we don’t deserve this charade to move heatley.
by xBKx14 on Jul 2, 2009 9:54 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
They might be able to get some reparations
because he’s put the team in a hell of a position. Pretty destructive, all in all.
I think the $4M would just be sent from the team that acquires Heatley to the Senators.
by PeterR on Jul 2, 2009 11:28 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
hey, if someone offered to give me 4M back, i'd take it.
i saw a video of murray updating on heatley on ottawasenators.com. I found it interesting because he said although the trade isn’t dead, the original deal has been taken off the table. There were times in the interview where murray indicated he wanted to move him, and times when he wanted him to stay. The post that went with it had Spezz giving some feedback which indicated that a cup and the senators come first, which i like to hear because i wasn’t so sure if he was committed either. If you saw the murray video, tell me how you interpret it, if you have the time.
by xBKx14 on Jul 2, 2009 11:52 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Murray – choked up with Heatley’s behaviour. Murray wants to help the franchise move forward and get out of this mess, and Heater is making that more difficult than it should have been.
Spezza – saying all the right things. Will welcome back Heater with open arms if Dany stays in Ottawa. But Dany has to make up his mind so that the team can move past this and get ready for next season. Wants to win a cup. His snub from the Olympic camp is going to make him work harder to prove that he deserved to be there.
by DarrenM on Jul 3, 2009 12:21 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Spezza's going to be the next fan favourite
this kind of thing matures a player. He’ll probably re-commit to the team, and fill out his game to be a go-to, true league all-star. That’s my prognostication.
by PeterR on Jul 3, 2009 12:48 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
let's hope so.
he’s come a long way form being our hometown hero in binghamton.
by xBKx14 on Jul 3, 2009 12:55 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Not as long as he keeps the blind passing up, he won't!
But I think Clouston is the right coach to round out Spezza’s development.
by Mark Parisi on Jul 3, 2009 1:37 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
thanks
i didn’t know what to get out of that interview. and my though, spezza should be on the camp roster if heatley’s there. he might still have some minor flaws in his game, but he was right that his performance in the iihf tournament should have been convincing. maybe this will uprise a new more serious, harder working spezza like peter said. and let’s face it, alfie won’t pull a chelios and play another ten years. someone needs to replace him when #11 is in the rafters. hmmm…
by xBKx14 on Jul 3, 2009 1:05 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
well, in all fairness, canada only needs 4 centremen, and we are STACKED at centre. It’s not a real surprise that Spezz didn’t get invited, considering. It’s easier to make it as a winger than a centre this year, for sure.
by DarrenM on Jul 3, 2009 2:05 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Reparations
Don’t hold your breath too long, thinking that the Sens will have any recourse against Heatley. It is one thing to let Alex Yashin sit out for a year and hold him to the time owed, but it is a whole other issue when a player asks to be traded, then exercises his contractual right to veto any trade. Unless he refuses to show up in September, should a trade prove to be impossible, the $4mil will remain his to keep.
As I see it, as long as GMs continue to be stupid enough to sign these rich one-sided deals, then they deserve what they get.
As much as I think Heatley was an ass to do this in such a dumb way, I still have very little sympathy for Murray or the team. So many teams sign these “no trade” deals, then live to regret it, but they keep doing it!! it is utterly ridiculous.
As for the loyalty angle… I don’t think Heatley did any of this in the right way, but I certainly recognize that it is his right to ask to leave what he thinks is a bad situation, if he wants out. Lets face it, the Sens’ (and all teams for that matter) show no more loyalty to their players than Heatley is showing to them. Murray surely didn’t lose any sleep when he advised Vermette and the others to pack up and leave town, so I don’t really understand why players are expected to be loyal to their organization.
These guys are nothing more than commodities to their GMs and owners. Even the Great One was sold by Edmonton, Guy Lafleur was squeezed out by Montreal, Sundin was all but strung up on Yonge St after years of loyal service, etc…
It seems to me that the Sens played this as poorly as Heatley in many ways. Now, everybody comes out of it looking bad…
by Wall Street on Jul 3, 2009 10:56 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Players used to be mere commodities...
Now the balance of power has swung so far in favour of players that it’s as bad as it was, just the other way around. Stars used to be sold y their owners, now their owners are sold up the river because of their stars. When Heatley signed his contract extension, it was a lot more than money; Melnyk met with him in person, negotiated to make him the highest paid player in the league last year, used his counsel to guide the franchise dirction, gave him the no-movement clause he’d requested, and rest assured that Melnyk was a big part in Heatley receiving the assistant captainship which he’d requested. All of that, though, means nothing to Heatley anymore, it seems.
by PeterR on Jul 4, 2009 10:41 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Nah, Peter. The balance of power has not swung as much as you think it has. This is one situation in which a player has a NMC and so he finally gets a bit of a say in what he wants to do. He was smart/talented enough to get a contract that favoured his interests, unlike most players.
by DarrenM on Jul 4, 2009 9:28 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
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