There's a lot of people out there, and a lot of different opinions on the Ottawa Senators acquisition of Jonathan Cheechoo, Milan Michalek, and a second-round pick in 2010 from the San Jose Sharks for Dany Heatley and a 2010 fifth-rounder.

If you haven't yet, start here, at Silver Seven:

• PeterR: Heatley traded to San Jose for Cheechoo, Michalek, and a second-round pick (Cautiously optimistic)
• DarrenM: The Morning After: Heatley Out, Michalek/Cheechoo In (Not equal value, but not terrible)

• Five for Smiting: Sweet Baby Jesus, It's Over! It's Finally Over! (Love it)
• Black Aces: Heatley Traded...And The Lessons Learned (Love it)
• Sens at Land's End: Hopefully my last ever post about a Heatley trade (Like it)
• Another Ottawa Senators Blog: Now what? Sens hit the ice today (Satisfied)
• The 6th Sens: Heatley Traded (Disappointed)
• SENS Town: Heatley Is A Shark (Hate it)
• SENShobo: Heatley Departs But Questions Only Removed From Forefront (Uncertain)
• Sens Army Blog: Finally (Like it)

And why not some mainstream media, too:

(Read more... )

• Dany Heatley lure too hard for Sharks not to bite on [Toronto Star]: Damien Cox says that San Jose might have given up too much for Heatley--factoring in not only Michalek and Cheechoo but also the salary-dump trades of Christian Ehrhoff and Brad Lukowich--for a player who can score, but can't help them beat a team like Anaheim (see: 2007 Stanley Cup Final). He seems to think Ottawa did as well as could be expected. Good take, all in all.
• Numbers Game: Heatley Knows Way to San Jose [TSN.ca]: Scott Cullen looks at the deal, and reaches the conclusion that Ottawa showed patience to get the best return, and San Jose showed desperation. This makes me feel happy.
• Michalek eager for 'fresh start' in Ottawa with new season [Ottawa Citizen]: Michalek's version of the standard 'Sorry to leave friends, happy for new opportunity' post-trade interview. He should be here Tuesday, delayed due to visa issues.
• Clear the air [Ottawa Citizen]: GM Bryan Murray talks about how frustrating this situation was, how he knew Heatley had to be dealt (for whatever we could get), and his expectations for the new guys: Michalek to play as a top-line left-winger, and Cheechoo to hopefully score 25 or more.
• Senators celebrate Day after Dany [Ottawa Citizen]: Daniel Alfredsson, Jason Spezza, Nick Foligno, talk about their relief that the saga is over, and the team can focus on hockey now.
• Neil, teammates relieved Heatley traded [Edmonton Sun]: See above, but Chris Neil is happier, too. But he's been outspoken on it for a while; he'll be worth the $2M this year if he takes a shot at Heatley when Ottawa's in San Jose.
• Sens better team after Heatley trade: Alfredsson [Ottawa Citizen]: Not much else a captain can say, really. Alfie thinks the added depth will help the Senators more than a year of a pissed-off Heatley would have. I think it'll be easier for fans to watch, anyway.
• The way to San Jose: A Heatley timeline [Ottawa Citizen]: Pretty cool piece chronicling the 64-day-long Heatley-Gate saga.
• Sharks comfortable with making Heatley deal [Sporting News]: Craig Custance basically says the Sharks hit this out of the park, but notes that the long-term commitment to a player who doesn't really know that long-term commitment is a two-way street might be risky.
• The Heatley trade: All in all, Sens made the best deal they could [SI.com]: One guess as to Allan Muir's point.
• Trade makes Sharks, oops, better not say it [San Francisco Chronicle]: Columnist Ray Rotto calls Heatley "one of a diminishing number of 50-goal scorers" in the NHL; judging by his performance the last two years, he might be better called 'one of a number of diminishing 50-goal scorers'. (Alright, I'll probably eat crow after a season on this one, but can't I take one shot?)
• Purdy: Wilson reveals winning hand [San Jose Mercury News]: Blah, blah, blah, Doug Wilson's a living god, and so on. Pretty amazing that the guy was able to acquire a player who demanded he be traded to his team, isn't it? Yeah, I'd say that's a heck of an accomplishment.