The Latest on Dany Heatley
The Dany Heatley saga continues.
Please, let it end soon.
First, the Ottawa Sun on the list of Heatley destinations:
Sources told Sun Media the Los Angeles Kings, New York Rangers, San Jose Sharks, Detroit Red Wings, Chicago Blackhawks, Vancouver Canucks, and Boston Bruins were among the teams submitted to Murray by Heatley's agents J.P. Barry and Stacey McAlpine.
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It's believed discussions have been held with the Kings, Rangers, Sharks and Canucks. Sources say Minnesota, Colorado, Edmonton and St. Louis are taking a serious look, too.
Obviously, this is simply a report from "sources" rather than an official statement by the Senators or Heatley's camp, so take it with a grain of salt. Also, remember that Murray has stated repeatedly that if the best offer comes from a team not on Heatley's list, he will not hesitate to apply pressure to Heatley. Whether this is physical or peer pressure, we are as of yet unsure.
On a related note are the reports on two specific teams: the LA Kings and the Minnesota Wild. First up, at the Kings' recent GM Breakfast, questions were asked about whether the team would pursue Dany Heatley. Assistant GM and Chief Stick Breaker Ron Hextall side-stepped the question a little and simply stated that the circumstances of Heatley's trade request, considering the recent contract signing and the list of teams given to Bryan Murray, raised some "red flags." Hextall is not saying that the Kings are not interested in Heatley, or are not considering him, it just means that they are concerned about taking on a guy who likes to request trades.
In short, this means that Ron Hextall shares the opinion of the 29 other GMs in the league, Murray included.
The stories coming from Minnesota, however, show a bit more interest in Heatley, as new GM Chuck Fletcher is looking to put his mark on the franchise:
"I'm excited about the opportunity to put my stamp on the team, change the culture of the team, put a different foundation in place and steer the team in the direction we want to go in," Fletcher said.
Fletcher expects trade talks to intensify this week. He has spoken to all 29 other teams about a variety of hopeful fits. He even has talked several times to Ottawa GM Bryan Murray about two-time 50-goal scorer Dany Heatley, who has asked to be traded and could be by Friday night.
"If we can fill a hole or two by trade prior to free agency, I'm going to aggressively pursue it," Fletcher said. "We're looking at every conceivable way to improve our team. There's lots of kicking tires. There are a lot of people looking at a lot of different scenarios."
So, what does all of this mean?
It means we know about as much about Heatley's future as we knew the day the trade request was announced. Which is to say, we know absolutely nothing.