Well this has been quite the whirlwind day in Ottawa. The deal is done and announced, although Heatley's first name is currently listed as 'Dana' on the Sens site.
Heatley has apparently agreed to a 3 year $13.5 million deal with the Sens, and officially the trade is Hossa and deVries for Heatley, no draft pick which is unfortunate but not backbreaking.
After having had time to let this deal sink in, and having listened to most of the pundits, I am ready to give this deal my blessing (if such a thing were needed).
Hossa effectively priced himself out of Ottawa through his ridiculous demands to be paid like Iginla and Thorton. Yes Hossa's stats were comparable but that's about it. Basically Hossa put his payday ahead of the team and it landed him in the hockey hotbed of Atlanta.
In Dany Heatley the Sens get a player with terrific offensive potential, a little more grit, a little more size and a lot of baggage. Hopefully a change of scenery will help Heatley shed some of the emotional strain he has been carrying with him since the tragic car crash that killed his team-mate Dan Snyder.
If Heatley returns to his pre-crash form this deal is a big win for the Sens. They free up cap room to re-sign Redden and Chara long-term, they gain a little 'jam' while not losing any offense and they gain a marketable Canadian-born player.
One thing I am getting a little tired of (already) is the Hossa bashing that is starting here in Ottawa. Now I am one of those people who subscribes to the Canadian-European theory regarding heart and determination to win the Cup. It's not a slight, it's not racism, it's just a fact that a Canadian-born player who has grown up dreaming of Stanley Cup glory will generally compete harder to make that dream a reality. I say generally because I also acknowledge that there are exceptions to this rule AND that this rule is becoming less and less relevant as European players become more common in the NHL.
With that said let me say this, Hossa is definitely one of the new breed of European players that DOES have that heart and determination, anyone questioning that has obviously never seen him play. Hossa has worked very hard over the last few years to change his game from skilled speedy winger to power forward. He is more physical and determined than ever before and I wish him well in Atlanta. Unfortunately, he got some bad advice from his agent, said a few wrong things and he may now miss out on his Cup opportunity with Ottawa.
UPDATE: Heatley has now had his name properly spelled on the Sens site although I still have the press release email that misspells it. Good work Sens.
