It seems like a distant memory now, but in late June, it was a very real possibility that this deal would have happened. Dany Heatley out of nowhere, requested a trade and left the Sens trying to find a partner that could somewhat give us equal value.The Oilers of course, have trouble attracting top flight talent, unless they've drafted them, so they made a hard move for #15. Coming the other way would have been Dustin Penner, Ladislav Smid and Andrew Gogliano. An intriguing group for sure, one that I originally hated, but managed to talk myself into once I was resigned to the deal happening. But then we all know what happened next don't we.
Heatley refused to waive is no trade clause and the deal never happened. Edmonton looked desperate and tried everything to convince him, but to no avail. The deal was dead.
For what it's worth, Dustin Penner seems to have reinvented himself this year, maximizing the potential everyone thought he had if he would just try. He is one of the top scorers in the NHL right now. Cogliano is having an off season sos far, while Smid has H1N1 and isn't playing.
In the end, I think we'll be better off in the long run with Michalek, who I think plays a great 2 way game and is a very exciting player to watch. Cheechoo is......well that's a story for another day, he is running out of time in Ottawa.
So would Penner have played so well for the Sens? Would the deal have helped us more then the San Jose one? Would the Oilers have been a top team with Heatley on their roster? All questions we will never know the answer to, thanks to diminished Dany Heatley.
Thoughts? Would we have been better off with the Edmonton deal or do you like the San Jose deal better?
3 comments:
I was one of the few who really liked the Edmonton deal.
Sure, I have vast amounts of knowledge in baisically everything! But in this case, I knew a number of Edmonton fans, and they all told me two things:
1. Penner was capable of being very good when he played with competent players, and he was also very good at making people on his line better. The issue was that him and MacT had it out. This is not the most popular opinion, but it was amongst those whose opinions I value.
2. Cogliano and Smid were going to be pretty good. Cogliano was likely to be at least a 2nd line center, and they thought Smid wasn't recognized nearly enough.
These two things persuaded me.
I do like the San Jose deal, if for no other reason then the fact that Michalek makes me smile.
The Edmonton deal would have been about as good as the one we made. The large plus would have been Cogliano who I think is underrated and still waiting for his banner season. The San Jose deal, we got some future in Michalek and some hopeful past in Cheechoo. Michalek seems to have paid off handsomely so far. He score, he checks hard, play well defensively and is FAST. Cheechoo has been disappointing, but I'm hoping it's adjustment. He has been line-hopping a lot.
As to the Heatley no-movement clause, I have some definitive thoughts about that, so don't get me started. Overall, I like the deal we got. Michalek is great, Cheechoo could still display some greatness, and there's a draft pick for the future or as a bargaining chip.
well put
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