Sharks Nab Heatley In Three Team Deal??? Reports abound, but denials rage

By: Jeff Little • September 11th, 2009

According to a report on NHL Fanhouse (here), and later by ESPN, Ottawa has finally consummated a deal for troubled winger Dany Heatley, shipping him to the San Jose Sharks in a three team deal that has the Sharks sending former captain Patrick Marleau to the Los Angeles Kings, and the Kings packaging forward Alexander Frolov and Jarrett Stoll, another winger, to the Senators.  However, since word broke approximately two hours ago, denials have been issued by all three camps, with the Kings calling it “utter bull.”  So, we may not be anwhere different than we were at the beginning of the day.

Assuming, however, for the sake of argument, that this is what the deal ends up like, Ottawa and San Jose each seem to be getting what they want in this deal.  Ottawa finally ends the ongoing headache that Heatley represents, and avoids an awkward camp with him present. They also get some young scoring help. Similarly, San Jose gets a talented forward, and avoids the discomfort of having Marleau, the defrocked captain, in their camp. 

Los Angeles may  be the loser in this one.  They are giving up a lot of scoring in favor of adding some age and leadership.  Not sure that is an even deal, considering that Frolov and Stoll combined for 100 points last season. Sure, Marleau ended up with 71 points, but he is notoriously streaky, and LA has removed 2 of the key offensive tools that would help Marleau’s numbers. 

Interesting stuff.  Now let’s see if some other deals start happening.

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A native of the SF Bay Area, my first exposure to hockey was the SF/Oakland/California Golden Seals, including Charlie Finley and the white skates. Fast forward to the late 1980's when Gretzky and the Kings came up to the Bay Area for an exhibition game at the Oakland Coliseum Arena, for which we had glass seats. I was at the first San Jose Sharks game in the Cow Palace, and followed them for their first few pathetic years, before moving to Columbus in 1994. I attended the first pro-NHL rally downtown, and have been a season ticket holder since Day 1, wife & I are active in the Jacket Backers, and son is an avid fan as well. I cover the Jackets for Inside Hockey, and contribute regularly to a variety of hockey sites. I maintain contact with the Jackets organization, and like to dig into stories, bringing a fresh, and sometimes irreverent perspective to hockey.

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