Good trade for Ottawa. I'm surprised that the Thrashers would be willing to part with Heatley, but I presume his past legal issues and subsequent injuries were a major reason as to why he was dealt.
I think it was a generous move on their part. Atlanta's not a hockey town and the accident would forever be brought up with his name. This a chance for a fresh start for him in a city that cares about hockey. Props to the thrashers and to the Sens for landing him. I like it.
Hell of a trade but it's basically a wash talent-wise. The Sens should be able to afford atleast one of their two stud defenseman (Redden and Chara) that are going to be UFAs next summer by moving de Vries. If they can sign Heatley for less than what they signed Hossa for, they could be able to keep them both.
Cross Traffic wrote:Heatley got 13.5 mil over 3 years while Hossa received 18 mil over 3 years..
That's a hell of a bargain and getting rid of de Vries saves them an addition $2.28 million. The Sens are going to have a lot of work to do in the offseason next year but atleast they'll have a little more flexibility with the salary cap.
I gotta admit it was an excellent trade for both teams. In the short-term give just a slight edge to Hotlanta, only because they get two players they really needed. In the long run the Senators will be the winners of this trade. They now have enough money under the cap to keep Redden and Chara.
