San Jose Sharks fans are undoubtedly excited after the acquisition of sniper Dany Heatley, but they might want to exercise some caution—the Sharks could be falling into the same trap Ottawa has suffered through over the past few seasons.
Undoubtedly, Heatley brings a legitimate superstar scorer to the lineup. Heatley has four 40-plus gaol seasons over his career, two 50-goal campaigns, and netted another 39 last year. But it hasn't been all fun and games for the winger and his former club, or he wouldn't have been shipped in the first place.
Many observers have deemed San Jose the winner of this deal, but is the team truly better off for it? Three good, young regulars—defenseman Christian Ehrhoff, winger Milan Michalek and winger Jon Cheechoo—were moved in the process. Ehrhoff, 27, is coming off a 42-point campaign; Michalek, 24, has score 91 goals in his first three NHL seasons; and Cheechoo, 29, is just a few seasons removed from a 56-goal year (although his production has admittedly tallied off since then and he truly struggled last season).
That's a lot of talent to surrender in one deal. Obviously the Sharks are banking on Heatley to put them over the top after several crushing playoff defeats over the past few years, but they're risking becoming the Senators West. The Joe Thornton-Dany Heatley-Devin Setoguchi line has potential to be special—perhaps as special as the Daniel Alfredsson-Dany Heatley-Jason Spezza line that never got it done in Ottawa. The Senators were a one-line team and there simply wasn't enough talent to carry the club to the Promised Land after that dynamic trio. What's different about San Jose's situation?
The Senators, on the other hand, suddenly looks deep at forward. Alfredsson, Spezza, Alex Kovalev, Michalek, Cheechoo, Mike Fisher and Nike Foligno form a respectable core. If new netminder Pascal Leclaire plays well and the blueline holds up, we might be seeing Northbet.com postseason wagering games in Ottawa this season.
Often, the team that wins a trade in sports is the one acquiring the best player. That's obviously San Jose in this case, but Sharks fans should be a little nervous that there's plenty of evidence suggesting Ottawa is going to come out on top of this deal.
