Written by Graeme Nichols | 03 July 2009

While Bob McKenzie is irked because someone is impersonating him on Twitter, Sens fans are pissed because Dany Heatley and his representatives are impersonating assholes. Here's the latest:

"Bryan insists that he never really had any other options, which I completely disagree with," Barry told ESPN.com on Thursday from Stockholm, where he went to broker the Sedin twins' deals. "I believe there were several potential options. I think it was clearly their intent to trade him to Edmonton and only Edmonton. That was the approach they took.

"I specifically told him two days ago, long before the trade happened, 'Do not trade him to Edmonton until you have other options.' And he turned around and consummated the trade despite my request. The result of which is that I get a phone call from a guy that I really respect in Steve Tambellini, who was excited, and I had to inform him what happened.

"I think it was completely mishandled by [Murray]. It was a pressure tactic. He loaded up the gun and put the gun against our heads."

"Based on my understanding of the discussions that took place with the Rangers, the options the Rangers provided were every bit as good, or better, than the options provided by Edmonton. But I'm sure Bryan has a different opinion of that." ~ JP Barry, courtesy ESPN

What's interesting in this Pierre Lebrun article is that he says that an Ottawa source say, "We couldn't even get a 13-goal scorer in the deal."

One quick glance at last season's Rangers statistics and one can quickly deduce that Lebrun's source was referring to Brandon Dubinsky. Brandon fucking Dubinsky. A young, gritty, 40 to 50 point guy. If the source is correct, it gives us some startling insight into how shitty Dany Heatley's value is. And that's not a knock on his numbers, even Dany admitted at the end of last season that with 39 goals and 72 points, "I had a good season."

No, it's not a matter of looking at Dany Heatley's surface, it runs deeper than that. Don't believe me, read this Ron Hextall statement:

If you look at this player's past ... I'm going to spell it out to you as nicely I can. He was in Atlanta, had an unfortunate (automobile) accident there and asked to be traded. OK, given the circumstances -- there was a young man killed -- I can live with that.

He goes to Ottawa, he's on a pretty good team, they go to the finals, signs a big contract… Bang, all of the sudden now he's got to be traded again. 'Not only do I have to be traded, I have a no-trade clause. I want to pick where I'm going to go.' Well, there are some issues there.

He had problems with his coach in Atlanta. My understanding is he had problems with Craig Hartsburg at the start of last year in Ottawa, and he had problems with … Cory Clouston. Three coaches, he's had a problem with.

That raises huge red flags for us. ~ courtesy Mark Spector, Sportsnet

That's some due diligence on the part of the Kings and wishful thinking on our part as fans who think that the Kings represent the most viable trade partner for Heatley. They've obviously direcly talked to Bob Hartley and Craig Hartsburg or they've talked to some sources close to those two coaches.

What's interesting about Hextall's comments were that they were made at the same time to admitting that the organization's biggest need was a high-scoring left-winger.

Think about that for a second. Here's a team in LA that's on Heatley's list of preferable destinations. They have the cap room, the assets and the NEED for a productive LW - a position that Heatley (the third most productive in the past three seasons) plays. But they have yet to make Bryan Murray a compelling offer because they want nothing to do with Dany Heatley's character.

Of course these comments were made before LA struck out on July 1st during the first day of Free Agency. Will they still decide to be selective with their trade targets? Maybe they're trying to drive down Heatley's value and create a situation in which Ottawa needs LA more than LA needs Heatley. Regardless, LA's playing this one close to the chest and they're the wild card in this whole scenario.

As JP Barry is looking out for the best interests of his client and Bryan Murray's looking out for the best interests of the organization, the only ones with leverage in this ordeal are the teams on Heatley's list. When Dany refused to waive his NTC to go to Edmonton, teams like LA became empowered. They now know that Bryan Murray has to come to them to get a deal done. With Heatley's reputation deteriorating faster than ShamWow!'s Vince (after he got roughed up by a hooker), trading fair value for Heatley isn't even a necessity. As the war of words between Heatley and the Senators continues, the less and less likely it is that he can come back to Ottawa.

We're at an impasse and the whole situation is the product of some bad advice.

If you think that's pathetic, then you'll enjoy this. According to Darren Dreger's Twitter, they've said that they'll stay in on the Heatley deal until the bitter end. Could be a long wait. And what if this Heatley to Edmonton scenario was just a giant ruse by Oilers brass so they could use it as a crutch to explain to fans why they struck out again in Free Agency? Poor Edmonton....

< Prev		Next >