The Trade

Well I'm a little late onto this story as I was away for the weekend, but here is my analysis of the trade that went through

Dany Heatley
5th round pick 2010

for

Milan Michalek
Jonathan Cheechoo
2nd round pick 2010

Now most of you are aware, this trade is a bit of a letdown in terms of what was being rumoured and what the Sens hoped to get out of this. But look at the details of this closely...I like this trade more and more as I think about it.

1. Dany Heatley is GONE - this for me is the biggest upside to this. BM certainly took this into account when accepting the deal. It's the sort of intangible stat that won't be able to be measured by goals or assists or games won...but I guarantee you the Sens dressing room is a lot more at peace now that he is gone, and players will be able to focus more on their game.

2. Milan Michalek - this kid has a lot of potential. At age 24 he has had 3 consecutive 55+ point seasons. He's incredibly quick. He has size. I like the look of this guy as a direct replacement to Heatley. He's obviously not going to put up Heatley numbers just yet, but you know what I mean.

3. We took no defensemen back - A smart move. Take one look at the Sens blueline and even with Smith retiring recently, there is a logjam there. Phillips, Volchenkov, Kuba and Campoli will all be there this season - but then there's Picard, Lee, Schubert and Karlsson fighting for the last 2 spots. Look for one of these players to be on the trading block soon...

4. Our top 2 lines look balanced now - I can see Michalek-Spezza-Alfredsson with Kovalev-Fisher-Cheechoo. Lots of skill on the first line and lots of power/grit on the 2nd.

Now that Heatley's been traded and the season nears, I plan to be a bit more active (let's hope). We are just over 2 weeks away from regular season hockey people!!! :D