The Ottawa Senators took it to the wire but ultimately emerged with a long-term contract extension for Dany Heatley.
Various sources reported Wednesday the Senators had re-signed Heatley to a six-year contract believed worth between $7.5-$8 million per season, and the deal is apparently heavily front-loaded much like the one Daniel Briere signed this summer with the Philadelphia Flyers.
Heatley was the only player to have two consecutive 50+ goal, 100+ point seasons, and with linemate Jason Spezza form one of the NHL’s most lethal offensive one-two punches. The pair along with Daniel Alfredsson powered the Senators drive to last year’s Stanley Cup finals.
While Senators owner Eugene Melnyk last week expressed salary cap concerns regarding an extension for Heatley, in the end the club had little choice but to reach a deal with him if they hope to remain a legitimate Stanley Cup contender in the coming years.
Heatley had set a deadline of the puck drop of the Senators opening game of the season (October 3rd) for the Senators to reach a deal, otherwise he refused to negotiate during the season. That would’ve forced the Sens to negotiate with him at season’s end, and if the club should make a return to the Cup finals would leave them little time to hammer out a deal before July 1st, when he would’ve become eligible for UFA status.
Another fifty-goal, 100-point season might’ve also pushed Heatley’s asking price even higher, as it’s safe to assume he would’ve receive offers worth between $9-$10 million per season if he opted to test the UFA market.
With Heatley now signed the Senators will turn their attention toward re-signing Spezza, who’s a restricted free agent next summer, to prevent him from getting an offer sheet from a rival club. They also have to consider signing Wade Redden and Chris Kelly (both UFAs in July) and RFAs Antoine Vermette, Patrick Eaves, Andrej Meszaros and Brian McGratton.
This signing means the Sens will have 11 players under contract for next season taking up almost $35 million in payroll. Heatley's new contract won't count until next season as he's on the final year of his current contract.
Taking Melnyk's self-imposed cap, 35M committed to eleven players and another 4M - 5M+ for Spezza, they're going to be handcuffed next season. They're going to need to get rid of Gerber's salary next season (if not earlier) and bring up some young guys to field a full team and meet their self-imposed cap restraints. The flip side is, Spezza seems to want to play out the season in hopes of upping his value, so Ottawa could very well trade his rights (or sign and trade ala Hossa for Heatley) at the end of the season in an attempt go get younger and/or find a replacement for Alfie down the road.
Great signing considering the length. In the final three years of the contract, it could be the best dollar per point contract in the League. I'm impressed by figure as it means that both sides came to an amicable compromise. Furthermore, it does, to a degree, keep salaries in check. Some of the UFA madness from this summer really started to get outta hand (see: Vanek, Penner, Timonen, Gomez). But what is most impressive is that it allows for the Sens to maintain their core players. Well done by all involved.
1) As we discussed in our blog a few weeks back, heatley will only be one of MANY potential Free agents who will be signed LONG before next summer!
http://newfaux.blogspot.com/2007/09 /extension-fever.html#links
2) GM/owners have learned from recent mistakes
Dumping Gerber would be the ideal scenario for the Sens. He'll get a lot of playing time with Emery out so Ottawa can use this occasion to showcase him. Ultimately though, the Sens could have the same problem as Tampa. Still was nice to see Heatley kill the Leafs last night, he's worth every penny for Ottawa.
Good for Heatly! Considering his playing days were almost over with that car accident, I have to say the man has rebounded very well with having screws and such in his hips. Not to many players and overcome that feat that Heatly has overcome.
Interesting times indeed. Dumping Gerber's contract will only be part of the solution to keeping Spezza, let's remember. If it was as easy as that, this would be a no-brainer. In addition, there's the small matter that for those of us in the "Ray Emery Is A Question Mark" fan club (growing every day with the injury issues) Gerber just might regain his former lofty status and be more tradeable but more debatable. Redden is clearly history after this season, but if they can manage to lock up Spezza also as well as what they've put on the table for Heatley they'll be pretty well set up front for the next few years.
IAMCANADIAN: Melnyk has said he is willing to spend the cap for the next 3 years for sure. If anyone thinks Spezza will sign for 5M, your nuts. He's getting 6.0 MINIMUM and probably closer to 6.5M. Redden is clearly gone. He looks as though he'll have a bounceback year this year, but there is just no money for him.
Gerber will be dealt so long as he continues to play well.
And Low Sakic, The sens only need to sign 9-11 more players for next year and they have 2 or 3 interesting prospects in Bingo (Zubov, Nikulin, Hennessy and Lee are all threats to make the team). Also Meszaros, Eaves and Vermette are all RFA's that aren't in for big raises.
I'm Lyle Richardson, also known as Spector, Foxsports.com 's "Prince of Pucks".,which is based on the fact I live in Prince Edward Island, Canada and I couldn't think of a better byline. I've been an NHL hockey commentator since 1998 on my website, Spector's Hockey, and I'm a contributing writer for Foxsports.com , The Hockey News and Eishockey News. I'm also a regular on The Faceoff Hockey Show and a frequent guest on "The Late Crew" on The Team 1200 Ottawa.
