Since Ottawa Senators winger Dany Heatley surprised the NHL world with his mid-June request for a trade he'd been the main topic of discussion throughout this summer's hockey rumor mill.

With only weeks to go until the start of the Senators training camp the speculation suggests the Senators will have to move Heatley before then or risk his trade request becoming an unwelcome distraction for management, head coach Cory Clouston (who is believed the reason behind Heatley's request) and the players. 

But can Heatley be moved before mid-September?

In the "good old days", before the salary cap and "no-movement" clauses, the answer would've been a definite 'yes'. Players of Heatley talent (former two-time 50-goal scorer) are highly prized and despite being branded as selfish by the media and some NHL folks there would've been several team lining up for his services. 

But today's NHL world is ruled by the salary cap and Heatley has a "no-movement" clause giving him the final say over where he'll be dealt. 

The best time for Heatley to be moved was late-June/early-July, as that's when interested teams had the cap space to absorb his hefty $7.5 million per season contract. 

That's when the anticipation of a Heatley trade was at its height. During the June 2009  entry draft in Montreal Heatley's name was among several bandied possibly ready to be moved at any moment. 

But Senators general manager Bryan Murray was apparently seeking too much (a top six forward, a puck-moving defenseman and a first round pick) and that killed most of the interest in him. 

The Edmonton Oilers jumped into the fray just prior to the start of this summer's unrestricted free agent period with an offer of two forwards (Dustin Penner and Andrew Cogliano) and a defenseman (Ladislav Smid) which Murray was willing to accept. 

Unfortunately for Murray and the Oilers, Heatley nixed the deal, not once but twice, and resisted all entreaties from the Oilers until they finally gave up. 

Almost all the teams believed on Heatley's "wish list" of desired destinations, including the New York Rangers, Chicago Blackhawks, and Los Angeles Kings, aren't interest any more.

Forget the silly internet-based rumors claiming otherwise; those clubs either already addressed their needs (Rangers signing Gaborik), lack the cap space (Blackhawks) or just didn't like the way the Heatley camp handled this situation (Kings). 

Only one team, the San Jose Sharks,  is believed to have any significant interest in Heatley but unfortunately for the Sharks and Senators it appears a deal cannot be reached. 

Sharks GM Doug Wilson apparently would love to move out players like Jonathan Cheechoo and perhaps Christian Ehrhoff for Heatley, but Murray aren't interested. 

That's led of course to wild talk of a potential three-way deal but nothing has materialized and likely won't at this time of year. 

The best window of opportunity to move Heatley has long passed. As general managers prepare for the start of their upcoming training camps they're more interested in assessing their current rosters over the next month before making any decisions on changes via trades. 

Even then, it's doubtful the Senators could find willing trade partners since most clubs have committed their available cap dollars and would only be interested in affordable deals rather than blockbuster moves. 

Recent history is also against a Heatley trade taking place prior to the start of training camp, during pre-season or in the first half of this season. 

Since the lockout ended few major off-season trades have occurred in August. Heatley was involved in the last significant one when he was dealt from Atlanta to Ottawa on August 23, 2005.

Some rumormongers will point to that as proof such deals can still occur but that's not taking into account the summer of 2005 was a different NHL off-season. The league had only emerged from a season-killing lockout in mid-July and teams weren't allowed to make roster changes until August 1st. 

Since then we've seen no significant deals involving players of Heatley's caliber in August...or September...or October. 

In fact the last time a significant early season trade occurred was nearly four years ago, when the Boston Bruins shipped Joe Thornton to San Jose on November 30th, 2005. 

The salary cap and to a lesser degree no-trade/no-movement clauses are the reasons and both are applicable in Heatley's case. 

It's possible Heatley could be moved before the start of training camp, the start of the upcoming 2009-10 season or even in the first half of the season, but the odds are against it. 

The longer this situation drags on the greater the possibility that the earliest he might be dealt is the March 3rd, 2010 trade deadline. 

That's a long time for the Senators and their fans to deal with the distraction of Heatley's trade request. 

It's also a long time for Heatley to have to deal with a distraction of his own making and which he has no one but himself to blame.  

That raises the distinct possibility this situation could start all over again next summer.