Dany Heatley to Sharks

So after the rumor of Heatley going to the Sharks started, died, and has been falsely confirmed about 100 times, the trade finally went through. Dany Heatley of the Ottawa Senators and a 2010 fifth round draft pick have been traded to San Jose for Milan Michalek, Jonathan Cheechoo, and a 2010 second round draft pick.

Let me be straightforward here: I hate this trade. I absolutely detest it. I feel the Sharks have been ripped off. A little over a month ago, I stated that out of Marleau, Cheechoo, and Michalek, Michalek was the one player we absolutely should not trade, with Marleau being right up there. He is a guaranteed 20+ goal scorer year in and year out (and after last season's performance, I'd even say he'd be a guarantee for 30 this year) on a young second line that revolved around one thing during the 2009 regular season: consistancy. And after the past trade with Vancouver, we've basically given up Ehrhoff, Lukowhich, Michalek, and Cheechoo with a second rounder for Heatley, 2 prospects, and a fifth rounder. I'm excited about one of the prospects who is still in his college years, but the second one was supposedly a bust in Vancouver's eyes. So Heatley for 2 young upsiders, and another young skater who has already shown what he can do at his best just doesn't sound like a deal that will keep San Jose in the hunt past the next 2-3 years. And why were the Sharks the one that gave up the better draft pick?

Let's look at the upside. Depending on how our lines look, the Sharks now have one of the most deadliest looking first lines in the NHL heading into the regular season. Obviously, Thornton and Heatley on the first line is a lock. Who gets the second wing position, however? Marleau would complete that line in terms of stacking all our fire-power into a line that would probably average 22 minutes of ice time per game. But I like keeping Setoguchi up there; I have a feeling we might see a repeat of the Thornton effect that he had on Cheechoo if we move Seto away as well. Marleau, Pavelski, and Clowe on the second line is still pretty deadly (and it might even be an upgrade to the Michalek version if Marleau can retain what he did last year, but without Big Joe), and gives a lot more balance than if we had stacked the first line and sent Seto to the second. And Heatley on the power play might finally end the curse of the slumping power play in San Jose. Michalek and Cheechoo were both overpaid for what they delivered last year, and were mostly given contracts on their potential, so in terms of money management, GM Doug Wilson invested in the safer point producer. Stacking first lines could also work, as we've seen it done in Pittsburgh, Anaheim, Chicago, and Vancouver.

But the problem I have is still that we had to give up so much just for one guy. I don't think our 6th defenseman slot will be an issue given how many defensive prospects we've drafted in the past few years, but we have a lot of holes to fill in the third and fourth line. I'd hate to see the first 20 games of the season turn out to be an AHL prospect tryout session on those lines as we try to figure out who the heck to fill those holes (because we still barely squeeze under the salary cap after the Heatley deal, so we're not about to sign more free agents). Speaking of the salary cap, where does this put Nabokov at next season? Are we seriously going to let one of the best goalies in the league walk just because he had ONE bad playoff year (after the 4-5 amazing ones)? What happens if he comes back to old school Nabokov form this year? Like I said, I don't like this deal because of what it could mean for the Sharks in the near future.