Sharks trade Heatley to Wild for Havlat
San Jose Sharks' Dany Heatley celebrates after scoring a goal against the Detroit Red Wings during the second period of an NHL hockey game in San Jose. (July 4, 2011) Credit: AP
MINNEAPOLIS -- The Minnesota Wild was searching for someone who can put the puck in the net in the blink of an eye, a player who won't hesitate to let a shot rip from anywhere.
Here comes Dany Heatley, who never met a shot on goal he didn't like and is determined to show he still can light the lamp with the best of them.
The Wild landed Heatley late Sunday night, sending Marty Havlat to the San Jose Sharks in a straight-up swap of 30-year-old wingers. Heatley said Monday he is excited to be coming to Minnesota and can't wait to prove his subpar 2010-11 season was a fluke.
Heatley had back-to-back 50-goal seasons in 2005-06 and 2006-07 for the Senators but scored only 26 goals last season for the Sharks. He played a month and a half with a broken hand, and he said several other nagging injuries held him back.
"Last year wasn't the greatest year for me personally,'' Heatley said, "but I'm looking forward to getting back there."
After the Sharks flamed out in the playoffs yet again, general manager Doug Wilson was looking to switch things up. He found a willing partner in the Wild's Chuck Fletcher, whose team missed the playoffs in both of his seasons as its general manager.
Fletcher fired coach Todd Richards, replacing him with Mike Yeo. Then on draft night, Fletcher sent All-Star defenseman Brent Burns to the Sharks for a package that included goal-scorer Devin Setoguchi.
Fletcher said the biggest priority this offseason is to inject juice into a team that was 30th in shots on goal and had too many players who were better at passing than finishing. Havlat seemed to be one of those players. He scored 62 points but had only 22 goals.
"Marty Havlat is one of the better offensive forwards in the league," Fletcher said. "You look at this trade, it's two pretty good hockey players trading places. Some players fit into some teams better than others.''
Fletcher brushed aside character questions about Heatley, who asked to be traded from Atlanta and Ottawa.
Heatley has three years and $19 million left on his contract. Havlat has four years and $20 million remaining on the deal he signed with Minnesota two years ago.
Heatley has a history of struggling in the playoffs, but the Wild hopes he'll get a chance to redeem himself in that area. The Wild has missed the postseason for three straight years, making even one of the NHL's most supportive fan bases become impatient.
