Written by Gray | 03 July 2011

Later this afternoon, or earlier this evening, depending how you like to see it, word came across the intertwits that Dany Heatley had been traded for Martin Havlat. This on the heels of the acquisition of Handzus, Vandermeer, and trading Seto for Brent Burns.

Oh the surface the Wild have cleaned up in these trades,and much pants wetting occurred following the news of Heater's trade. I, however, was not prone to panic. I have been wanting to see Heater move on for a few months now, mostly due to his high price and slumping performance. I know he was injured a lot last season, and that no doubt affected his ability to play to his 39 goal scoring level, but it wasn't just that. As @schtimpy27 said earlier tonight, he didn't score big when we needed him to. That has been consistent for the past two post seasons, and given his 7.5 mil hit, well, I wanted to see him step up more. That's not to say the trade isn't risky, Havlat has been sidelined with injuries before too, and he's no Heater when it comes to goal scoring, but DW clearly feels that he's a good fit for other reasons. With teeth, Clowe, JoePa and Patty around, the Sharks can score fairly well without Heater. Heater may also be hindered by not having a guy like Joe to pass to him, and no one knows what kind of season he will have, so it's a risk I feel comfortable with DW taking. Yes, he has Seto with him, but Seto is also streaky, and much of what they two of them will be able to do depends on what the Wild can do.

Havlat is fast. That's a plus. Brent Burns is as well. DW definitely was looking for speed. Halvat is a tad more defensively minded as well, if I am recalling his game correctly, and should help out a bit in that regard as well.

Overall, I am ok with this move. I know a lot of people are freaking out, but I don't think it makes the Sharks significantly weaker, it just changes things up. Considering how rough last season was, I feel a little weird assuming so much about the team before it hits the ice. It will be different, yes, but drastically better or worse remains to be seen.

The off season just got alittle more interesting. Odds are good that DW isn't done, yet, either.

Oh, and can people PLEASE stop saying the Sharks gave up a second in the trade for Burns? They gave Seto and a first. The Sharks GOT a second back. So much HWFO out there over the trade right now, no one seems to have their facts straight.

Have a good fourth!

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