San Jose has traded the underperforming Dany Heatley to Minnesota in exchange for Martin Havlat. Heatley has three more seasons at a cap hit of $7.5 million, while Havlat has four more at a cap hit of $5 million, saving San Jose $2.5 million per season (math can be fun).

Fantasy Players Impacted:

I love these purely hockey trades – no futures, no salary dumps, no conditions. Two top line forwards exchanged straight across the board. Heatley looked lost in the 2011 playoffs – he was playing through a few injuries, but he hasn’t been the same player ever since recording back-to-back 50 goal seasons with the Senators a few seasons ago. He will likely skate on the top line with Mikko Koivu. The other spot is up for grabs – Devin Setoguchi and Pierre-Marc Bouchard are the most likely candidates to fill it.

I’d probably opt for Bouchard in the spot. He has battled the concussion bug lately, but there aren’t many players in the league as naturally gifted offensively as the pint-sized winger. The obvious loser would be the player shifted down to the second line to play with Kyle Brodziak or Matt Cullen - a bit of a drop off from Koivu.

In San Jose, Havlat adds speed to a team that needs it. He has a solid track record in the postseason, and he’s still only 30 years old. He’s a natural right winger and will likely skate on the top line with Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau. His fantasy value increases more than Heatley does. Havlat and Koivu never really clicked on or off the ice in Minnesota, which left Havlat to play with the second center in Minnesota. According to our Frozen Tools, Havlat played almost every single shift with either Kyle Brodziak or Matt Cullen as his center.

Since this is a one-for-one trade, it doesn’t really affect the chances of the prospects on either team making the jump in 2011-12.

Potential Minnesota top six:

Bouchard-Koivu-Heatley

Clutterbuck-Brodziak/Cullen-Setoguchi

Potential San Jose top six:

Marleau-Thornton-Havlat

Clowe-Couture-Pavelski

I assume Pavelski will move to wing with the Handzus signing. Torrey Mitchell can play center, as well. San Jose was wasting Pavelski's abilities on the third line.

Fantasy Players this helps, in order:

1. Havlat (According to Frozen Tools, Havlat played almost every shift with either Cullen or Brodziak. Upgrade, much?)

2. Thornton (Heatley never really clicked on the top line)

3. Bouchard

Fantasy Players this hurts, in order:

1. Brodziak

2. Cullen

Comments (9)

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Pengwin7 said:

Pavelski IMO, Pavelski will end up on top line. Pavelski finished 11th (11th!!!) in the NHL in shots on goal. Pair him with a playmaker like Thornton and that could be an extremely dynamic line. SJ could make this move knowing that a chemistry between Thornton-Marleau-Pavelski will work... because they've had a chance to play together. Havlat is a good player, but his chemistry with the SJ players is an unknown until the season starts. He'll get a shot on both lines, but I just see Pavelski's ability to get shots off being more valuable with a top playmaker.

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July 04, 2011
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AL said:

	Line Combos I would have to say the lines go more like: Heatley-Koivu-PMB/Seto Lats/PMB-Cullen-Seto/Clutterbuck Only reason Brodziak was playing second line was because Havlat didn't mesh well with either Koivu or Cullen.
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July 04, 2011
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TheRook said:

	... Do you see Heatley mostly playing on the LW or RW? I am curious how this effects prospects like Granlund for the year after. If Heatley plays on the LW does this open up a slot for Granlund to play on the right side on the top line?
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July 04, 2011
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Rob Myatt said:

didn't click? I'm with Micheal here on this one. I think he definitely clicked. 40 goals in the first season with Thornton is a click. Heatly played through a lot of injuries last year and Couture became a scoring option when lines were juggled. Heatly is a natural talent. At the Dobber event a few weeks back, a lot of writers and people with great fantasy hockey knowledge had heatly pegged for a big comeback season. I also think you forgot to mention that a player it helps is Mikko Koivu. Having a legit finisher playing on your wing will definitely bring his assist totals up. IMO, Heatly could still be a 30-35 goal scorer this year (very fantasy relevant) The defensive system may stifle him a bit but he's the real deal still.

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July 04, 2011 | url
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Repent Tokyo said:

	has everyone forgotten that havlat is made entirely out of glass? he's never played a full season in the nhl.
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July 04, 2011
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gfunkb7 said:

	If Heater was a traded-stock on TSX... Can I expect a Nortel-like drop in his exchange value? I'm likely stuck with that asset until (read: if) he comes back to PPG production.
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July 04, 2011
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Jeremy said:

	... I know you did this late at night, but no comment on how it impacts Heatley, the #21 player in the top 300, or Koivu?
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July 04, 2011
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Michael said:

... Heatley never clicked with Thornton? He hit 40G and point per game the year after he moved from OTT which was 10 points on his production the year prior? You ranked him top 5 in Keeper LW last year and still even after the season ranked him top 7 keeper RW, now he doesn't click with Thornton all of a sudden? He's just not good so when Thornton doesn't carry him he doesn't produce at a high-end rate, when Thornton plays to 90, Heatley plays to 40G and point-per-game when Thornton slumps Heatley does little as well. Heatley is dependent on Thornton and Thornton level of play dropped this year, has nothing to do with him "clicking". Thornton is a high quality playmaker he "clicks" with anyone when he plays to his capacity, when he does not, like was the case this season, then those dependent on him fail to produce. It's pretty straight forward. He clicks jsut fine with Thornton he jsut needs Thornton to play to a high level to produce at a high rate as he is depndent on him to produce unlike Marleau.

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July 04, 2011
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Jim Quire said:

	... Wow, now that is an old school blockbuster, 1 for 1 stars. I would include that Koivu is one it helps big time. He finally has wingers to put his great passes in the net. Sure beats Brunette and Miettinen, that was a joke of a top line.
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July 04, 2011
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