Monday, August 3, 2009

Sharks Pressing Hard

With the supposed three team trade making national news over the weekend, things seems to be really heating up between the Ottawa Senators and the San Jose Sharks.

The Ottawa Sun speculated over the weekend that the Sharks offer of Jonathan Cheechoo, Christian Ehrhoff and a first round pick was turned down by Bryan Murray.

Word is the package Murray is looking for is similar in structure but would instead involve Milan Michalek, Marc Edouard Vlasic and one of Jamie McGinn or Logan Couture. If the offer and counter proposal are indeed similar to what is being speculated theres clearly some ground to be made up if the two teams are going to get a deal done.

Regardless, its becoming pretty obvious what Murray is looking for in terms of a return for Dany Heatley. A top 6 forward, a top 4 defenceman and a solid prospect seems to be the asking price the Senators have set.

How the Montreal Canadiens or any other third team figure in to all this is anyone's guess at this point. With both the Sharks and Senators tight against the cap, the third team would have to be someone who could take on a little bit of salary.

Either way it seems as though things will really start to heat up this week with the start of training camp just over a month away.

48 comments:

Burgundy said...

If Murray can actually get Michalek and Vlasic, plus one of the other two guys, then the trade was worth the wait.

I'd prefer that deal over the Oiler deal, too. I'm a big fan of Couture, as well.

Remains to be seen, though.

Anonymous said...

I actually heard the package would be different Chirp it would be Clowe instead of Michalek but the other parts would same.

Guestage E. said...

Def worth the wait. Get it done BM! Dunno how much cap space the Sharks would have left over for Heater to fit though.

Anonymous said...

The package that Murray may want, as suggested in the article, would be an excellent return IMO. Hope it gets done soon and we get something back in that range. We'd be deeper and under the cap.

E.P.R.L said...

Does anyone know why Murray wants another top four D? Just asking because we already have a solid 4 in Philly, A-Train, Kuba, and Lee/Campoli. That and we have the logjam on the blueline.

Anonymous said...

hopefully michalek over clowe and i would prefer vlasic over ehrhoff but either would be nice. Would be really nice if we could get Setoguchi in the mix but i doubt it. Would love to get couture added in there for sure hopefully this goes down in the next couple days

Max1966 said...

That sounds like a good trade for the trade for the Sens. As long as Cheechoo does not come to the Sens, it will have been worth the wait. Keep up the great work Senschirp.

Anonymous said...

I would love to have Michalek, his thundering play would be very welcoming. I would like to have that first rounder, though.

Michalek + Ehrhoff + 1st Rounder?

I'm a big Cheechoo fan, even after his fall from grace, but if Murray doesn't want him, so be it.

mat said...

no to cheechoo but yes to everyone else

please hockey gods let this happen

Joshua Lind said...

IMO:

Michalek > Clowe

Vlasic > Ehrhoff

McGinn > Couture

That being said, I'd still take Clowe, Ehrhoff, and Couture for Heatley.

Let's get this done before Doug Wilson pulls out like Tambellini!

Anonymous said...

I think the final deal is going to be:

Michalek, Ehrhoff and McGinn

for

Heatley and Bass

Jim Travers

Anonymous said...

I think the deal will be

To SJ-Heatley,Picard
To Ott-Michalek,Vlasic,Couture

and Murray's second deal is

To Columbus-Kelly,Campoli
To Ott-Kris Russel,3rd round pick

2009-10 Line-up

Foligno-Spezza-Kovalev
Alfie-Fisher-Michalek
Ruutu-Regin-Shannon
Neil-Bass-Zack Smith

Kuba-Vlassic
Phillips-A-Train
Karlsson-Russell

7th and 8th

Lee-Cowen

Leclaire
Elliott

Anonymous said...

Don't want to burst everyone's bubble, but from my sources i'm hearing that Michalek and Setoguci are DEFINATELY not on the trading block. There maybe flexibility for Vlasic over Erhoff and Clowe over Cheechoo, but Clowe just re-signed so its a little unlikely.

My guess would be Cheechoo+Vlasic+MCginn

what BM wants is someone BETTER than Cheechoo, hence why a third team is getting involved at this point

Anonymous said...

Anon 1:53,

I think the final deal would look like this.

Clowe ,Erhoff. McGuinn

for
Heatley and Bass

BeJamin said...

Murray has the right idea about what he wants. It's just a matter of how badly San Jose wants to make that culture change. Hopefully when push comes to shove we get what we want.

I would absolutely love to see Michalek + Vlasic + One of those two prospects or the 1st round pick. That would be a solid fair return especially with both of those guys signed for a good number of years. Rather than a player that will be here for one year and then gone.

Also people should note the logjam on D is not that big a deal. We can easily move those contracts out of we need to and it gives us a chance to see who will develop and who we can let go when things shake down over the next couple of seasons. It's very good to be deep on future D.

I'm not super optimistic that we will get all the pieces we want but if we do it'll be a great deal for our Sens.

Anonymous said...

No way we get those three guys (Michalek/ Vlasic / Couture or McGinn) for Heatley even if some magical third party is able to take on salary for the sharks. We bend over the sharks on that one. I'm sure we'd have to send back one of Lee/ Campoli plus someone like Zubov. We arent going to take their top prospect plus their top young defender for someone like Heatley who has killed his value every single day that goes by.

With that being said I'd do

To Ott

Michalek, Vlasic, Couture

To SJS
Heatley, Campoli, Zubov

xInSafeHandsx said...

it'd be nice if we could also package up some of our overpaid shitty players, like Schubert (him getting a salary is overpaying for him IMO), Smith and/or Kelly.

Either way, I like all the names being talked about. Glad Cheechoo isn't in Murray's plans, one 50+ goal season means nothing, not to mention that season he only had like 30 assists with that. A 50 goal season yet still in the 80s for points tells me he was getting set up by sweet passes from Thornton.

The same passes Heatley will be taking as soon as this deal goes down! Hope it happens soon.

JC, I'm assuming that once the Heatley deal is complete they'll be looking at clearing the log jam at defense...any idea on any other moves they may be making before camp? I'm sure there hasn't been much, i guess everything is pretty much revolving around the Heater deal

Anonymous said...

Definately worth the wait! I actually wanted a trade like this from the start. What's great about this trade is...

1) We get much younger.
2) We get a puck moving D-man to pair up with Kuba.
3)We get a replacment for Heatley that can score 30 goals.
4)We get a solid prospect that can fit into our top six in the future!

Get 'er done BM! ;)

Anonymous said...

Won't happen, the media is just getting out hopes up like they always do just for us to be dissapointed in the end.

Master Of Puppets said...

Sadly Jim, this might be something close to what happens. Michalek, Erhoff and McGinn would be sufficient for Heatley alone. McGinn is a good prospect but might never become a full time NHLer ... Bass, Picard or Schubert in the mix makes the salary exchange almost equal.

How good is Erhoff without Boyle, Blake or Vlasic as partners? Would he post 10g 25A alongside Kuba, Campoli or Phillips? He would add another option from the point on the PP though. Not liking the -12 last year on a reg season powerhouse.

How close is this (SJ deal) to happening or is it another case of more smoke and little fire?

Anonymous said...

As a Sharks fan, I'm fine dealing Michalek & Ehrhoff + ?.

If that 3rd player is a prospect, Bass for McGinn looks like a wash.

However, I'd hope the Sharks could get a top 4 Dman prospect like Lee in return b/c trading either Ehrhoff or Vlasic leaves a hole in the Sharks top 4. Not saying Lee could fill it completely but he could partially fill it.

Anonymous said...

To Ottawa:

Michalek
Cammalleri
McGinn 11.0 million

To San Jose

Heatley
Picard
Donovan 9 million

To Montreal

Cheecho
Kelly
Erhoff 9 million

Everyone gets what they need, and everyone is below the cap.

Alfi Spezza Michalek
Foligno Cammalleri Kovalev
McGinn Fisher Shannon
Ruttu Winchester Neil

Anonymous said...

Hard to see this happening, unless the third team can take on some of the Sharks salary. If the Sharks can trade Cheechoo to the Islanders for picks/prospects, then maybe the proposed swaps will get done. I like the idea of Michalek & Erhoff + McGinn/Couture for Heatley. Trouble is, we have too many defenders already! Where are they all going to play?

I'd like to see some kind of three team trade involving Boston & San Jose & Ottawa where Ottawa ends up with Kessel and Erhoff + prospect/pick, Boston gets picks + depth fwd from SJ/Ott, SJ gets Heatley + Picard.

Harman said...

JC, I know Murray is doing what is best for the team, but I was just wondering why BM is trying to get another d-man in the deal? It seems we already have a backlog on the blueline, and should be focusing on increasing offensive depth, ie. getting two top six forwards instead of one. Do you think Murray wants to trade the d-man to another team for a forward? Do you think if this deal falls through, Murray will attempt to sign Comrie as the other top six?

Thanks for this update JC.

Anonymous said...

No Bass in the Deal

Anonymous said...

if its talked about on here, it wont happen. Just like every other deal or rumour.

Anonymous said...

Good point on the Habs connection...it just doesnt make sense to me. I can see a third team being involved but why Montreal? The only point of a third team would be to dump cap space

Anonymous said...

Anything in the range of what is mentioned would be very positive for the Senators.

Either Michalek or Clowe would be fine with me. I'd prefer Clowe, but I'd bet that SJ would prefer to lose Michalek instead.

I'd be fine with either Ehrhoff or Vlasic. Again, I'd prefer Vlasic, but Ehrhoff is no slouch, and he's only 26. In response to above comment about why he would want to get another top-4 d, it's simply because if you have an opportunity to improve your team, you have to do it, and Ehrhoff or Vlasic is better at this point than Campoli or Lee.

Also, I'd take Couture or McGinn before I took a first round pick. Murray seems to like guys with Ottawa connections, and both Couture and McGinn are ex-67's.

If the trade goes down, then Murray has definitely succeeded in improving the Senators this off-season. Maybe those folks who are not fans of Bryan Murray can admit this much if this is the kind of return he gets for Heatley.

Sean said...

Heatley and Schubert for Michalek, Vlasic and Couture

Anonymous said...

Phily - ATrain
Ehrhoff - Kuba
Campoli - ?

? = Karlson, Picard, Lee

Anonymous said...

As long as clowe is not part of the package i'd be happy. I'd even rather have cheechoo than clowe.

AK27 said...

Is Joe Pavelski an untouchable, I'd take him over Comrie, if we can get Pavelski, we won't need to re-sign Comrie. Something like this:

Ottawa gets: Pavelski, Vlasic/Ehrhoff, Couture/McGinn, 2nd

SJ gets: Heatley, Hennessy, Lee

Go out and sign Peter Sykora

Sykora - Spezza - Alfredsson
Kovalev - Pavelski - Shannon
Foligno - Fisher - Neil
Ruutu - Bass - Donovan

Winchester, Regin, Z. Smith

Vlasic - Kuba
Phillips - Volchy
Campoli - Picard

Karlsson, Schubert

Leclaire, Elliott

Anonymous said...

murray shot down this rumor already, I bet ottawa sun got this rumor from hockeybuzz

Rex said...

AK27 ... Comrie is not being signed by Ottawa.

He is not coming back even if there is cap room. He did not impress Murray at the end of the year and Murray has no intention of bringing him back.

Let's all forget about Comrie.

Zack Smith or Ilya Zubov will make the team this year... and we will all forget about tiny Mike Comrie...

Anonymous said...

I'd like Michalek, Pavelski and McGinn for Heatley, Schubert and a 2nd round pick.

That would be a sick deal.

Foligno-Spezza-Alfie
Michalek-Pavelski-Kovalev

would be the top 6... and you could move them around since I'm sure the fans would love to see Alfie and Kovalev together as well as Spezza-Kovalev...

I'm really hoping Heatley is traded... can't keep the "cancer" in this town. It's bad for the team.

Anonymous said...

All of this trade talk with SJ is just a lot of talk and smoke. SJ isn't going to trade away their youth or talent for one primadonna. Everything you are reading here and in the papers is just media fabrication to sell issues.

Anonymous said...

Ott - Penner, Clowe, Vlasic,
Edm - Zherdev
SJ - Heatley, Ylia Zubov
NYR - Logan Couture

Anonymous said...

I don't know why so many people on this forum disregard the progress Lee has made in the last two years. He is miles ahead of Picard on the depth chart. Lee was playing top 4 minutes over the last 20 games last year and looked good doing it. Picard sucks, and is at best a 2nd unit pp quarterback.

Anonymous said...

Clowe = the new Penner

no thanks

Anonymous said...

Anon @ 3:03,
MTL will NOT trade Camalleri. They just signed him this offseason. That would be suicide for future FA signings and there is no chance that happens.

Anonymous said...

Dallas and NYR in the mix.
http://www.sportstalkbuzz.com/index.php/nhl/ottawa-senators/812-heatley-to-sj-nyr-or-dallas#comments

Anonymous said...

That link is from Kevin Lee, which means it has zero credibility. At this point, Heatley will either stay a sen or be a shark.

BeJamin said...

The most likely trading partner is still and always will be San Jose because that is where Heater wants to go. Like I have said before people ought to stop making up trades because none of us really have a clue what is being offered. Lets just allow Murray to do his job and comment on it after we know the results.

Bueller said...

anon 10:12-Hi Kevin Lee

Anonymous said...

NYR - McDonagh (top d prospect)
Dubinsky (2/3rd ln C)
'10 1st rounder
'11 1st Rounder

BeJamin said...

Anon 10:12AM that article is a little ridiculous. I don't think Dallas will be parting from Neal & a top prospect any time soon.

Anonymous said...

NYR makes sense with Zherdev now going to arbitration and wanting way more than NYR can afford.

To EDM: Zherdev, J. Smith
To OTT: Cogliano, Dubinsky, McDonaugh
To NYR: Heatley, Edmonton 3rd

JohnnyHolmes said...

A little ridiculous?

I just heard there is a 29 way trade going down, possibly involving Anaheim, Boston, Colorado, Columbus, Dallas, Detroit, Edmonton, San Jose and Phoenix, maybe some players like Fedorov, Sakic, Modano, Dan Cleary and Bobby Orr involved.

Wayne Gretzky coming back is the key to this deal however.

I'll update as I get more info. This one is a JH 7.