NHL News!

Heatley traded to the Senators for Hossa and a defenseman to be named later, in a word, ‘Wow’!

Word is that Heatley’s agent requested the trade, I presume A: to get him on to a Canadian team where he will be more comfortable, and B: to get him away from the US media’s focus on his car accident. Who won? I’d say the Senators for sure, but if you are going to trade Heatley for anyone getting Hossa back is definitely one of the best deals you could make.

Hossa will fit well with the Thrashers, but he is another pure sniper (like Kovie) who needs a playmaker to succeed. The best the Thrashers have is Marc Savard, and I assume he’ll be playing with Kovalchuk. So does Hossa line up on the other side, or draw a different centre and form the second line? Could make a big difference in his points.

Heatley will almost certainly play with either Spezza or Alfreddson, both of whom are better passers than shooters. All in all, I expect his goal scoring to go up with a potential drop in his assists mark.

As for how this affects the FUNHL, I’d say Hossa drops a bit for Brian being a Thrasher, but that’s still a hard call given the rising talent level in Atlanta.

Heatley should be much happier in Ottawa, and if he’s happier, I’m happier. I'm also pretty sure that Spezza will be happy too.

Selanne is once again, a Duck. Good for the Ducks. He’ll fit nicely into a potent powerplay with Fedorov, Sykora, Niedermayer and Ozolinsh. Consider what Burke has already done for the Ducks PP with Oz, Nieds and now Selanne joining in since he became GM – nicely done.

Bondra appears to be the last remaining higher end player to sign a new deal. After he goes, there isn’t much news to report for signings, unless you are eagerly awaiting for Yannic the Panic Perrault to ink a deal.