Shaun Best / Reuters

Star forward Dany Heatley has made it clear that he wants out of Ottawa.

OPINION

By Ray Slover

updated 9:44 p.m. ET Aug. 28, 2009

Ray Slover

Good for Mathieu Schneider: He has a job for the coming season and will help fill a void for the Vancouver Canucks. And Friday's acquisition of defensemen Christian Ehrhoff and Brad Lukowich further strengthens the Canucks in their area of greatest need.

In that trade, the San Jose Sharks sent Ehrhoff and Lukowich to the Canucks for prospects Patrick White, 20, and Daniel Rahimi, 22 — players who don't figure to have an immediate impact on the Sharks.

The question raised by Friday's trade? Having cleared cap space, are the Sharks now in position to make a deal for Dany Heatley?

GM Doug Wilson spent the summer without making the expected big roster shake, and demoting Patrick Marleau from the team's captaincy has been the only temblor for Los Tiburones.

A deal for Heatley would rattle the team and be the Richter scale shaker fans expected. And frankly, one the team could use.

Wilson has been refusing to discuss anything. He told the San Jose Mercury News back in July, "I'm not talking about somebody else's player, period."

Two obstacles to a Sharks-Ottawa Senators deal involving Heatley:

1. Would Heatley waive his no-trade clause? Given his suspected preference to play for a Stanley Cup contender, that's likely affirmative. It would be hard for him to say no to making his way to San Jose.
2. Who would be heading to Ottawa? Most likely, if he waives his no-trade clause, Marleau.

Or maybe it's Joe Thornton. Just wondering aloud here: Is it more likely the Sharks would move Marleau, having stripped him of his captaincy, than Thornton?

With Friday's deal clearing cap space, the Sharks could fit Heatley neatly into the mix. And with Dan Boyle holding the team's only hefty long-term contract, Heatley's pact would not stretch Wilson's resources.

There's also the issue of cap certainty. Marleau enters the last season of his contract, while Heatley has four years left on his deal.

Another name to consider: Heatley for Jonathan Cheechoo. That would be a winger-for-winger swap, and Cheechoo would seem in crying need of a new location where he can recover his scoring touch.

Let's take this a step farther: What if the deal were to include Jason Spezza? He and Thornton are solid power-play centermen, so this would be fair dinkum.

The Sharks could benefit by getting two forwards, Heatley and Spezza, who would be motivated by their trade and sending off two players, Marleau and Thornton, who have not lifted the Sharks to their potential — the Stanley Cup finals.

The Senators could get fresh faces for a team in need of spark and excitement. Thornton is an Ontario lad and should juice Senators fans' interest. And both Thornton and Marleau are high-value stars.

Also worth consideration in any flood of trade-rumor blather:

A report this week suggested Marleau had refused to waive his no-trade clause in a three-way deal involving the Sharks and Senators. Wilson told the San Jose Mercury News, "Patrick Marleau has not been asked to waive his no-trade clause."

That doesn't mean he won't be asked when Wilson has a deal a step from conception.

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