Heatley For Phaneuf?

Well, once Dany Heatley mentioned that he wanted a trade, it was somewhat indicated that he would want to go Western Canada and it came as no surprise to me to see a suggestion, seeing Heatley being dealt to Calgary for Dion Phaneuf. Hell, I had it in my first piece on this new blog.

			2008-2009 Statistics		2010
To Calgary	Pos	Age	GP/MIN	Points	Cap Hit
Dany Heatley	F	28	82	72	5 years/$7.5 million
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			2008-2009 Statistics		2010
To Ottawa	Pos	Age	GP/MIN	Points	Cap Hit
Dion Phaneuf	D	24	80	47	5 years/$6.5 million

In the straight-across sense, this doesn't look like a bad deal for either side, although the Flames would walk away with a little bit more of a cap hit, which they don't need, for a little bit of offense, that they'll lose when Mike Cammalleri finally hits the UFA market. With Phaneuf, the Senators will save $1 million per year over the next five seasons against the cap, which shouldn't be an issue with the team and they will get a franchise defender again, lifting that responsibility from Filip Kuba, who couldn't really carry it.

To me, this deal really isn't finished with a straight swap, as the Flames would likely have to give up another player to really make this work for them, especially in the cap world. The Senators would be looking for at least another roster player, of good calibre and reasonable cost, to come along with Phaneuf, in order for both teams to benefit. I would look at a guy like Dustin Boyd, who is going to be an RFA this summer, his rights could go a long ways into making the deal a little more feasible.