In the summer of 2009, I doubt anyone envied the job of Ottawa Senators' general manager Bryan Murray.
The GM was essentially taken hostage by his star player, Dany Heatley, who demanded a trade for no apparent reason. Rumors speculated from basic reasons such as him being unhappy with head coach Cory Clouston, to Heatley sleeping with the fiancee (now wife) of teammate Jason Spezza.
Adding into the confusion was the fact that despite demanding a trade, Heatley still held on to his no-trade clause, in other words giving him control of where he would travel to.
Perhaps even more unfortunately for Murray, the three-time all-star winger was coming off a year where he had his lowest points total since joining the Senators in 2005, putting up 72 over a full season of 82 games.
Murray finally was able to swing a deal with Edmonton at the end of June, but Heatley was quick to decline it, refusing to waive his no-trade clause.
Murray was running out of time, and many suspected that he would simply not come up with a deal and Heatley would be forced to honour his contract, whether he wanted to or not.
Then, in September, with the seasons ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NHL
Article written by Kyle W. Brown
NHL Decisions in Hindsight: The Dany Heatley Trade
May 2nd, 2010 by Kyle W. Brown Leave a reply »
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