Were it not for a freakish injury that occurred during the 2013 Stanley Cup playoffs , the Minnesota Wild would likely have parted ways with grossly overpaid, under-producing winger Dany Heatley. Before the injury occurred, there was talk around the NHL that the Wild would have used one of its amnesty buyouts on the final year of Heatley's $7.5 million contract for the 2013. If Heatley would have remained healthy, he'd have like been bought out, and the Wild would have had $7.5 million to use to go shopping with for his replacement.
However, something happened on the way to the exit. As Sabres fans know very well about amnesty buyouts, teams cannot use them to get rid of injured players, like Ville Leino. In the Heatley case, the Wild are stuck with him until such time that he is healthy enough to pass a physical.
Heatley missed the rest of the regular season and the playoffs following surgery on his left shoulder.
The team initially hoped to have the 32-year-old forward back in time for the postseason, but Wild GM Chuck Fletcher announced just before Minnesota hosted the Chicago Blackhawks that Heatley won't return this spring.
Fletcher expects Heatley be fully recovered for the start of next season.
Heatley was hurt at San Jose last Wednesday when a tussle broke out. Sharks D Marc-Edouard Vlasic was fined by the NHL for slashing Heatley in the closing seconds. The injury occurred in the ensuing scrum.
So, Heatley counts $7.5 million against the Wild's $64.3 million salary cap for the coming season. Fletcher has only $2.8 million in available cap space left for 2013. He'll likely trade Heatley at or before the trade deadline. Fingers crossed that Heater remains healthy.
At the start of business tioday, the Wild are in much better shape for the 2014-15 season then they are right now. They have 14 players under contract and have $22 million in available cap space. Heatley's grotesque salary will be expunged from the Wild's cap by this time next summer, if not sooner. Meaning, Fletcher can make a trade for a high impact winger to replace Heatley. I'm told that Fletcher covers Thomas Vanek more than any other winger because of his skill set and his Minnesota hockey roots. To say nothing of his nine year relationship with Jason Pominville.
The Heatley injury and ensiung surgery threw a monkey wrench in Fletcher's plan for this summer. The Wild GM will have to wait until the 2014 trade deadline to move Heatley's money off the books. Until then, we should keep an eye on Vanek and the Wild.
It only makes sense that Vanek would want to return to the same town in the State of Hockey where he led his U Minnesota Gophers to an NCAA Mens College Hockey National Championship. Vanek lives in the Twin Cities during the summer. He, his wife and kids very familiar with all of the benefits of living in the Minneapolis-St. Paul community have to offer. Vanek trains at the U Minnesota rink and training complex. Thats where he was interviewed by on Wednesday afternoon. He's at home there. It was his home before he made Buffalo his home, and with one year remaining on his deal in Buffalo, there are two reasons why the Wild have to be considered the front runner to secure Vanek at the NHL trade deadline:
1). Cap space in 2014-15 and beyond
2). Jason Pominville
The Wild can simply offer Heatley's $7.5 million AAV to Vanek, who will earn $7.125 million in the final year of his multi-year contract in Buffalo. Vanek may even accept a hometown haircut from Fletcher in the form of less money per season but longer term (4-5 years). Vanek is 29 years old and he wants to win a Cup before his NHL career is over. The Wild would offer him the opportunity to do so with their exciting core of players and prospects.
The Pominville factor should not be downplayed when talking about Thomas Vanek. The two men are like brothers. They entered pro hockey together. They were locker room neighbors for years. They lived next door to one another in Buffalo for seven of the past nine years. Their wives and kids know one another very well, an d they get along famously. This is what hockey people call "chemistry". Vanek and Pominville are like twins. its uncanny how they speak their own language on and off the ice. They think alike. They react to situations alike. They share a passion for winning. They want to play together again.
I always reflect on Fletcher's post-Pominville trade comments when he said that he initially called darcy regier to propose a trade for another Buffalo Sabres not named Jason Pominville. Was it Vanek that Fletcher was looking to make a trade for? The conversation evolved from there, and Pominville, the Sabres captain was traded to the Wild for Matt Hackett, Johann Larsson, the 1st rounder that Buffalo used to select D monster Nikita Zadorov and a future 2nd rounder. Nice haul for Regier.
Vanek is a smart man. he knows which side his bread is buttered on. He knows that he's in hot demand by more than a couple of NHL teams. He and his agent know that with the salary cap squeezing down by $6 million for the coming season is a real impediment to executing trades. He also knows that if he goes to work in Buffalo from September until February 2014, and he has a vintage Vanek season, that his trade value will be extremely high. He knows that the Thomas Vanek brand has a ton of equity with the fans in Minneapolis-St. Paul. Vanek is immersed in Minneapolis culture and current affairs. I remember like it was yesterday that the I-35W Mississippi River bridge collapsed during the evening rush hour on August 1, 2007. 13 people were killed and 145 were injured. At the time, Vanek and fellow Sabre winger Drew Stafford lived mere minutes away from the horrific accident. At training camp, Vanek spoke glowingly about the first responders to the accident and the out pouring of community support in the time of need. Vanek also knows that the Wild are loading up on the types of players that are necessary to win Cups, like Parise, Suter, and Pominville. He also knows that the Wild will have $22 million in cap space next year and are in great cap-shape for years to come. You better believe that Pominville will be keeping him abreast of the goings on in Wild Nation over the course of the next six months.
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