Heatley signed a one-year contract Thursday with the Thomas Sabo Ice Tigers of the German Ice Hockey League, Yahoo! Sports reports.
Dany Heatley sees the move to Anaheim as a chance for him to bounce back.
"I feel like I was kind of in a tough spot in Minnesota," Heatley said. "I feel like I have a lot to give and want to prove a lot of people wrong. I'm very happy that Anaheim has given me that chance." Part of the reason we don't like Heatley's chances of bouncing back in any meaningful way is because he's been on a steady decline for years. This wasn't just a matter of one rough season and it didn't start with his move to Minnesota. You can't fault the Ducks for giving Heatley a chance when the cost was just a one-year, $1 million deal, but there's a reason why he had to settle for that amount in the first place.
Dany Heatley has agreed to a one-year, $1 million contract with the Anaheim Ducks.
The chances of Heatley bouncing back to the point where he's a serviceable top-six forward aren't great, but we can't fault the Ducks for taking a chance on him at that price. Heatley had 12 goals and 28 points in 76 contests in 2013-14.
Dany Heatley might end up with the Anaheim Ducks.
There's apparently mutual interest between the two parties. Heatley declined to the point where he scored just 12 goals and 28 points in 76 games last season and we aren't optimistic about his chances of rebounding. Still, if the Ducks or another team can get him to agree to a cheap, one-year deal then he would be worth the risk.
Dany Heatley is still in search of a suitor for next season, as the unrestricted free agent looks for a relevant role with an NHL club after failing to live up to his big-money contract.
The two-time 50-goal scorer has not been a top-six forward for a while now, despite the $7.5 million he's been earning on average for the past six years. But the 33 year-old could be an asset if he takes on a different role and accepts a lot less money for the upcoming NHL season. A healthy scratch in the final days of the regular season, Heatley notched six points in 11 playoff games and might be worth a short term, sub-$2 million risk.
It is very unlikely that Dany Heatley, Mike Rupp or Nathan Prosser will be playing for Minnesota next season.
All three are unrestricted free agents and the Wild seem disinterested in re-signing them. The Wild do have interest in re-signing Clayton Stoner and Cody McCormick, however. Stay tuned as the free agent season will soon be upon us.
Minnesota GM Chuck Fletcher isn't sure what the future holds for pending unrestricted free agent Dany Heatley yet.
"We'll see at the end of the year," Fletcher said. "His contract is up, and we can just see what the fit is going to be and for us, the key thing is we have to look at our young players and where they're all going to fit. You want to make sure you give them an opportunity to continue to grow, whether that's [Nino] Niederreiter or [Charlie] Coyle or maybe even Jason Zucker, you have to make sure there's roles and opportunities for those young players. You don't want to box them out. So we'll sit down at the end of the year and talk to Dany and take a look and see how we end up here." Fletcher gave Heatley credit for his professionalism during the 2013-14 campaign. The veteran forward had his ice time and role reduced this season, but he's been productive in the playoffs with seven points in eight matches.
Dany Heatley picked up his fifth assist of the playoffs Friday.
Heatley has played only six games for Minnesota in the playoffs as he was a healthy scratch in two contests. He had a big game in Game 7 against Colorado with a goal and two assists and now has six points in six games. Kudos if you picked him very late in deep playoff pools as he has certainly been an offensive revelation after a very poor regular season.
Dany Heatley skated on the Wild's top power-play unit during Friday's practice.
Heatley had a goal and three points in Game 7 of the Wild's first round series. Although he had a terrible season, it looks like Minnesota is hoping that he'll stay hot.
Dany Heatley produced a goal and two assists to help Minnesota take Game 7 over the Avalanche.
He played nearly 17 minutes of ice time in the match in his fifth appearance of the postseason. Heatley was a healthy scratch in the first two games of the series, but he came up big in the the Wild's biggest game of the year to date.