The Dudes finally have real Sharks news to talk about, including the start of training camp, Martin Havat’s semi-miraculous recovery, Anthony Stewart, and more.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Update:  The restricted free agent compensation has changed in the new CBA.  Here’s the business:

Sharks fans have received a early gift this year- a four game winning streak.  Mike and Doug talk about Havlat, Niitymaki, and others, and continue with the Christmas tradition of asking Santa for Sharks-related gifts.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

The season starts with a bang, the Sharks beating up on the Coyotes 6-3.  However, it’s been 4 days since, and no games.  Mike and Doug talk about the only game, the Niemi and Havlat situations, look forward to the Ducks and Blues, and talk some NHL news too.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Another week, another huge trade with Minnesota.  This time Dany Heatley is shipped for Martin Havlat.  Mike and Doug try to deal with their collective shock and look at the trade objectively.  Also, with so many other signings in the past week around the league, they try to find the winners and losers in the group.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

In a move that no one could have predicted, even with a Ouija board (which makes it standard Doug Wilson), the Sharks traded one of the best scorers of the past decade, Dany Heatley, for Minnesota’s top scorer, Martin Havlat.

My initial reaction is that, player for player, this deal is terrible for the Sharks.  As I tweeted a few minutes ago, before this admittedly disappointing and sub-par year for Heatley, Havlat’s best season would have been Heatley’s worst.  It’s not a trade for value.  It’s a trade for a team that’s looking to shed salary.

That being said, this trade happened for one or more of the following reasons:

1. The Sharks no longer wanted Heatley around.
2. The Sharks needed to shed salary to make room for another signing or trade.
3. The Sharks just want to save some cash.

I can’t think of any more reasons than these.  If the Sharks wanted Havlat so badly, couldn’t the deal have been made without Heatley being a part of it?  After talking with Doug just now, it’s probably a combination of all three.  The Sharks have two big players’ contracts up this time next year- Couture and Burns.  If you give Burns $5M or so, and you have to pay Couture $3-4M, there’s not a whole lot of room left.  By CapGeek’s numbers, that’s 12 players signed, with around $9m in cap room for 9 players.  That’s a tight squeeze.  If I try to put on my “DW is all-knowing” hat, which I seem to have misplaced, he saw that writing on the wall, saw the opportunity to move an odious contract, and took it, getting a guy that has the kinds of skill that DW thinks the team needs.

More later.