No. Murray has come out and said that the Rangers refused to give up anyone who had scored more than 13 goals last season (indicating that the Rangers had offered someone who had scored 13 goals – Dubinsky). Ott most likely wanted Staal and/or Callahan. Staal they weren’t gonna get obviously. I believe Callahan, Del Zotto, and a first probably would have gotten the deal done (which is a much better return than the Edm deal). Once they signed Gaborik, it was all moot.

Here’s my thinking . . .

1. We know that the Oilers weren’t on the original list of preferred trade destinations.

2. In the early bidding, the Oilers were the only team to make an offer that Murray wanted.

3. At some point, in late June, JP Barry has said the Oilers were added to the list of teams that Ottawa could deal with.

Why were the Oilers added? Why did the Heatley camp agree to this, if Heatley had no intention of playing in Edmonton (as is now evident)?

If you want to motivate a buyer (New York, San Jose) to increase their offer, there’s nothing better than having another eager buyer (Edmonton) come on the scene.

Ottawa was trying to get Dubinsky out of New York, that’s evident from the facts.

New York didn’t want to give up Dubinsky.

So someone — I don’t know who — figured the best way to put pressure on Sather is to have Edmonton come on the scene, make a good bid, get Sather to increase his bid. Now that last sentence wasn’t fact, it was my conjecture, but I think it fits with the fact pattern

Next, as we move on to Edmonton, it is quite clear that Edmonton was a special case. Heatley’s agents told the Edmonton media that Edmonton was on the list, and Ottawa was told sortof yes (and probably felt that if we made the trade Heatley would say yes).

Next, if we go back to Dany Heatley, it is widely believed by fans and media of the Atlanta Thrashers that Heatley initially requested that the Thrashers release him from his contract instead of a trade after the Snyder incident. This behaviour is extremely consistent with his current stance of wanting “options”.

Next, coming back to the request for “options”, I have to ask you if you would ever do so as GM of a team (I know I wouldn’t). Heatley basically wants Ottawa to get him multiple teams that will make a trade, and let him choose, as opposed to the GM choosing the best trade for the Ottawa Senators. I for one am extremely glad that Murray didn’t cave to that request, as it is clearly not in the best interest of the Ottawa Senators.

Next, we move on to his teammates. Heatley hasn’t communicated anything to any of them, skipped Spezza’s wedding, and now has Spezza basically answering questions for him at the Olympic camp (Spezza btw has been a real trooper through all of this). He may want to spite Ottawa management, but he hasn’t endeared himself to any of his teammates either.

Finally, you say that Heatley’s best option is to do nothing. If he really doesn’t mind playing in Ottawa, I would agree. Based on the press conference, I don’t think that is the case, but the result of this mess is that Heatley gets to play in Ottawa this year (I think it is extremely unlikely he gets moved now). That is clearly not what he wanted, and not what he wants, so I fail to see how that is his best option.

As a result, I see it as Heatley’s camp using the Oilers to fire up the trade market, to motivate other buyers, though Heatley had zero intention of coming to Edmonton. That, to me, is Heatley’s camp using the Oilers, bargaining in bad faith.

I can’t see how an Oiler offer fires up the trade market or motivates other buyers. I agree that Heatley never had any intention of going to Edmonton. The smart thing for Heatley to do throughout is nothing. I think that’s exactly what they did.

Your alternative is that Barry misled Murray into making a deal with Edmonton so that he could leak the names and thereby fire up the trade market. I think that’s a real stretch.

And then there’s the leaking of Cogliano, Smid and Penner’s names. Who did that? The Sens and Oilers insist it wasn’t them. Who does that leave?

I don’t care what the Sens insist. I don’t believe them. This was the only trade they had on the table, the only sniff. They were down to hours on the $4 MM bonus. I don’t blame Oiler fans for the bad taste in the mouth, but I think the Oilers were used by Bryan Murray, not by Dany Heatley.

Heatley did not go public, though. He didn’t say word one and he was very upset that it leaked. Besides which, what Heatley liked or didn’t like isn’t really relevant. They could say “no” when Heatley asked for a trade. We would be exactly where we are today – Heatley getting ready to report to the Sens camp – without any of us being the wiser.

I’m not saying your version of events is necessarily wrong, but you’re drawing some strong conclusions on a fact pattern that’s pretty ambiguous.

Fair enough. Still I think my interpretation is every bit as credible as the only version currently out there. “Dany Heatley is a dork who is screwing the Senators over” is a strong conclusion on a fact pattern that’s pretty ambiguous, too.

Or maybe they did do one of those two things, and it was only after that that Heatley went public, precisely because he didn’t like their behavior. Or maybe his wife is pressuring him to leave because he had an affair with a local sportscaster. We don’t know.

I’m not saying your version of events is necessarily wrong, but you’re drawing some strong conclusions on a fact pattern that’s pretty ambiguous.

The Oilers were apparently on some kind of list. After there was no movement, no rush to trade for Heatley, the list was expanded, with permission from Heatley’s camp. Now, it’s unclear what that expanded list meant or why it was done.

Murray evidently felt he had the green light to make a trade. But Heatley’s camp insists Murray could negotiate with these teams, but not finalize a deal.

As a result, I see it as Heatley’s camp using the Oilers to fire up the trade market, to motivate other buyers, though Heatley had zero intention of coming to Edmonton. That, to me, is Heatley’s camp using the Oilers, bargaining in bad faith.

Now, this is just my suspicion, but it’s certainly left a bad taste in my mouth regarding this player.

And then there’s the leaking of Cogliano, Smid and Penner’s names. Who did that? The Sens and Oilers insist it wasn’t them. Who does that leave?