About four years ago, the Ottawa Senators were forced to trade Dany Heatley, but not before begrudgingly handing him a $4 million roster bonus after he nixed a trade (despite demanding a departure from Ottawa). The Senators filed a grievance regarding that reward, and it appears that they’ll finally settle the matter soon, according to an Ottawa Citizen report on Friday.
“We’re coming very close to resolution,” Senators owner Eugene Melnyk said. “I think we’re at the stage now of resolving matters with him to our satisfaction and his satisfaction and, you know, we’re talking directly with his agent and seeing how we can … and we have tentatively come to an understanding of how to resolve it, so I think we’re going to be fine.”
The Citizen reports that it’s unlikely much “money will be changing hands.”
If nothing else, Melnyk indicates that the franchise learned a pricey lesson.
“I think part of the deal was it’s not disclosable, so I’d rather not say anything about it at this point,” he said. “But like I said, we had some legal obligations and it just, we got caught in a situation and I think that’s another lesson that was learned and won’t be repeated.”
Considering how much Heatley’s production has slowed at 32 and how well Milan Michalek has played, the whole situation might be a blessing in disguise - even if it was an expensive one up front.