Early Monday morning, it was reported by Canada-based Sportsnet that Ducks winger Dany Heatley was placed on waivers. The club confirmed the news after Monday's off-day practice.
"We put him on, A, to see if someone is interested in him, and, B, because we've got guys coming back," said coach Bruce Boudreau. "At some point, we have to make some moves."
The offseason acquisition who was signed to play on the top line with Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry has been largely ineffective. A groin injury suffered during training camp took Heatley out of the action for several weeks and when he returned, he was moved to the fourth line.
With wingers Corey Perry and Tim Jackman nearing returns and Kyle Palmieri rehabbing from a shoulder injury, a roster move will need to be made. There's 35 points recorded between the three of them and in six games with the Ducks, Heatley has yet to record a point and is a minus-3.
So what's next for Heatley? Should he clear the waivers by the Tuesday morning deadline, at 9:01 a.m. he'll have a few options to weigh with general manager Bob Murray.
Heatley could go play with the Ducks' AHL affiliate in Norfolk, Va., in order to get playing time and show other teams that he's still got enough left in the tank to aid a team through the rest of the season. It would also be beneficial for some of the younger players on the Admirals to be around a two-time 50-goal scorer.
Even after the waiver deadline passes tomorrow, it's still possible for Heatley to find another team. Or, the Ducks could grant him his outright release the 12-year veteran and eat the rest of his salary.
It does not appear that it would be a messy breakup, but similar to the way the team felt it necessary to cut ties with defenseman Luca Sbisa after a training camp injury last season, it does appear that a breakup is imminent.
"I think the injuries play more of a part of it than anything else," Boudreau said. "The same thing happened with Sbisa, once you get hurt in camp, it's hard to come into it in midseason when you've missed everything. It's unfortunate. He's a great person. We can't really make a decision on what's going to happen to him until we see if he clears."
