Dany Heatley Signs One-Year Contract With Anaheim

Dany Heatley has signed a one-year, $1M contract with the Anaheim Ducks, making him the second Wild free agent to head over there this postseason. Clayton Stoner signed a four-year, $13M contract with Anaheim on July 1.

Heatley struggled in his final season with Minnesota, finding himself outside of the top six and being made a healthy scratch for the first time in his career. He was the final year of a three-year contract with Minnesota, where he carried a $7.5M cap hit annually, and became a free agent on July 1.

In his three-year tenure with the Wild, Heatley played in 194 games, scoring 47 goals and 102 points. He added a goal and five assists in 11 playoff games, all of which took place in the 2014 playoffs.

Heatley may not be the player who scored at least 39 goals over five straight seasons, including two 50-goal seasons, but he is still capable of playing a strong role on a team, especially at the bargain Anaheim got him at. Wild fans had some strong feelings about Heatley by the end of the 2013-14 season, but the majority of those grumblings stemmed from the major cap hit the team was taking for a player who only scored 11 goals.

I like this signing. I think the Ducks got a bargain for a player who is still capable of being effective. At a minimum he’s a solid third line player who can play up the lineup and make their second power play unit much better. For any Wild fans who have smirked at the Ducks, thinking that Heatley isn’t going to produce for them, note that he’s only costing Anaheim $450,000 more than the Wild just spent on Cody Almond.