FanHouse Patrick Marleau

It's been a couple days since Dany Heatley was shipped from Ottawa to San Jose, so we've all had a little time to take a step back and look a the trade. Today, some of the best and brightest in the two blogospheres involved have taken the time to share their views on the trade with us. I have an odd feeling that the Senators' bloggers feel a lot of relief now that the trade has been mad but, to find out, follow me through the jump.

SAN JOSE -- Patrick Marleau doesn't always pay attention to trade rumors, but Thursday night's report on ESPN that he'd been traded to the Kings was a little different because his phone started ringing non-stop.

Marleau, the Sharks' all-time leading scorer, knew there was no three-way deal with San Jose, Ottawa and Los Angeles. He has a no-trade clause and no one had asked him to waive it.

---

---

It happened more than two months after most observers thought it would, but Dany Heatley finally got his wish. Evidently, the threat of having him at Ottawa Senators training camp was too much for the team to deal with.

Mere hours after FanHouse's Susan Slusser reported the increase of rumblings surrounding the San Jose Sharks and Heatley, ESPN now reports that Heatley has indeed been dealt to the Sharks as part of a three-team deal.

The San Jose Sharks are often linked to Dany Heatley, like many other teams this offseason, but the latest whispers out of San Jose are that this time, something might happen.

No one is denying anything, and while that doesn't guaranteed a deal is struck, it makes it highly likely that talks are ongoing.

FanHouse begins its four-part preview of the upcoming NHL season. Check back every Thursday from now until opening night for the rest.

The calendar has flipped past Labor Day in the States, and that means the start of the NHL's regular season is fast approaching. We're going to take one last look back at the summer and discuss the best and worst moves -- in some cases, non-moves -- of the offseason. Who took a step in the right direction and who took a step back?

Newsmakers in the NHL: During the regular season it's our daily look at the previous night's action. During the offseason, it's our link dump that looks at some of the storylines and moves taking place around the league three times per week. Have a tip or something you want linked? Send it in to nhlfanhouse@gmail.com.

The Vancouver Canucks have, arguably, the best goaltender in the NHL in Roberto Luongo, and they now have just under three weeks to sign him to a long-term contract extension or they risk losing him. Luongo is set to become a free agent following the season, and while the two teams have had talks, a deal has yet to be reached. According to the Globe and Mail, Luongo has set a deadline for September 13 for a new contract to be signed as he will not negotiate once training camp begins.

Newsmakers in the NHL: During the regular season it's our daily look at the previous night's action. During the offseason, it's our link dump that looks at some of the storylines and moves taking place around the league three times per week. Have a tip or something you want linked? Send it in to nhlfanhouse@gmail.com.

"As Of Now, Nobody Is Our Captain"

Those are the words of San Jose Sharks head coach Todd McLellan, via David Pollack of the Mercury News. After another early playoff exit this past season, a first-round loss to the No. 8 seed Anaheim Ducks, McLellan has decided to rattle a few cages in the leadership department and will wait to see who steps forward during training camp before naming a new captain. That, of course, means Patrick Marleau no longer owns the C. The 29-year-old Marleau has spent all 11 years of his career in San Jose, amassing 276 goals, and has been the team's captain since January, 2004.

FanHouse's Adam Gretz takes a look at his top 50 players in the NHL. No. 9 is San Jose Sharks forward Joe Thornton.

Justified or not, Joe Thornton has become the poster child for postseason futility in the NHL, leading to the creation of TradeJoeThornton.com (be careful what you wish for).

In his 11-year career with Boston and San Jose, Thornton has yet to play beyond the second round of the playoffs, while his production hasn't quite matched his lofty regular season totals. Despite his perceived postseason struggles, he stills cracks my top-10 as one of the elite players in the NHL.

---

---

Patrick Marleau has borne the brunt of the criticism during San Jose's recent postseason disappointments, and that carried right into the first two games of the Sharks' first-round series against the Anaheim Ducks.

That is until the Sharks' captain came up with the game-deciding goal in Tuesday night's 4-3 victory over Anaheim at the Honda Center. Marleau's tip-in from the slot came with 10:33 left in the third period and the Sharks on a power play after Corey Perry was called for hooking San Jose's Dan Boyle.

That gave the Sharks their fourth one-goal lead of the night, and they held on as Bobby Ryan got off the only shot for Anaheim after the Ducks pulled goalie Jonas Hiller with 1:30 left. The eighth-seeded Ducks lead the series two games to one over the President's Cup winners.

---

---

Exactly 1,230 regular season games have been played. We're down to the best eight teams in each conference. The Stanley Cup Playoffs begin Wednesday night with four series lid-lifters.

The Western Conference is home to the league's best team (San Jose), the defending champion (Detroit), and the two most intriguing Cinderella stories in the league (St. Louis and Columbus). Can Cinderella put off the stroke of midnight, or will an established power advance their way to the Finals?