In July, the Wild brought in Dany Heatley to score some goals. And here we are in December, and Heatley has still yet to truly catch fire. He is tied for second (With Cullen and Clutterbuck) on the team with 9 goals. But, he has not scored in a game since the 10th of December against Phoenix. So it makes one wonder, is Dany Heatley on the bad side of his prime years?
My answer for that is no. He is definitely not the same scorer he once was, but he still brings a lot to the team's top line. He still has very good speed. He still has a tremendous shot. And as the team's #1 go to guy, he will get every opportunity to get those goals he is being paid to get.
If you have been watching the Wild games during this wretched 5 game losing streak, Heatley has been getting great scoring chances. He gets good hard shots on net. But, the goaltenders have simply been better than him. Also take into effect, he has been without his linemate Mikko Koivu the past 3 games (will be 4 after tonight's game). Not to mention, the power play has suffered with all those injuries to the team's top forwards and defenseman this team has accumulated too.
Heatley hasn't been great, yet. But, I certainly feel like he hasn't had the best chances to catch fire yet. And once the team returns from injury, I will have no doubt that he can definitely catch fire and put up a 30 goal season. And if he falls short, he will still be better than the player we traded to get him, Martin Havlat. So we can appreciate that at the very least.
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