Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kukla's Korner Hockey

Heatley The Role Player

11/20/2013 at 2:18pm EST

from Chris Johnston of Sportsnet,

As Dany Heatley made his way back to the city where he enjoyed his greatest NHL successes, it was impossible to ignore the fact that he had become a shell of his former self. Twice a 50-goal man with the high-flying Senators teams of the mid-2000s, Heatley returns to Ottawa Wednesday as a fourth-liner for the Minnesota Wild. The only thing more dramatic than his drop in production this season is a $7.5-million cap hit that makes him arguably the highest-paid role player in the league.

Heatley scored just three goals during the opening 22 games and none were of much consequence for the up-and-coming Wild. The first was into an empty net, the second provided insurance during a 4-0 victory and the third came Tuesday in Montreal with just 1.3 seconds remaining in a 6-2 loss.

Yet, despite that slow start, during a recent visit to Minnesota it was hard to find anyone around the Wild who didn’t have praise for the 32-year-old.

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Paul Kukla founded Kukla’s Korner in 2005 and the site has since become the must-read site on the ‘net for all the latest happenings around the NHL.

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