Sharks trade with Canucks adds fuel to Heatley fire

The Dany Heatley to San Jose Sharks speculation picked up steam in a hurry yesterday.
After Sharks general manager Doug Wilson dumped US$4.66-million in salary by trading defencemen Christian Erhoff and Brad Lukowich to the Vancouver Canucks for prospects Patrick White and Daniel Rahimi, he suggested the door was open for more trades.
"It also creates some flexibility in our team payroll for potential future transactions as the season progresses," Wilson said.
Heatley has been linked to the Sharks in trade talks all summer, but they could not take on his salary because they were too close to the salary cap of US$56.7-million.
After yesterday's trade, the Sharks have committed about US$51.5-million in cap space for next season. Heatley's hit of US$7.5-million would still put San Jose over the limit, but it would be easier to send the difference of US$2.3-million in salary back to Ottawa in a trade.
The Sharks are also believed to have an interest in forward Phil Kessel, who has yet to resign with the Boston Bruins after becoming a restricted free agent.
After the trade was announced, the Canucks then signed veteran free-agent defenceman Mathieu Schneider.
"We are pleased to be adding Christian and Brad to our defensive group," Canucks general manager Mike Gillis said in a statement. "Defence has been an area we wanted to add skill and depth to and this trade has strengthened our group considerably."