A former NHLer with a controversial past is reportedly landing a job in the Philadelphia Flyers' front-office. According to Charlie O' Connor of The Athletic, Dany Heatley, a once prolific goal-scorer in the league, will be hired by the Philadelphia Flyers.
Heatley broke into the NHL as a second overall pick of the Atlanta Thrashers. He came with tons of hype, and lived up to it in many respects. While he played for the Thrashers, Ottawa Senators, San Jose Sharks, Minnesota Wild, Anaheim Ducks, and Florida Panthers, it was with the Sens where he truly made his mark. Heatley scored 50 goals in two consecutive seasons. Paired with Daniel Alfredsson and Jason Spezza, Heatley's line was unstoppable. However, after putting up his lowest offensive totals since his rookie season, Heatley requested a trade in 2009, just one season into a new six-year deal with the Sens. Fans and Senators management were blindsided the request, and angry over it. Despite that, he was shipped to the San Jose Sharks. His first season there was great. His second season saw a steep decline in numbers, and he was traded to Minnesota. He had a good first year there, although the team failed to make the playoffs, but Heatley's annual decline started to get worse. In 2014, he signed a contract in Anaheim as a free agent. He would end up as a healthy scratch and eventually sent to the AHL. Heatley was traded to the Panthers at the deadline, but stayed in the AHL with Florida's affiliate. He finished out his pro career with a season in Germany in 2015-16.
It seems controversy followed Heatley wherever he went. His breakup with Ottawa resulted in letters to local newspapers stating his mother was very upset with the way he was being treated after requesting a trade. His teammates at the time were reportedly very unhappy about it as well. But the biggest incident was in 2003, three years after being drafted by the Thrashers. Heatley was driving a Ferrari in late September of that year, with teammate and friend Dan Snyder in the passenger's seat. The car struck a wall, splitting in half. Healtey was seriously injured. Snyder was ejected from the car and suffered terrible injuries. He died a few days later in hospital. Heatley pleaded guilty to second-degree vehicular homicide, driving too fast for conditions, failure to maintain a lane and speeding. He was sentenced to three years' probation, ordered to give speeches on the dangers of speeding, and to pay $25,000. Heatley could have been sent to jail for up to 10 years, but the lighter sentence came in part due to the request of the Snyder family, who said nothing could be gained by sending him to prison.
