Hartman: Heatley still a vital contributor to Wild

It was big news when Dany Heatley was traded to the Wild by the San Jose Sharks in July of 2011, because he was one of the bona fide stars the club added before the signing of Zach Parise and Ryan Suter one year later.

And Heatley produced his first season, playing in all 82 games and contributing 53 points. The winger dropped to 21 points last year in a lockout-shortened season, and also didn't appear in the playoffs because of a dislocated shoulder that required surgery. This season Heatley's scoring took a real hit, totaling only 28 points in 76 games.

Late in the season, Wild coach Mike Yeo moved Heatley to the fourth line and also made him a healthy scratch in a few games — including the first two playoff games against Colorado — for the first time in Heatley's long career. Still, Heatley contributed in key ways to the Wild. He was third on the team in power-play goals (four) and tied for fifth overall in goals (12) during the regular season.

And when Yeo moved Heatley back into the lineup in the Avalanche series, he rewarded the Wild coach with two assists in Game 5 and a goal and two assists in the decisive Game 7 victory for the Wild in Colorado, proving he still has a lot of value for this club.

In three games against Chicago, Heatley has maintained productivity, posting one assist and a plus-2 rating in 38 minutes, 16 seconds of ice time.

Wild General Manager Chuck Fletcher is appreciative of what Heatley has done for the team this season.

"You have to give him a lot of credit," Fletcher said. "He's obviously a veteran that has played a long time in this league, and we also have a lot of extra forwards. We've been carrying almost 15 forwards, so every night we have to scratch three guys.

Heatley has a big contract. He signed a six-year, $45 million deal with San Jose before coming to Minnesota, and he will be an unrestricted free agent after this season.

Fletcher was asked what he thinks of Heatley's future with the squad.

"We'll see at the end of the year," Fletcher said. "His contract is up, and we can just see what the fit is going to be and for us, the key thing is we have to look at our young players and where they're all going to fit. You want to make sure you give them an opportunity to continue to grow, whether that's [Nino] Niederreiter or [Charlie] Coyle or maybe even Jason Zucker, you have to make sure there's roles and opportunities for those young players. You don't want to box them out. So we'll sit down at the end of the year and talk to Dany and take a look and see how we end up here."

Fletcher also was asked about the return of winger Matt Cooke, who had been suspended for seven games for a knee-on-knee hit on defenseman Tyson Barrie in Game 3 of the Colorado series.

"Friday night, Game 4, he'll be eligible to return," Fletcher said. "That's up to the coaches, but I'm sure he'll be put right back in the lineup. He's one of our top checkers and one of our top penalty killers. Certainly against a team like Chicago, his speed, his experience and his ability to help shut down top players, I think, would be most welcome by the coaching staff."

"We've probably got more than that rated, but I think [there are] six that we like the most," Zimmer said. "You know it's a good year for quarterbacks, and I think you can get them at any time throughout the draft.

"We're not married to picking a quarterback. We're going to try to get a bunch of good football players in here and try to improve the team the best we can for the long haul."

Zimmer also was asked about taking quarterbacks after the first round, something he witnessed while he was defensive coordinator in Cincinnati.

"We drafted [Andy] Dalton in the second round [in 2011], and he has done pretty good," he said. "Really, when I was there, we didn't draft many quarterbacks. We had Carson Palmer when I got there, and then we ended up drafting Andy a few years later. He turned out pretty well."

• Gophers football coach Jerry Kill is in New York for the NFL draft along with defensive lineman Ra'Shede Hageman and his family, but there was a time Kill called Hageman and his parents into a meeting to tell them his career was over as a Gopher. But Hageman got his act straightened out, not only getting great grades but becoming a potential first-round draft choice Thursday. … Mel Kiper Jr. of ESPN.com released his final list of Top 100 prospects in the NFL draft and put Hageman at No. 43. Kiper wrote: "He can dominate and then disappear, but he's a high-end athlete at this size [6-6, 311 pounds] and can get better with coaching."

• The Chicago Tribune, in describing the Blackhawks' 4-0 loss to the Wild on Tuesday, cutting Chicago's series lead to 2-1: "It was ugly, it was grinding, it was for excruciating stretches flat-out boring. For the Minnesota Wild, it was pretty much perfect."

• Tyler Sheehy, a Gophers hockey recruit from Burnsville, is third in USHL playoff scoring with five goals and six assists in seven games for Waterloo. Sheehy had 21 goals and 28 assists in 49 regular-season games. … Tyler Nanne of Edina had two assists in four regular-season games and no points in three playoff games for Sioux Falls. … A pair of Minnesotans playing for the Pittsburgh Penguins are tied for third in playoff points by defensemen. Former Gopher Paul Martin from Elk River has eight assists in 10 games while Matt Niskanen, a former Virginia and Minnesota Duluth star, has two goals and six assists in 10 games.