Wild trade Havlat for Heatley

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ST. PAUL - (Sports Network) - The San Jose Sharks have acquired forward Martin Havlat from the Minnesota Wild in exchange for Dany Heatley.

The high-profile deal was announced Sunday night, and gives the Sharks a player who posted 22 goals and 62 points in 78 games last season. Havlat, 30, spent the last two seasons with the Wild.

Havlat entered the league in 2000-01 with Ottawa, which selected him 26th overall in the 1999 NHL Draft. The Czech has posted 209 goals and 512 points in 621 career games with the Senators, Blackhawks and Wild.

Heatley, meanwhile, had played for the Sharks for the last two years. He posted 65 goals and 146 points in 162 games over that span, including 26 goals and 64 points in 80 contests last season.

In 669 career games with Atlanta, Ottawa and San Jose, he has 325 goals and 689 points. Heatley had back-to-back 50-goal seasons in 2005-06 and '06-07, eclipsing 100 points both times.

The Wild also signed former University of Minnesota forward Jeff Taffe. Taffe will begin in with the Houston Aeros of the AHL. The 30-year-old was with Rockford, scoring a career-high 30 goals. He was 12th in the AHL last season with 67 points.

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