After Stanley Cup odds chatter went on hiatus for a few weeks, trade buzz is starting up again with training camp a month away. The main name being tossed around, surprise surprise, is Dany Heatley’s. Rumor has it the Sharks are making a push for him but that they need a third team, reportedly Montreal, to help with salary issues.

It’s totally unclear what the Sharks would send to Ottawa for Heatley, but rumor has it Jonathan Cheechoo would go to Montreal.

What would this potential deal do for San Jose’s Northbet Stanley Cup odds? On one hand, it’s exciting. A true 50-goal scorer playing with Joe Thornton would produce some eye-popping offense, and the pair is already acquainted thanks to their Team Canada ventures. However, regular-season numbers have never been a problem for Thornton in the first place: He’s scored 125, 114, 96 and 86 points as a Shark. It’s true that the total is steadily declining, but the bottom line is that he’s still putting up first-line center numbers.

So maybe Heatley could get Thornton back to the level he was at when Jonathan Cheechoo was playing good hockey, potting 56 goals in 2005-06. So what? Heatley and Thornton – well, the Sharks and Sens – suffer from the same problem, the propensity to disappear in the playoffs.

Call me crazy, but I don’t see how a Heatley trade would remedy San Jose’s problem – especially since we don’t know who they’d have to give up. A guess: Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Milan Michalek, a draft pick or two of those three parts. That’s a hefty price.