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Heatley: ‘I’m still quick enough, fast enough, and I can score goals’

Edmonton Oilers v Minnesota Wild

ST PAUL, MN - MARCH 11: Dany Heatley #15 of the Minnesota Wild shoots the puck during the game against the Edmonton Oilers on March 11, 2014 at Xcel Energy Center in St Paul, Minnesota. The Oilers defeated the Wild 4-3 in a shootout. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)

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A “pure goal-scorer,” Dany Heatley is a player Anaheim general manager Bob Murray has “always liked.”

So you can imagine Murray was pretty happy yesterday to get Heatley signed to a one-year contract for a paltry (relatively speaking) $1 million.

Looking ahead to next season, Murray feels the 33-year-old winger will have motivations beyond a regular paycheck.

“He’s struggled the last couple of years for different reasons,” Murray told the L.A. Times. “A great opportunity presented itself. We’re a good match for each other at this moment.… I think he’s a very proud athlete. It hasn’t gone quite right and I think he knows that somewhere down the line the end is coming. And I don’t think he wants it to end like this.”

A former 50-goal scorer (twice), Heatley had just 12 goals in 76 games for the Wild in 2013-14. That being said, he still feels he has the wheels to keep up in the NHL.

“I’m still quick enough, fast enough, and I can score goals,” he said.

And he’ll get the chance to prove it next season with a Ducks team that boasts one of the premier passing centers in the game, Ryan Getzlaf.

While Heatley may or may not skate on Getzlaf’s line, it sounds like he’ll get ample time on a power play that Murray concedes “wasn’t very bloody good last year.”