Apparently Brian Burke had seen enough when his team blew a three goal lead against the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday night. The loss dropped the Leafs to last place in the Eastern Conference and twenty-ninth overall in the National Hockey League. Burke shook up the Leafs roster by making two blockbuster trades on Sunday. On one afternoon, Toronto welcomed four new players to the organization, and said goodbye to six.
The first trade saw Toronto send Ian White, Matt Stajan, Niklas Hagmen, and Jamal Mayers to the Calgary Flames for Dion Phaneuf, Fredrik Sjostrom, and Keith Aulie. Burke was not done there, he then made his second trade of the day by sending Vesa Toskala and Jason Blake to the Anaheim Ducks for goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere. With so many big name players heading to different clubs many are wondering who won Sunday’s trades.
In today’s NHL teams make trades for a variety of reasons due to the salary cap. Toronto has cap space and wanted to make a change in the effort to improve their team moving forward. Calgary has struggled of late, and Dion Phaneuf’s play has been in decline for a few years now, and they decided there need for scoring was greater then their need to try and have Phaneuf regain his form. Anaheim on the other hand was simply trying to dump Giguere’s large salary. Giguere had lost the starting job to Hiller, and a team simply cannot afford to pay two goaltenders a starter’s salary. But that still begs the question, who won Sunday’s trades?
Toronto acquired the player with the most upside in Dion Phaneuf. Phaneuf stormed out of the gate in Calgary after an outstanding junior career. Phaneuf was known in the junior ranks for his hard shot and even harder hits, and he brought those two elements to Calgary right away. Phaneuf was a finalist for the Calder Trophy, and many felt the sky was the limit for Phaneuf after another very good somphmore season. However, Phanuef’s play has regressed since that point, and his last two seasons have been particularly bad. Phaneuf was believed to be a lock for Team Canada after his first two seasons, but he has become a defensive liability in Calgar, and was rightfully left off the final roster by Steve Yzerman. Phaneuf still brings a canon shot from the point, and he still throws devastating bodychecks, but his poor defensive play and questionable off-ice conduct was too much for Calgary to stomach. However, Phaneuf still has the talent to turn his game around, and maybe this trade will lead to a more focused Dion Phaneuf. If Ron Wilson can get Phaneuf to play more like he did early in his Flames career, the Leafs will be looking back on another tremendous trade with the Calgary Flames.
Jean-Sabastien Giguere is another star player who has struggled mightily in the previous two seasons. Giguere has compiled quite the playoff resume, but his play in the regular season has been less than stellar. Giguere has won a Stanley Cup with Anaheim in 2008, and won the Con Smythe Trophy in 2005. This play led to a massive contract that sees the goaltender earn $6 million a season. However, Giguere’s play has not lived up to the salary demands. Giguere actually lost the starting job to Iyla Bryzgalov in 2008, but Bryzgalov struggled early in the playoffs, and Giguere led his team to the cup. However, Giguere’s play has gotten progressively worse, and Jonas Hiller has proven he is the number one man in Anahiem. Giguere has had some personal issues off the ice that definitely took away from his concentration, and he has the potential to turn his career around. He will be reunited with his former goaltending coach Francois Allaire in Toronto, and maybe Allaire will be able to find Giguere’s game again. However, if Giguere does not turn things around in Toronto, next season will be his last in Leaf Nation when his contract expires. Giguere has proven he has the talent to win in this league, but winning on a consistent basis is something Giguere has struggled with lately, and given Toronto’s troubles in their own end, it could be a tough spot for Giguere to find his game again.
Toronto was also able to pick up a couple of promising young players from the Calgary Flames in Fredrik Sjostrom and Keith Aulie, but Phaneuf and Giguere are the major acquisitions. Sjostrom and Aulie could both develop into formidable NHL players, but the success of today’s trades will be measured by the play of Phaneuf and Giguere. The team that acquires the most talented player usually wins the trade, and Phaneuf is the most talented player involved. However, there are questions as to whether he will be able to reach his potential as a player. It is no secret that Phanuef struggled handling the spotlight in Calgary, but heading to media mad Toronto is hardly a reprieve for Phaneuf. However, both Phaneuf and Giguere have great upside, and if Wilson can tap into that talent then the Leafs have acquired two very nice pieces.
Meanwhile, the Calgary Flames are a team with much bigger goals then the Leafs this season. Calgary made a splash last summer by acquiring Jay Bouwmeester to bolster the blueline. It was believed that having Bouwmeester, Regehr, and Phaneuf patrolling the blueline would have the Flames challenging for a Stanley Cup. However, the team is currently struggling, and find themselves tied for the eighth and final playoff spot in the West. Goal scoring, or lack there of, has become the major concern. Bringing Niklas Hagmen and Matt Stajan into the fold will provide some much needed scoring punch. Hagmen has the potential to be a 30 gaol scorer in this league. Stajan is a solid two-way center that was being asked to do too much in Toronto, but could fit in nicely in Calgary. This will be the best collection of forwards both Hagmen and Stajan have played with, and that could lead to more offensive production from both men. Ian White is also a capable NHL defenseman who can provide some offense from the backend, he currently has more points than Dion Phaneuf on the season, and he should fit in nicely on Calgary’s deep blueline. Mayers is depth forward who can play a solid role on the fourth line, and also brings some playoff experience.
The success of this trade is clearly different from the Calgary Flames perspective. This team was being built to win now, and the current roster was not getting the job done. Calgary’s position of strength was defense, and that made Phaneuf expendable from their perspective. Phaneuf’s defesive struggles and off-ice act were clearly wearing thin in Calgary, and Flames management felt that a shake-up was necessary. This trade could work out very well for the Flames, but only if they make the playoffs this year, and make a decent run. Calgary has a ton of depth on the blueline, and the emergence of Mark Giordano allowed them to ship out Phaneuf, but they have given up on a very talented player. Phaneuf’s potential is greater then any player sent back to Calgary in return, but the Flames are trying to find the right formula that will allow them to ice a winning product right now. The Calgary Flames organization could look back on this trade fondly in the future, but only if the team wins, which means the pressure is truely on in Calgary now.
This finally brings us to the Anaheim Ducks. The emergence of Jonas Hiller made Jean-Sebastian Giguere expendable. Giguere admitted himself that Hiller has played better then him the past two seasons, and is deserving of being the number one man in Anaheim. Giguere was given plenty of chances to win the starting job, but his 4-8-5 record along with a 3.14 goals against average and .9oo save percentage were not cutting it in Anaheim. However, despite his past resume, the $6 million price-tag meant the Ducks would have to take back some salary in return. It was believed that Giguere’s contract made him impossible to move, but the same was being said of Jason Blake, so it makes sense that the Ducks and Leafs would strike a deal. Toskala is in the final year of his contract, so he can back-up Hiller for the remainder of the season and then be let go, but Blake still has another two years left on his deal. Blake has underachieved in Toronto, but will be going to team that features a number of highly skilled forwards. He could benefit from playing out of the spotlight, and I would not be surprised to see Blake find the back of the net more often in Anaheim. He will not score enough to warrant the paycheck, but the Ducks were not the team to sign him to that deal, which makes it a lot easier to stomach.
The rush to determine a winner and a loser in trade is a bit ridiculous. The teams involved are usually making the trades for entirely different reasons, which makes it difficult to access what it means to win a trade. One thing is certain, Dion Phaneuf has the most upside of any player involved in Sunday’s trades. Giguere could also rediscover his form, which could make Sunday’s deals an absolute steal for Toronto. However, the Flames organization is stocked with talent on the blueline, and trading from a position of strength to bolster a position of weakness is something teams attempting to win do all the time. The Ducks meanwhile, would rather overspend on someone who is actually playing for them, then to have $6 million sitting at the end of the bench. Ultimately time will tell how the teams fared in Sunday’s transactions, but I would not be surprised if every team involved is happy with the outcome.
Something had to be done. Ian White is a bit of a tough loss since he finally played himself into a good defencemen and then the leafs trade him. Although he does pinch alot at bad times like the first shift of last nights flame’s game. Kaberle must be traded for a top 3 forward, or top 6 and a decent draft pick.
Yeah the trade could work very well for Toronto. Both Phaneuf and Giguere have huge upside, but it is just a matter of finding it. Sometimes being traded is a wake-up call for a player, and I think that could happen in Phaneuf’s case. I agree the focus has to be on finding players up-front now. Burke has brought in countless defensemen, and has also brought in a couple of goaltenders. If they can’t figure the poor defensive play out with the group they have then I feel Ron Wilson will have to go in the off-season, or early next year.
Kaberle will be gone at some point. Either by the deadline or before the draft when his no-trade cause is not apart of the equation. It would just be nice if this team had some more draft picks in order to find some young talent up front, but there are some decent players to be had through trades, and I think Toronto will be active. Ponikarovsky wil be traded befor the deadline and he should get at least a second round pick in return.