Dion Phaneuf a Maple Leaf

[andrewconnors9]

DAmn right it hurts!! im hating to see him go, but Phaneuf is a nice pick up

cant say im too happy bout Stajan leaving either

Well, Toronto has addressed the goaltending need which is huge.
Aside from that, we need forwards not defense. It really hurts to lose White as far as I'm concerned.

[gretzky99]

stajan was going anyway, no? as a leafs fan do you consider phaneuf an upgrade from white? i don't know much about white other than he's not really a burke kind of player and phaneuf is.
just curious to hear from a leafs fan.

[cnshockey]

no way calgary gets kovy - they don't have anything left to offer for him. boston, chicago and LA can all offer better packages now that phaneuf is gone.

Boston has been ruled out on the Kovy sweepstakes. I think it's LA or bust for Kovy.

[andrewconnors9]

stajan was going anyway, no? as a leafs fan do you consider phaneuf an upgrade from white? i don't know much about white other than he's not really a burke kind of player and phaneuf is.
just curious to hear from a leafs fan.

Phaneuf is a top player no doubt, but if you put all White's previous years together they dont match to how hes playing this year in my opinion

hes having a great season and is always improving, so im disappointed to see him go

but again, im happy to see someone like Phaneuf also so theres pros and cons of course

[dtab316]

This trade somewhat has me confused. First, I'm reading all of the Laff fanboys saying "Dion is great", but yet I'm reading that Phanuef was a 'cancer' from the Flame fans.
Yeah, Burke DID dump salary, but he also picked UP some as well. (Giggys $7M, Phaneufs $6+M)
But from what I'm reading, Aulie is gonna be the key to this trade. Just as long as he's not rushed up and allowed to develop properly.

A side note to the Laff fans. You guys are always complaining about not having a 1st round pick, or this, that, or the other. Did Burke overpay for Kessel? Probably. Is there a chance that the pick that Boston makes will turn out to be another Alexader Daigle? Possible.
But the Laffs have been terrible for YEARS! Think back to when Ballard owned the team.
BTW, the hockey world does NOT revolve around Toronto. The Laffs will NOT get Kovalchuk. And finally, please remember that it can take YEARS for a team to rebuild. It's not an overnight process.

[juliangen]

I have spent the entire day reading and analyzing this trade and I've decided (trying to be unbiased) that the leafs came out ahead on these trades and ill explain why
It was very clear to me at least that hagman stajan would not be back after this year so they essentially meant nothing in the grand scheme of things
Ian white is in fact a hard working good player and he to me is the leafs biggest loss
however in return they recieve dion phaneuf who has the raw ability to be the best defensemen in the nhl and im aware that calgary fans say hes a cancer but since were in no need of an immediate impact its worth the chance to see if he turns into what he has a chance to be
as for aulin i heard hes a good prospect which is a great kicker and sjorstom is an excellent penalty killer
as for giguere its quite obvious that hes better then toskala and blake was essentially blocking bozak
as well the leafs have cleared up more cap space to maybe pull in a sam gagner or bobby ryan in the offseason but we will have to see

[ComancheKeen]

however in return they recieve dion phaneuf who has the raw ability to be the best defensemen in the nhl

This may have been true after his rookie year, but the guy is no where near the drive to become the best. He is lazy, overconfident, and completely leaves his teammates out to dry every night. Sure he can hit and has a above average shot (when it does hit the net) but the problem is he doesn't even play the position of defense, so honestly I don't see him winning a Norris anytime soon, or ever to be honest.

As for Sjostrom, he was terrible this year for the Flames. Would have been happy with some used pucks and sock tape for him.

For what its worth, a couple of my friends were down in the dressing room last night. Sjostrom seemed upset they said and Dion seemed rather chipper. Best of luck to both of them in Toronto.

As for White, I'm looking forward to seeing how he fits in with the D (going to tomorrow game vs. Philly).

[MatsSundin13Rocks]

No offense but to anyone delusional enough to think Kadri or Schenn would be part of any deal you obviously don't understand that Burke would never give up those 2 players! If he would it should have been at the 2009 draft when the 7th overall pick and Schenn likely could've got the #2 overall pick and something else. Based on the way Nazem Kadri is destroying the OHL like the Leafs organization thought he would it will be no surprise to see him lighting it up in the NHL next season with the Leafs.

As for the trades I think the Leafs do pretty good with them overall. I'm going to prefer watching the team without Blake who takes 10 horrible shots a game getting zero goals. Hagman and Stajan are good forwards but Stajan is a UFA so he would be gone in free agency and Hagman is expendable.

The interesting thing is the defense with Kaberle, Schenn, Beauchimen, Komisarek, Exelby, Gunnarsson, and now Phanuef. Exelby wants out and Kaberle will likely be traded if he agrees to wave his NTC (just so everyone knows he can't be traded unless he decides to wave it which is no guarentee even if Burke asks).

[gretzky99]

i see phaneuf as a quality top pairing d-man. he wasn't the best on calgary (bouwmeester) and isn't the best in toronto (kaberle) but he's good on the power play and he's not fun to play against. he's not fantastic defensively but he's above average offensively.

but more importantly for the leafs is that he's a burke type player. i think it's a good fit for him and i think he'll be better in toronto than he was in calgary.

btw, i don't like the guy at all and think he's a dirty player. i'm glad to see him in the East so there's less threat that he'll take a run at one of the Kings. his cheap shot on kopitar this year was disgusting but he still is talented and maybe he can turn into a pronger type guy.

[gretzky99]

No offense but to anyone delusional enough to think Kadri or Schenn would be part of any deal you obviously don't understand that Burke would never give up those 2 players! If he would it should have been at the 2009 draft when the 7th overall pick and Schenn likely could've got the #2 overall pick and something else. Based on the way Nazem Kadri is destroying the OHL like the Leafs organization thought he would it will be no surprise to see him lighting it up in the NHL next season with the Leafs.

As for the trades I think the Leafs do pretty good with them overall. I'm going to prefer watching the team without Blake who takes 10 horrible shots a game getting zero goals. Hagman and Stajan are good forwards but Stajan is a UFA so he would be gone in free agency and Hagman is expendable.

The interesting thing is the defense with Kaberle, Schenn, Beauchimen, Komisarek, Exelby, Gunnarsson, and now Phanuef. Exelby wants out and Kaberle will likely be traded if he agrees to wave his NTC (just so everyone knows he can't be traded unless he decides to wave it which is no guarentee even if Burke asks).

totally agree that there is no way he trades kadri or schenn. personally, i think schenn is a bit overrated but he should be a quality top 4 d-man.

i don't imagine kadri will tear it up next year but he could be a quality player in his first year. i can't remember the last guy that made that jump from the OHL at his size as a forward and made a big impact his first year. but from what i hear he should be a very good player.

in my opinion, leafs fans should be a much happier crew today than they were yeterday. it looks like burke has a plan and is starting to execute it.