Phaneuf to the Leafs
January 31st, 2010 by Ianthe Flames traded Dion Phaneuf, Fredrik Sjostrom, and prospect D Keith Aulie to the Maple Leafs for Matt Stajan, Niklas Hagman, Ian White and Jamal Mayers. overall i say the trade is a push.
the Leafs gave up a lot of trade chips and i would’ve preferred they got a pick on top of what they did get but nevertheless they got a fantasy franchise D who contributes across the board for a fantasy team. in terms of real NHL play i find that PIMy D chases around too much to make a big hit and he’s prone to defensive lapses because of it. he’s also pretty much what the Leafs need. Sjostrom … is nothing. he’s Primeau except smaller and with less value. as far as Aulie is concerned, he’s huge. that’ll probably mean that he might have NHL value as a stay at home type but i doubt he’ll have any fantasy value at all.
overall Brian Burke has traded for 3 guys that he likes and he continues to be building from the defensive side out.
the Flames fill out their secondary scoring with Stajan and Hagman while they replace Phaneuf with White. the D swap is a step down overall but some would argue that White is a better option than Phaneuf is anyway. White will slot into their PP quite well and he’ll fight Giordano to contribute more with the extra man. i expect that Giordano will win the battle in the end but White is a very valuable D3 for the Flames now. Stajan will slot into the 2nd line at the very least and may even replace Jokinen as the top option for the Flames. Hagman may end up stealing opportunity from Rene Bourque but i actually see Bourque getting more exposure with Iginla on the top line. Hagman may end up with Jokinen or with Langkow, maybe both and Bourque may end up with Stajan/Iginla. then again they may just keep Stajan and Hagman together since they have at least played together some and would know each other’s game off the top.
the Flames are trying to make a run at the Avalanche in their own division and this is a move in the right direction. their overall game is improved with these additions. the Leafs add a franchise D in the mould of the sort of game they want to pursue. i still wish they had gotten a pick out of it too but i like the move overall.
Posted in trading
2 Responses to “Phaneuf to the Leafs”
By BCapp on Jan 31, 2010
I think it can really help both teams.
Question though:
Do you think that this may have been the trade:
White/Stajan/Hagman for Phaneuf/Aulie
and then Burke was like I gotta get rid of this asshole Mayers, swap me somwone like him? So they added Mayers for Sjostrom?
By Ian on Feb 1, 2010
i think that’s VERY possible actually. i also like Sjostrom a lot more than Mayers in terms of talent, i’m just not convinced that the Leafs need another 4th liner.