After the Maple Leafs dealt away defenceman Dion Phaneuf on Tuesday morning, some wondered if Lamioriello’s recent public praise of his former captain was an attempt to build up value on the trade market. He got behind Maple Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly and settled down a flip pass from Michael Frolik before beating Toronto goaltender James Reimer five-hole to give the Flames the lead. “You know when a trade like that happens, you know it’s not really expected”, said 21-year-old Morgan Rielly, who learned a lot from Phaneuf as the team’s youngest defenceman. We can see exactly what the Leafs are doing here.
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The Senators desperately need help in their own end – they have allowed 170 goals against, tied with Columbus for the worst record in the Eastern Conference. He’s a real good person. He’s only played in the full 82 games of an National Hockey League season once in his career, which came back in 2013-14.
Murray had been looking for a left-shooting defenceman to play on one of his top two pairs, a hole that Phaneuf immediately fills. That top four on defense with Phaneuf joining Erik Karlsson, Marc Methot and Cody Ceci looks pretty darn good.
Senators general manager Bryan Murray said it was experience and leadership that the club most valued in Phaneuf, who instantly became by far the team’s most experienced defender.
“That’s part of pro sport, you play against guys, you battle against them, you respect them and a few days later you’re in the same room”, Phaneuf said, as he spoke to reporters ahead of his first Ottawa game, against the Red Wings. He was a finalist for the Norris Trophy in 2007-08, a member of the NHL All-Rookie team in 2006, an NHL First All-Star team member in 2008, and has played in three All-Star games.
NOTES: DeKeyser returned to play briefly after blocking Phaneuf’s shot early in the third period.
The Senators are 25-23-6 and are in sixth place in the Atlantic Division.
Dan Rosen: “So the Leafs added some salary for next season, but getting rid of Phaneuf’s cap hit sets them up for a big ticket add this summer or next”. It was an embarrassingly lopsided victory for the Maple Leafs. Toronto is trying to clear its deck of long-term pieces that don’t fit for the future as it aggressively rebuilds through a revamped system of draft and development.
Milan Michalek: $4 million cap hit through next year. Moving Phaneuf would be a big step along that path, but finding someone willing to take on his contract or surrender assets in exchange for his services, should Lou be able to pull it off, would be one of Lamoriello’s biggest accomplishments as an National Hockey League personnel man. Under President Brendan Shanahan, the Maple Leafs are trying to win when recent first-round picks William Nylander and Mitch Marner are ready and there’s plenty of talent around them.
Also with this deal, no salary will be retained by either team.
But the Toronto and Ottawa found a way to make the salary-cap numbers mutually beneficial in a deal that has many financial layers for both today and the future.
And that brings me to the third thought I had about this trade. Lindberg may turn out to be great, but I think most fans were overvaluing him in the hopes that he ended up justifying the Ben Bishop/Cory Conacher deal.
Damien Cox: “Leafs did a superb job of rebuilding Phaneuf’s rep to the point he could be moved”.
The GM raved Phaneuf, describing him as a supportive presence during the organization’s transition this fall, which included Lamoriello as the new GM and Babcock as the new head coach.
Well, my friend, that’s a nice old-fashioned blockbuster of a trade, isn’t it?
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“It’s good we’ve got him on our team now”.
