Toronto, ON, Canada (4E Sports) – The Toronto Maple Leafs have shipped captain Dion Phaneuf to their provincial rival, the Ottawa Senators, in a nine-player trade Tuesday.
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He has five years left on a seven-year deal he signed two seasons ago worth an average annual value of $7 million. The Maple Leafs didn’t want to retain salary, and the Senators were among the few teams that could make a deal like that. “It had to work financially well for us as well as Toronto”. With 28 games remaining, Ottawa sits four points behind the New York Islanders (with three more games played) for the final wild card into the playoffs from the Eastern Conference. You would like to think that there is an outright victor in most trades, but in this, I don’t believe it to be so clear.
The six-foot-two, 200-pound winger was a key addition to the Generals through the CHL import draft last season, coming over from Sweden to put up 32-46-78 numbers in 67 regular season games.
On the other side it’s mostly filler, but the Leafs reportedly really like Lindbergh, and that draft pick should come in handy. Malkin has 23 goals and 26 assists in 49 games this season for Pittsburgh, which has won six of seven to move into third in the crowded Metropolitan Division.
Two Newfoundland hockey players, including one who has had several stints in the NHL, are on the move after a blockbuster NHL trade.
“It helps them, it helps us, those are good deals”, he said. In 729 career National Hockey League games between Ottawa and the San Jose Sharks, he has recorded 438 points (206 goals and 232 assists) and 386 penalty minutes.
Things, perhaps, like being aggressive in free agency this summer.
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.
The contracts of Cowen, Michalek and Greening all expire after next season. Michalek, who has been out with a broken finger, had to waive his “no trade” clause to go to the Leafs while Greening is making $2.625 million in the minors and was a candidate to be bought out at the end of the year.
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Ottawa also acquired defenceman Cody Donaghey and forwards Matt Frattin, Casey Bailey and Ryan Rupert. That’s a lot of term for a guy who is already 30 and was never a particularly speedy player to begin with, and that’s a big cap hit for a guy who is playing better this season, but who remains limited athletically and offensively in a game very much trending a different direction.
