Toronto makes big Trade for Phaneuf

Giguere would have to wave his no-trade clause for his trade to happen.

Especially if he plays against us later this year as a Duck.

I signed up to post this, but wow. Who woulda known.

I mean, yay for Vesa for getting away from the Leafs, because I don’t think that they were ever going to be satisfied with his performance, and Giguere at least has a Cup to his name.

There was always an inking that Phaneuf would be traded every since that 9-1 game, but it was one of those things that you didn’t think would really happen. White is an underrated pickup for the Flames (he was probably the Leafs’ best defenseman), but they did have to give to get, and Phaneuf perfectly fits Brian Burke’s mold of player.

Oh, and rumor is that Minnesota might be dealing today as well. What, did they confuse the end of January with the trade deadline?

Didn’t realize Jason Blake was sent to Anaheim in the Toskala deal. Blake could give the west coast major problems if overlooked.

This is the second trade where the Leafs have given the Ducks goalie leftovers, the first one being with Pogge.

His take on Blake is that he’s not worth his contract at all. He does score a lot for the Leafs, but he seems to think it was because he was one of the few players who could.

It’s always tough to judge anyone coming from a team like the Leafs. They are just so bad, how do you tell if any of them are worth anything?

On paper, I don’t think anyone won the trade outright. Phaneuf is the biggest name, but his overratedness is a topic that’s been beaten to death. So I won’t say Toronto wins that trade just yet. As for Giguere and Toskala, they are both in need of new scenery. I think Giguere benefits because Gustavson is not ready to be a full time starter yet, and WANTS a true mentor. I think Giguere fits that bill. Toskala probably loses, because no way he starts in Anaheim. He’s basically riding out the rest of his contract until he can sign somewhere else.

Interesting that both he and Nabokov are UFA next season. I don’t know if Toskala is the cheaper answer in goal next season if Nabokov is allowed to walk. Nabby is looking solid again, which makes me feel better about our post-season chances. But this is a salary cap world at the end of the day. Nabokov is a good goaltender. Can we afford to keep this team together with a $5M man in net? I personally don’t think so. If Nabokov doesn’t take a pay cut, I really don’t think we can keep him. And if we do, I don’t know who we pick up. Toskala is someone with history with us obviously, but he’s not who he was when he left.

Well, let’s see what happens…

Calgary is missing 6.5 mi on the salary………..

Is this how Calgary gets in on the Kovalchuck sweepstakes?

These trades make me feel a little bad for Boston, all the sudden. They trade away Kessel for picks and were just about to back into a first overall, or at least a lottery pick. Now, Toronto begins their rebuilding period early and probably just helped Carolina along the way.

Wait, I fucking hate Boston.

I just had to wake up to this after a night-long LAN gaming session. What a wacky day for hockey.

It’s not final but it appears Olli Jokinen is going to the Rangers for Kotalik and Higgins.

And then look at Phaneuf’s stats in general for the year, and for last year.

I wouldn’t call him a solid, proven, defensemen.

He’s a guy that likes to throw a big hit, but doesn’t seem to understand when that will put him out of position. He’s great on the point on the power play, but other than that, I’m curious how he’ll do without Regehr watching his back.

I think Calgary did really well in prying White out of Toronto, he was probably 1 of 2 bright spots on their defense and it sounds like the other may still be moved. I think they’re the winners here.

The Giggy trade, meh. It’s good for both teams I guess, probably really good for both goalies who desperately need a change of scenery, I don’t think it does anything other than effect their caps slightly over the next year or two.

Good discussion here, and thanks for the fanshot Diamondback. I’ll have something on the FP later today on it. Damn midterms have me swamped.