Dion Phaneuf Traded to Ottawa Senators
By Ryan Ritchie
Dion Phaneuf Traded to Ottawa Senators in 9-Player Deal
Toronto Maple Leafs have shocked the hockey world on Tuesday, announcing they’ve traded captain Dion Phaneuf to the Ottawa Senators in a nine-player deal. Joining Dion Phaneuf in Ottawa will be Matt Frattin, Casey Bailey, Ryan Rupert, and Cody Donaghey. Joining the Maple Leafs is Jared Cowen, Milan Michalek, Colin Greening, Tobias Lindberg, and a 2017 2nd round pick.
via Sportsnet,
Phaneuf, 30, has three goals and 24 points in 51 games this season. He has been with the Maple Leafs since he was acquired from the Calgary Flames during the 2009-10 season.
The Maple Leafs play the Calgary Flames on Tuesday; the Senators are back in action Wednesday against the Detroit Red Wings.
This move comes as somewhat of a surprise. It was expected Toronto may have difficulty moving Dion Phaneuf‘s massive contract after taking a somewhat diminished role in 2015-16. The move was necessary to cut down his minutes to help limit mistakes. It proved to be helpful, but fans didn’t think another team would be willing to pay a $7 million dollar cap hit for a 2nd pairing d-man – at least without retaining a large chunk of salary.
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The Toronto Maple Leafs will be completely free of Dion Phaneuf by 2017, when Milan Michalek and Colin Greening’s contracts expire.
Some may be scratching their heads on the return for the Leafs captain. The rebuild plan suggests return value in trades should consist of draft picks, and prospects. The reality is that Toronto needed to take something back to free themselves of the long commitment to Dion Phaneuf.
Jared Cowen becomes a major return piece. He’s fallen under hard times recently with Ottawa, struggling on the back-end. He never managed to meet expectations of his potential. He’ll get a fresh start in Toronto, with lowered expectations, and could be a major piece on the blueline long-term – similar to a Roman Polak type that can be an excellent bottom pair d-man, and fill in temporarily on the 2nd pairing.
Other than the 2nd rounder coming back, the other major piece is Tobias Lindberg. He was taken 102nd overall in 2013. 6’2 200lbs left winger that was a top 10 prospect in the Senators organization. He’s a big skilled winger that should crack a full-time NHL roster spot at some point.
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With roughly three weeks until the NHL trade deadline, this trade should help open the flood gates to more deals as we gear up for an exciting month of February. We hear so much about the difficulty in moving large contracts in a salary cap world, especially mid-season. Toronto and Ottawa have shown us that moving players such as Eric Staal for example, is a very real possibility. Let the trade frenzy begin!