The NHL Trade Deadline Season Officially Begins, Phaneuf To Ottawa In NINE Player Trade
Well we still may be 3 weeks away from the Trade Deadline but shit just got wild today. A NINE player trade between the Toronto Maple Leafs (who are obviously looking to clean house) and the Ottawa Senators. This trade was the definition of “That escalated quickly”. Uncle Bob put out a tweet about some rumblings on the Phaneuf front, then less than an hour later we got this. So real quick let’s just try to break this down a little because in all honesty, this trade works on both ends.
Here’s what Ottawa’s D looks like now after the trade. Ottawa is far from cap strapped so taking on Phaneuf’s full $7 million AAV wasn’t the worst possible scenario for them. Especially because they were able to send away a few of their not so great contracts in return. I think Ottawa really needed to cut the ties with Michalek and this was a perfect way for them to get something in return for him. Is Phaneuf getting older and is he mistake-prone? Absolutely. But he won’t need to be the #1 guy in Ottawa because they already have Karlsson. So he’ll be able to take the back seat a little there, despite getting paid as the #1 guy. Having those two on the blue line seems incredibly dangerous, but in a good way. And as for the Leafs, well they just opened up a FUCK TON of Cap room to go after one Steven Stamkos in the summer.
Michalek’s contract is expiring soon. Greening’s contract is expiring soon. Cowen’s contract is expiring soon. The Maple Leafs only have 5 roster players under contract right now that are signed through 2016-17 (Lupul, JvR, Bozak, Komarov and Gardiner). Even with whatever they end up paying Kadri, they are going to have all the money in the world to throw at Stamkos and with Tampa still sitting at $8.5 million, they’re going to be in a tough spot. It looks like Lamoriello & Co. finally have Toronto on the right path. There’s a chance they end up with Auston Matthews in the draft. At worst, they’ll end up with a top 3 pick and get either Matthews or one of the studs from Finland in Laine and Puljujarvi. They have William Nylander coming up through the ranks. They have Mitch Marner ready to go whenever. And with Mike Babcock behind the bench, this team is going to be very successful soon. Right now they’re in the growing pains stages, but the turn around for Toronto is very imminent. Especially if Stamkos goes home to Toronto.
Final Verdict: Both teams win, but Toronto wins a little more. Phaneuf wins the most, too, because now he gets his wife away from Lupul.
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