Maple Leafs Make Some Big Moves

It seems that Leafs' GM Brian Burke has not needed sleep this weekend.

Burke announced on Sunday morning that the team had made two blockbuster moves that will see all-star defenseman Dion Phaneuf and all-star goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere in Maple Leaf jerseys.  Burke shipped forwards Jamal Mayers, Matt Stajan, and Nick Hagman with defenseman Ian White to the Flames for Phaneuf, forward Fredrik Sjostrom and prospect Keith Aulie.  The second trade involved Giguere heading to Toronto from Anaheim for forward Jason Blake and goaltender Vesa Toskala.

The trade comes the morning after a loss to Vancouver on Saturday, sending the Leafs on a six-game winless skid.  But Burke denies that the trades have anything to do with the losses.  He says that “these pieces were in place prior to yesterday.”

"We've got to create tension where there's enough talent on the roster and a high enough battle level that the coach has decisions to make," Burke said. "Right now he doesn't have decisions to make. It's these guys who got to go on the ice. We're trying to change that. Today is an important part of changing that."

Its no surprise that the team is having a shake-up; some people in Toronto are pointing fingers at head coach Ron Wilson for the team's atrocious 17-28-11 record, which ties them for last in the Eastern Conference.  But Wilson has proven time and again that he has regular-season success.  His 569-489-101-70 all-time record (with the Mighty Ducks, Capitals, Sharks and Maple Leafs), proves that he knows how to be an elite coach in the game. 

But the question is, will Giguere and Phaneuf help bolster this team into the playoff picture this year or next? 

While Dion Phaneuf is an elite defenseman and will help shut down the wild offense of the Eastern Conference, the problem is with the players that will surround him.  Burke and former general manager John Ferguson Jr. have done a poor job of maintaining a solid blue line core at a reasonable value.  Between defensemen Tomas Kaberle, Jeff Finger, Mike Komisarek, Francois Beauchemin, Luke Schenn and now Phaneuf, the annual salary spent on the team's top six defenseman is $25.53 million.  With the NHL salary cap at $56.8 million, these six players make up about 45% of what the NHL allows payrolls to be.  This leaves little room for bringing in an all-star caliber player on offense to assist winger Phil Kessel in the goal-scoring department, and also makes it difficult to fill the gaps that the team needs in order to roll four strong lines.  If Burke can unload a few of these defensemen via trades or buy-outs, Phaneuf will have better offensive players to feed the puck to.

The other deal seems to be the smarter of the two for the Leafs.  Vesa Toskala did not pan out for the Leafs since his arrival in 2007.  In three seasons with the organization, the Finnish goalie has a 3.22 goals against average and an unimpressive .889 save percentage.  Giguere has seen the writing on the wall in Anaheim, since the Ducks acquired young goalie Justin Pogge in the off-season from the Leafs and youngster Jonas Hiller has pretty much nabbed the starting job from Giguere.  A change of scenery may be exactly what the big goalie needs in order to get his game back on track.  With a former NHL All-Star coming in to take a lot of the workload in Toronto, Jonas “The Monster” Gustavsson can learn from the tutelage of a sound NHL goaltender. 

With it being apparent that Toronto needed a change and Anaheim needed to solve their current goaltender dilemma, the only team with a question mark next to their logo is the Calgary Flames.  Phaneuf has seen his play taper off this season, scoring just 22 points in 55 games played (he has reached and gone beyond the 45-point plateau every season that he has played).  Earlier this season, there was speculation that Flames' head coach Brent Sutter and Phaneuf exchanged harsh words in the locker room.  A Colorado Avalanche beat writer heard Sutter yell the word “selfish” at Phaneuf.  Rumors indicate that Phaneuf was unhappy with his playing time and Sutter's favoritism of fellow defenseman Jay Bouwmeester.  Rumors have swirled about Phaneuf being moved, although GM Brian Sutter kept shoving them aside and claiming they were false.

Even with the debacle in the locker room and Phaneuf's point totals diminishing, the young defenseman could have been key come playoff time.  Add Robyn Regehr and Bouwmeester into the defensive mix with Miikka Kiprusoff manning the pipes, the Flames could have been shut down come the playoff crunch.  If things could not have been settled between Sutter and Phaneuf by the off-season, then the Flames have a few months to find a new home for him before the season starts. 

With the trade deadline still tentatively scheduled for March 3, hockey fans may have already seen the two biggest trades of the year.  But if the past is any indication, Brian Burke may not be done dealing this season.  When playing under the feisty general manager, it is never a smart idea to buy a home in that city.