Post by falcons on Jan 31, 2010 12:55:07 GMT -5
The Calgary Flames have traded defenceman Dion Phaneuf, forward Fredrik Sjostrom, and prospect defenceman Keith Aulie to the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for forwards Matt Stajan, Niklas Hagman, Jamal Mayers and defenceman Ian White.
The Maple Leafs and Flames have been working on the components of this blockbuster for a week to ten days, but sources say the details of the deal didn't fall into place until late last night.
"[Phaneuf] is a warrior. He's got a cannon for a shot," explained Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke on Sunday. "He plays the game hard and I want players who play the game hard because they're hard to play against."
Phaneuf has two goals over his last three games and is signed through the 2013-14 season ($6.5 million per). He had 18:49 TOI last night, only the third time this month he's been under 20 minutes in a game. The big defenceman has 10 goals and 12 assists to go with a minus-3 rating over his 55 games.
Sjostrom has played 46 games with one goal and five assists for Calgary this season. Aulie was drafted in the fourth round, 116th overall of the 2007 NHL Entry Draft. The six-foot-six defenceman had spent this season with the Abbotsford Heat of the AHL.
Hagman has 20 goals and 13 assists, while Stajan has 16 goals and 25 assists, each over 55 games this season. Both players have a minus-3 rating. Mayers had expressed interest in being traded earlier in January. He had two goals, six assists and 78 penalty minutes over his 44 games with the Maple Leafs this season. White had nine goals, 17 assists and a plus-1 rating over his 56 games.
Burke admitted the loss of Stajan and Hagman would leave a hole in the Maple Leaf attack, but explained acquiring Phaneuf was too good to pass up.
"It takes some offence out of our lineup and that's the next question ... who replaces that offence we lost today, but it puts a major weapon on the blueline and makes us much more difficult to play."
Since he entered the NHL in the 2005-06 season Phaneuf is tops among defenceman with 75 goals (2nd Sheldon Souray - 68), power-play goals with 48 (2nd Zdeno Chara - 41), game-winning goals with 21 (2nd Dan Boyle - 15) and shots at 1,150 (2nd Chara - 992) over that span.
In addition, Phaneuf (48) ranks second to Paul Coffey (50) in power-play goals by a defenceman over the first five seasons of their career and he is tied with Denis Potvin for game winning goals (21) over the same span.
The Flames were mired in its worst slump (0-6-3) since an 11-game losing streak in 1986 before getting on the winning side of the tracks on Saturday night with a 6-1 victory over the Edmonton Oilers in the Battle of Alberta.
The Maple Leafs are coming off a dramatic loss to the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday evening, giving up a three-goal first period lead before falling 5-3. With the loss, coupled with Carolina's 4-2 victory over Chicago, Toronto now sits 29th in the NHL standings. The Hurricanes and Leafs are tied in points with 45 but Carolina is ahead because of more wins
Personally i think toronto got the better part of the trade and calgary got somewhat screwed in the deal.
tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=308469
The Maple Leafs and Flames have been working on the components of this blockbuster for a week to ten days, but sources say the details of the deal didn't fall into place until late last night.
"[Phaneuf] is a warrior. He's got a cannon for a shot," explained Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke on Sunday. "He plays the game hard and I want players who play the game hard because they're hard to play against."
Phaneuf has two goals over his last three games and is signed through the 2013-14 season ($6.5 million per). He had 18:49 TOI last night, only the third time this month he's been under 20 minutes in a game. The big defenceman has 10 goals and 12 assists to go with a minus-3 rating over his 55 games.
Sjostrom has played 46 games with one goal and five assists for Calgary this season. Aulie was drafted in the fourth round, 116th overall of the 2007 NHL Entry Draft. The six-foot-six defenceman had spent this season with the Abbotsford Heat of the AHL.
Hagman has 20 goals and 13 assists, while Stajan has 16 goals and 25 assists, each over 55 games this season. Both players have a minus-3 rating. Mayers had expressed interest in being traded earlier in January. He had two goals, six assists and 78 penalty minutes over his 44 games with the Maple Leafs this season. White had nine goals, 17 assists and a plus-1 rating over his 56 games.
Burke admitted the loss of Stajan and Hagman would leave a hole in the Maple Leaf attack, but explained acquiring Phaneuf was too good to pass up.
"It takes some offence out of our lineup and that's the next question ... who replaces that offence we lost today, but it puts a major weapon on the blueline and makes us much more difficult to play."
Since he entered the NHL in the 2005-06 season Phaneuf is tops among defenceman with 75 goals (2nd Sheldon Souray - 68), power-play goals with 48 (2nd Zdeno Chara - 41), game-winning goals with 21 (2nd Dan Boyle - 15) and shots at 1,150 (2nd Chara - 992) over that span.
In addition, Phaneuf (48) ranks second to Paul Coffey (50) in power-play goals by a defenceman over the first five seasons of their career and he is tied with Denis Potvin for game winning goals (21) over the same span.
The Flames were mired in its worst slump (0-6-3) since an 11-game losing streak in 1986 before getting on the winning side of the tracks on Saturday night with a 6-1 victory over the Edmonton Oilers in the Battle of Alberta.
The Maple Leafs are coming off a dramatic loss to the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday evening, giving up a three-goal first period lead before falling 5-3. With the loss, coupled with Carolina's 4-2 victory over Chicago, Toronto now sits 29th in the NHL standings. The Hurricanes and Leafs are tied in points with 45 but Carolina is ahead because of more wins
Personally i think toronto got the better part of the trade and calgary got somewhat screwed in the deal.
tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=308469