Maple Leafs deal D Phaneuf to Senators in 9-player trade

The Toronto Maple Leafs traded captain Dion Phaneuf to the rival Ottawa Senators in a blockbuster nine-player deal on Tuesday. “(He) competes, he wants to win”, Murray said. “We’ll see now how it works out”.

The number Phaneuf will wear with the Senators. Under Babcock, the 30-year-old was playing on the second defensive pair for the Leafs, no longer matched up against top lines, while getting more looks in the offensive zone.

Phaneuf is expected to be in the Senators lineup Wednesday night as they take on the Detroit Red Wings.

“He’ll just bring, we hope, a presence to this organization”, said Murray. I had no idea anything like this was coming or anything like that, but really excited to have him coming in here. Whether it was the expectations of captaining an Original Six franchise, or just the game evolving outside of Phaneuf’s skill set, he never fully regained the form shown in Calgary that saw him nominated for the Calder and Norris trophies.

Phaneuf was enjoying one of his better seasons as a Leaf, a redemptive one in many ways following a challenging 2014-15 season which saw him finish with just 29 points. Lamoriello said he and coach Mike Babcock agreed to use alternates the rest of this season.

He was on pace for almost 40 points and averaging 22 minutes per game.

Defensively the Senators have struggled this season.

Donaghey, 19, was signed by the Maple Leafs as an undrafted free agent and has scored five goals and registered 22 points in 36 Quebec Major Junior Hockey League games with the Halifax Mooseheads and Moncton Wildcats this season.

He won’t have to play that role in Ottawa, and Murray hopes it will be the change Phaneuf needs to play to his potential. “I hope it sends a message to our group that we’re trying to win here”. Ottawa is four points back of the New York Islanders for the final wild-card position in the Eastern Conference.

Dion Phaneuf is trading sides in the Battle of the Ontario.

Phaneuf’s departure makes Toronto weaker on defense in the short term, but this was not supposed to be a winning season.

The key to the deal for the Leafs was cap flexibility. But his focus continues to be on building for the future. Phaneuf and the remaining five years of his contract at a cap hit of $7 million now belong to the playoff-minded Senators, and the Leafs get to press on with their rebuilding project.

The dismantling of Toronto’s core started last summer, when the team traded Phil Kessel to Pittsburgh for a package of prospects and draft picks. “This was a transaction that certainly wasn’t for today”.

Things, perhaps, like being aggressive in free agency this summer.

Lamoriello saw no limit to the flexibility the transaction would provide.

“I don’t think there’s any letter in the alphabet left out; I think it’s A-to-Z”, he said.

“I think this solidifies where we’re going”, Murray said. “Whatever opportunity there is to make the Maple Leafs better certainly will be considered”. None, however, have the financial weight of Phaneuf’s. Fair or not, Phaneuf’s tenure as Leaf captain will be remembered as the most tumultuous in the club’s 99 year history.