Blockbuster NHL trade sends Phaneuf to Ottawa

Phaneuf is, presently, 30 years old.

It came without notice, rumour or supposition.

The downside to this move is obviously Phaneuf’s contract. And the beat goes on.

Morgan Rielly said it’s not going to be up to just one player to fill Phaneuf’s skates.

The Toronto Maple Leafs cleared a lot of salary by trading Dion Phaneuf. No matter what he did, he couldn’t match the contract, couldn’t be what others wanted him to be. Of course, that doesn’t mean much in the here and now – teams talk and players are brought up as potential trade pieces all the time. The Leafs bought rather low on Phaneuf back in 2010 sending a lot of junk to Calgary to get him. That was the sell.

The obvious possibility, however, is to potentially make a run at Stamkos, who is scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season. He had become increasingly unpopular with the Leafs’ fan base. That would be insane, really, and highly unusual for the historically unlucky Leafs.

Perhaps this is also the best for Phaneuf. Then you’ve got the outside world, which has totally changed for you as well.

The Leafs have yet to introduce William Nylander, Mitch Marner, Connor Brown, Dmytro Timashov, their four best prospects up front, to their roster.

The Flyers of Paul Holmgren’s era may have been fooled by their strong play of late, thinking that a player like Phaneuf – or Dustin Byfuglien, who was on the trade market until he signed a new deal in Winnipeg yesterday – would be enough to bump them into the postseason and hopefully beyond.

“It helps them, it helps us, those are good deals”, he said.

Phaneuf told Murray that he was “excited” to be coming to Ottawa, but he will be coming in with the season more than half over.

He’s the second core player with a long-term contract to be unloaded by the Leafs’ relatively new leadership group steered by team president Brendan Shanahan and general manager Lou Lamoriello. He has always been the Leafs’ No. 1 defenseman but many believe he will thrive elsewhere as a No. 2, or at least as part of a dynamic duo.

“I got grounded quite a few times by my parents”, he said with a chuckle. “There’s always constant talk. And my teammates… but as soon as I got over the initial feelings, I was excited to be here”.

Bailey went undrafted, but had a superb season with Penn State a year ago, finishing fourth overall in scoring in the Big Ten Conference. While the Leafs could re-sign him at a discount to add to their budding defensive unit alongside Jake Gardiner and Morgan Rielly, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him in a different uniform by the start of the 2016-17 National Hockey League season or even by the end of this year’s trade deadline. Let us know in the comments. “That’s the good part”.

Ottawa unloaded unwanted contracts of Jared Cowen and Colin Greening to the Leafs.

423 – The number of regular season games Phaneuf played as a Leaf, tied for 55th-most in team history. For that he was crucified on many occasions by the unforgiving spotlight of the Toronto media.

Phanuef is the first Leaf captain to be traded since Doug Gilmour was sent to New Jersey during in 1997. There’s room for this deal to work for both teams.