Blockbuster:
From Toronto
Matt Stajan (C), Nik Hagman (LW), Jamal Mayers (RW), Ian White (D)
From Calgary
Dion Phanuef (D), Keith Aulie (D), Frederik Sjostrom (LW)
Taking out the trash:
From Toronto
Vesa Toskala (G), Jason Blake (LW)
From Anaheim
Jean Sebastian Giguere (G)
Break it down!!!!
The biggest player involved in this trade is Phanuef who is a former Norris Trophy candidate. Apparently he had some attitude issues in Calgary, but I think that he will fit into Ron Wilson's system better and he will definitely mesh with Leafs GM Brian Burke (he loves hitting people and he's not European). Some of you may be wondering where you've heard Phanuef's name before, here's your answer:
Avery was referring to Phanuef dating Avery's ex, Elisha Cuthbert (cue a comment from Jing).
Aulie is also a good piece to bring to T.O., he's not going to be a major player right now, but he's a great defensive prospect and the Leafs need to think about the future, not the present. The Leafs didn't lost any one great player, but they did lose some offense and we'll see how that affects them. Hopefully some guys will step their game up to fill in because if not I could see a lot of 1-0, 2-1 losses in the Leafs' future. Brian Burke says he isn't done yet, so I have to assume he'll be looking to add some offense to the mix. I think the main player on the block will be Kaberle (D) since he's the best player the Leafs have (pre-trade) and I believe is approaching free agency.
In the other trade of the day the Leafs were able to get rid of a terrible goalie (Toskala) and a waste of salary (Blake) for a goalie that's had a rough past couple of years but who has shown great flashes in the past. Giguere will be reunited with his goalie coach from when he was pretty good in Anaheim so hopefully that will work out. He has one full year left on his contract and I think his role will be to bridge the gap for Gustavsson so he has some time to improve and then, if Giggy plays well, be trade bait next year.
This is a typical scene for ToskalaDave and I will be seeing the Leafs in Jersey on Friday, and I'm hoping that some of these guys are already playing by then (I think they will be).
I was gonna read this post... then I skimmed it and so no name that I'd ever heard of. And given that hockey has no national relevance, why bother? It's not like when I do college football/NBA posts which are adored nationally, hockey is merely a tree falling in the woods and no one is around.
ReplyDelete