If history has told us anything, it's that Brian Burke is a man of action.Not the kind of guy whose going to sit around and wait for things to turn around, the Leafs General Manager completed two trades this morning which will help bring along the franchise's rebuild process.
The Leafs/Flames trade - which will see Dion Phaneuf, Fredrik Sjostrom, and prospect Keith Aulie head to Toronto for Matt Stajan, Niklas Hagman, Jamal Mayers, and Ian White - can be termed a victory for both sides.
The Leafs shed four contracts, three of which are set to expire at the conclusion of this season, and gain a 24-year old defenseman with "stud" potential. While Phaneuf's play has regressed over the past two seasons, his potential is still sky-high. Not many 24-year old rearguards can say they've had seasons of 20 goals or 60 points, feats which Phaneuf may already lay claim.
Many reports have surfaced claiming that Phaneuf was a locker room cancer. This may be true, it may be false - we aren't in the locker room. While Phaneuf does seem to give off an aura of cockiness, from a hockey perspective he has all the tools to be a very good defenseman. With Phaneuf and Phil Kessel, Brian Burke has two huge building blocks in place.
For Darryl Sutter's club, the trade makes a lot of sense, as well. The Flames add a plethora of much needed offense in the form of Stajan and Hagman, while replacing Phaneuf with White, who has probably been the better of the two defensemen this season. As much as I like White - the guy gives it his all every night and is a very intelligent player - Burke probably sold high on him. His +/- has been horrendous of late, and his upside as an NHL defenseman is nowhere near that of Phaneuf.
With the Flames addition of three expiring contracts in replace of Phaneuf's long-term contract, Calgary now has plenty of cap room for the coming summer. There is little doubt in my mind that Sutter's club will be a big player in the upcoming free agency market (Ilya Kovalchuk, maybe?).
The Leafs acquired a young defenseman who will serve as an excellent addition to a rebuilding franchise. The Flames acquired some much needed scoring while freeing up some cap space going forward. A win-win in my books...
But Brian Burke's work wasn't limited to this one trade. He was also able to get rid of a vastly underachieving Jason Blake by packaging him with fellow underachiever Vesa Toskala in return for the ugly contract of Jean-Sebastian Giguere.
This contract also makes a lot of sense for both clubs.
The Leafs shed some salary for this season which will bring them some much needed cap relief (they were awfully tight after the Phaneuf trade), while also bringing in a goaltender with a history with Leafs Goaltending Coach, Francois Allaire, and who should serve as a quality mentor to young Swedish netminder Jonas Gustavsson.
The Ducks, who just inked Jonas Hiller to a four-year extension, lower their cap number for the '10-'11 season by two million dollars, and acquire a much needed scoring forward. While Blake may be a "poor" top-sixer, he is still better than what the injury-ravaged Ducks are currently working with. Toskala, who is a talented netminder, should perform much better with a change of scenery. He is a free agent after this season.
From a summarized cap perspective, this helps the Leafs in this season and in '11-'12 (Giguere's final year on his contract is next season), while helping the Ducks next season (Blake's $4 million in for Giguere's $6 million). A tad confusing, huh?
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