Three Years Ago Today: The Dion goes to TO

[You Need a Thneed]

Gave up nothing, got nothing back. By definition, trade can't really be good or bad.

[868904]

That was the problem with Darryl. He didn't care about market value, he only cared about Darryl value. He was probably right about Dion's true worth.

[Flabbibulin]

Absolutely awful trade. Honestly. You would think a team that has an awful draft history, very little success in the regular season for quite some time, very few prospects, and a somewhat bleak future, would know better than to accept the offer.

I can't believe the Leafs did this...

[_Q_]

Funny thing is, every single player in that trade is a horrible hockey player. Both teams just sort of swapped garbage, but only the Leafs made their garbage the captain. At least Stajan is a half decent 3rd line forward who can potentially get spot duty on the second line. Phaneuf is just a pylon in his own zone and can't hit the net with his "blasts" from the point.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Street Pharmacist

While Darryl could have got more for Dion, if you pick winners/losers based on who got better from the trade it's kind of a wash. In fact, I would say that it's turned out a lot worse for toronto than almost anyone imagined

I simply don't understand this type of reasoning. Phaneuf hasn't been lights out in Toronto but he's become their #1 defenseman and captain. Any time you can get your #1 defenseman for a bag of pucks in a trade you are a winner. He may not be living up to his potential but the fact is he's still the best they have at the moment.

[AltaGuy]

We could've and should've and would've gotten better.

In the end, however, good riddance.

[Jbo]

Hindsight is that neither team really benefited from the Trade.

[Cleveland Steam Whistle]

No other way to explain it, outside of any player analysis, you just had this horrible feeling in your gut that day. Maybe it had nothing to do with the actual trade, but for me anyway, that the fact the trade needed to happen signified the expiry of the Flames as we knew it, and that we really had to accept that the momentum from 04 was over, and we truly had to admit that the experiment had failed and the window officially closed on that version of the Flames.

[kyuss275]

Originally Posted by Street Pharmacist

While Darryl could have got more for Dion, if you pick winners/losers based on who got better from the trade it's kind of a wash. In fact, I would say that it's turned out a lot worse for toronto than almost anyone imagined

I don't see how it's a wash. Dion still has some trade value. Stajan has 0 trade value and could be a candidate for a buy out. Flames had to pay half of Hagmans salary just to leave.

If Toronto had not put the C on Dion and moved him to a 30 minute a night player, they would have won this deal hands down.

[edn88]

I have so moved on from The DION and the TRADE and really don't think it is productive to keep crying over spilled milk (yes - there should have been more return on the trade, and Sutter was not the best GM in the world).

[_Q_]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

I simply don't understand this type of reasoning. Phaneuf hasn't been lights out in Toronto but he's become their #1 defenseman and captain. Any time you can get your #1 defenseman for a bag of pucks in a trade you are a winner. He may not be living up to his potential but the fact is he's still the best they have at the moment.

That doesn't make sense. Why don't the Flames make Derek Smith the captain and play him 25 minutes a game? That way we can laugh at the Senators for letting him sign with us.

[JazzyFlame]

Last year he was 12th for points or 9th in goals by defence men, that is good in my books.

[Cleveland Steam Whistle]

Originally Posted by _Q_

That doesn't make sense. Why don't the Flames make Derek Smith the captain and play him 25 minutes a game? That way we can laugh at the Senators for letting him sign with us.

Example of hyperbole hurting your position.

[djsFlames]

Such a waste....

At least Dion could do some good here, having the likes of a Regehr to cover his back end. In Toronto there's no one to cover for his defensive woes. When that good ol' slapper was working for him, it was a big part of the team and the PP. Though we can't forget that his play was going south a bit towards the end, likely Sutter's sad excuse for dumping him as quickly as he could (worry of trade value) Damn it, Darryl. The things that could have been if you just stayed out of the GMs office..

On another note.. g'damn time goes by way too fast.

[Caged Great]

Originally Posted by JazzyFlame

Last year he was 12th for points or 9th in goals by defence men, that is good in my books.

Wideman scored 1 less and had 3 more assists last year and is in the same ballpark defensively. He has been basically replaced

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by _Q_

That doesn't make sense. Why don't the Flames make Derek Smith the captain and play him 25 minutes a game? That way we can laugh at the Senators for letting him sign with us.

Except the Leafs are doing it on merit and not to make the Flames look bad. Talk about not making sense.

[moon]

Originally Posted by _Q_

That doesn't make sense. Why don't the Flames make Derek Smith the captain and play him 25 minutes a game? That way we can laugh at the Senators for letting him sign with us.

Sure if Derek Smith can also add 44 points to those 25 minutes maybe.

I know overblowing Dion's supposed terrible defense is the cool thing for many here but it isn't like he is adding nothing to the Leafs team. He was one of the top scorers for defenseman last year, still can play physical and is a decent player defensively. If he were on the Flames right now he would be the 3rd best defenseman (maybe second if Giordano keeps playing like this or 1st if people want to hate on Bouwmeester like they do.)

[JazzyFlame]

Originally Posted by Caged Great

Wideman scored 1 less and had 3 more assists last year and is in the same ballpark defensively. He has been basically replaced

or could've had:

Phaneuf - Regher
Jbo - Wideman
Gio - Brodie

[Red_Baron]

I still like Darryl as one of the greatest coaches this team has ever had but I'm still bitter about his 1 week of insanity.

The worst part is that Prust never was re-acquired. He's a bit overpriced these days but I guess that it is hard to place a true value on his competitiveness, this team sorely misses a player like that.

[GirlySports]

Phaneuf - Regher first pairing would be a disaster.
Regher's game has gone down since the new rules were enforced. Buffalo isn't happy with him either.

When Ryan Miller is off just a little bit, the Sabres don't win.