First of all, my sympathy to all the people who were big Phaneuf fans; as much as people were giving him the goat horns this year, he was extremely popular and this is going to be a tough one for the fan-base to bear. And I imagine it wasn't an easy trade for Sutter to make.
It's trading from a position of strength to fill a position of weakness, and a top five of Regehr, Bouwmeester, Giordano, Sarich, and White is pretty solid still. In fact, I think the emergence of Giordano is probably the reason Sutter felt he could make this trade.
Sjostrom has shown nothing since mid-November. I didn't particularly like picking him up, and I'm not sorry to see him go. Hagman is a great asset, I've wanted him on the Flames since he was with Dallas. Solid two-way instincts, and a good contract; could be a good fit on the first line LW. Stajan, I'm so-so on, but he's a good faceoff guy. Where does he slot in on the Flames though? We've got way too many centers. Mayers I have no interest in; what does he bring that Prust or McGratton don't have? And if this is a prelude to trade Prust or Grats, I'll be pretty unhappy. Probably spends time in the press box.
There's no question the Leafs won this trade. But I think the Flames are definitely no worse now than they were yesterday, and if anything are a little better. I would have liked a great prospect coming back (or avoid losing Aulie) rather than Stajan and Mayers. I'd like to see another trade to resolve the number of forwards we have.
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