Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community - View Single Post - Phaneuf,Sjostrom,Aulie traded to leafs for Hagman,Stajan,Mayers,White

Newton · 02-01-2010, 07:33 PM

As a comparison ...

Is Higgens, Stajan & White terrible compared to Jonathan Cheechoo and Milan Michalek - thats what the NHL's leading scorer goes for on the trade market after the star cashes in and signs the big contract- but only because his BIG contract goes with him. Why give up more players when there are other star players to sign with just cash in the summer?

On the whole I am surprised a bit by some of the fan reaction. i guess it comes down to what kind of asset is of the most value in a cap era. I think it has to come down to production per dollar.

Phaneuf is a great young player with lots of potential ....BUT he is also being paid today for that production of tomorrow. So the valuable parts of NHL teams are:

1) Players signed to good contracts (ie Renee Bourque getting near 30 goals @ 1.35 million)

2) Young stars ...because you are getting all world performance at really low cost.

Once that young star cashes in he is not as valuable a trade commodity.

If Phaneuf raises his game to Norris candidate levels ...well he is taking up that kind of cap space already.

The extra "value" in the deals on the weekend is the money it frees up that is the "player to be named later" in a deal where you are reworking how you spent the cap. Sutter traded Tanguay to Montreal for ...nothing, but they then had money to get Camalarri.

Cap space is a commodity. Calgary upgrades their scoring today right now ...and then has their cap space back to go and pay another star...and as insurance they already locked up J-Bo.

The Flames are better today than they were when the beat the Oilers Sat night ...and they still have the money for a star player of their choosing to be named later. In the pre cap era this is a terribly lopsided trade ...but the contract with the player handicaps their value IMO. I still like Phaneuf, but the problem is his contract - he is being paid today for his "potential" of the future. The Flames are built more short term than that.

02-01-2010, 07:33 PM	#955
Newton Farm Team Player Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Medicine Hat Exp:	Is Phaneuf for Cheechoo and Michalek better or worse. As a comparison ... Is Higgens, Stajan & White terrible compared to Jonathan Cheechoo and Milan Michalek - thats what the NHL's leading scorer goes for on the trade market after the star cashes in and signs the big contract- but only because his BIG contract goes with him. Why give up more players when there are other star players to sign with *just* cash in the summer? On the whole I am surprised a bit by some of the fan reaction. i guess it comes down to what kind of asset is of the most value in a cap era. I think it has to come down to production per dollar. Phaneuf is a great young player with lots of potential ....BUT he is also being paid today for that production of tomorrow. So the valuable parts of NHL teams are: 1) Players signed to good contracts (ie Renee Bourque getting near 30 goals @ 1.35 million) 2) Young stars ...because you are getting all world performance at really low cost. Once that young star cashes in he is not as valuable a trade commodity. If Phaneuf raises his game to Norris candidate levels ...well he is taking up that kind of cap space already. The extra "value" in the deals on the weekend is the money it frees up that is the "player to be named later" in a deal where you are reworking how you spent the cap. Sutter traded Tanguay to Montreal for ...nothing, but they then had money to get Camalarri. Cap space is a commodity. Calgary upgrades their scoring today right now ...and then has their cap space back to go and pay another star...and as insurance they already locked up J-Bo. The Flames are better today than they were when the beat the Oilers Sat night ...and they still have the money for a star player of their choosing to be named later. In the pre cap era this is a terribly lopsided trade ...but the contract with the player handicaps their value IMO. I still like Phaneuf, but the problem is his contract - he is being paid today for his "potential" of the future. The Flames are built more short term than that.