[Cali Panthers Fan]

Oh Dion...how the mighty have fallen. 3 short years ago people were saying that we got totally fleeced in the Phaneuf trade. That's because they thought Dion was going to continue to improve...and instead he's regressed. Pretty shocking considering his pedigree and his age at the time, but I think Sutter was smart enough to see the kid didn't have the right internal makeup to be a true star in the NHL. When you consider that deal you could almost say Stajan straight up for Phaneuf, and I would still almost do that deal. Stajan regressed a little too, but I like his character a heckuva lot more than Phaneuf's.

Hagman was next to a total bust and is out of the league, but then again so is Sjostrom. Ian White was a decent player here and is now more of a borderline NHL defenseman, but then again so is a much younger Keith Aulie. Jamal Mayers recently won the cup with Chicago and I liked him a lot when he was here.

My only real problem with the Phaneuf trade is that we didn't get any young pieces back, which I still can't figure out why we wouldn't get at least a throw-in prospect. Either way this deal doesn't look too bad today as Stajan is still a very serviceable player and if he wasn't older would probably be part of the leadership group going forward. Hindsight is 20/20 so we get to look at this deal again a few years down the road.

To Toronto:
Dion Phaneuf
2010-11: 66, 8 22 30, -2 (10th on his own team in +/- not including part timers)
2011-12: 82, 12 32 44, -10 (16th on his own team)
2012-13: 48, 9 19 28, -4 (15th on his own team, D-man Mark Fraser was +18)
*Overall a decent offensive defenseman with some solid physicality, but not good enough defensively to be a top pairing d-man. I would go so far as to say he's become a liability for their team defense.

Fredrik Sjostrom
2010-2011 66, 2 3 5, -5
Played the last 2 seasons in the Swedish Elite league with pretty similar stats.
*He was always a marginal player that had good speed. A throw-in.

Keith Aulie
2010-11 40, 2 0 2, -1
2011-12 17, 0 2 2, -2
2012-13 (with TB) 45, 2 5 7, +1 (on a terrible defensive team)
* For my money, Aulie has become a dependable bottom pairing defender with great size. I haven't watched him enough to see all the pros and cons to his game, but he's a guy that would be perfect for the Flames right now. He's still only 24.

To Calgary
Matt Stajan
2010-11 76, 6 25 31, +1
2011-12 61, 8 10 18, -3
2012-13 43, 5 18 23, +7 (Led the team in +/- by a large margin)
* Stajan regressed offensively from his Toronto days, but he became our best 2-way center (not saying much I know) and a good character player. People thought he was a 2nd line center, but he's not that good, so similar to Dion, if you don't expect too much you shouldn't be disappointed with him. At least he isn't a liability defensively like Dion is.

Niklas Hagman
2010-11 76, 11 16 27, -2
2011-12 71, 9 14 23, -7
2012-13 KHL- 20 points in 50 games and -10.
*His career is nearly over if he can't hack it in the KHL. He was on a severe downswing when we acquired him.

Ian White
2010-11 (w/ Calgary, Carolina, and San Jose) 78, 4 22 26, +3
2011-12 (Detroit) 77, 7 25 32, +23
2012-13 (Detroit) 25, 2 2 4, +5
*Not sure why he played so little last year. I still think he's a good defender who can rack up the assists. Might be winding down his career already but he's not quite 30.

Jamal Mayers
2010-11 (San Jose) 78, 3 11 14, +3
2011-12 (Chicago) 81, 6 9 15, -4
2012-13 (Chicago) 19, 0 2 2, +2
* Always liked his hustle and physical play. He's probably a borderline player now, but still won a cup with Chicago this last season.

Overall, I'm still ok with the return we got for Phaneuf, but we definitely lost some significant offense when he left and haven't really replaced it since. I'd still rather have him gone with all the flaws to his game though.