Quote:
Originally Posted by fleury
Oh, my own personal theory was that it got personal with Daryl. Dion was certainly not learning and definitely liked the hits instead of picking his points but there wasn't even a murmur of a possible deal until it happened. If he was truly shopped to every team, given his name and age at the time, it'd have been leaked, 100%. Daryl played with the other man in the old boys club and sent him to the biggest hockey market where Dion would be critiqued. Remember how much Daryl liked him when he was drafted and what he turned into in the end days with the club? Toronto was enamored with his potential and size and Daryl, thinking addition by subtraction and teaching him a lesson that he wasn't as valuable as he thought he was, dealt him for peanuts. Make no mistake, at the time it was peanuts. The fact that there wasn't even any future picks or real mid-end young players coming back showed that this was personal because there's no way that could've been seen as a nice deal for giving up a young player that most seen as high potential. No GM would be that bad a negotiator. Sure Stajan has stuck around for a very long time but the return should've been much greater.
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I disagree firmly there wasn't a murmur about a deal. The Flames were front and center of the rumor mill as that season was an 18 wheeler going off a cliff after Christmas into January. Phaneuf was always the player that was being discussed as the piece that was going out. I agree no one said Toronto until it happened but the trade rumors were rampant.
I recall similar stories coming out after the deal that other teams were upset they didn't know about the deal and it simply was a pathetic trade. A 24 year old Dman that was a season and a half removed from 60pts and a Norris nomination traded to the second worst team in the league for their crappy second line depth players makes absolutely no sense.
When Sutter secured Bouwmeester he should have moved Phaneuf for a package that included a 2010 first and a top prospect (perhaps we could have got the Seguin pick before Boston traded Kessel to the Leafs) and re-signed Cammalleri Reading the OP it all sounds plausible and it makes me more upset that Sutter didn't move Dion as soon as he was able to sign Bouw. At the start of the 09/10 season the Flames 4th highest paid forward was Bourque and he made $1.3M. Langkow was at $4.5, Jokinen at $5.25 and Iggy at $7. On D we had Sarich at $3.6M, Regehr at $4, Dion at $6.5 and Bouw at $6.68. Kipper was at $5.8M so way too much money tied up in the back end.