Phaneuf isn't as bad as most people thinks he is. If it wasn't for his massive contract with the Leafs, I'm sure he's a great d-man that can really shoot the puck and he will hit you, unlike Wideman who doesn't shoot and doesn't hit. Pair Phaneuf up with a sound defensive d-man and that D-line will be pretty solid.
Biggest concern is his mobility has declined and has started to become an issue.
Injuries to his hips and lower body have really started to take a toll. It was noticeable in his decline in play from Calgary to Toronto originally, and has only gotten worse during the years in Toronto.
To be clear though, Reimer's g/f was not rolling her eyes at Cuthbert because of Phaneuf, she was pissed off at the guy next to (or maybe behind) Cuthbert who made disparaging remarks towards Dion. Reimer and Phaneuf's girlfriends are friends.
Last edited by Cecil Terwilliger; 02-09-2016 at 01:44 PM.
To be clear though, Reimer's g/f was not rolling her eyes at Cuthbert because of Phaneuf, she was pissed off at the guy next to (or maybe behind) Cuthbert who made disparaging remarks towards Dion. Reimer and Cuthberts girlfriends are friends.
I'm happy for Dion that he'll be playing in a slightly lower key market from now on. Tossing him into the unforgiving vortex of Toronto never had "positive outcome" stamped on it at any point.
Dion was the first major fall guy of the previous regime when things started to unravel in Calgary. I don't like the Leafs and didn't love that trade, but I've never wished any ill on him as a player or guy, and I don't mind the Sens so hopefully things kind of work out for everyone there (kind of).
__________________ Is your cat doing singing?
The Following User Says Thank You to Max Cow Disease For This Useful Post:
To be clear though, Reimer's g/f was not rolling her eyes at Cuthbert because of Phaneuf, she was pissed off at the guy next to (or maybe behind) Cuthbert who made disparaging remarks towards Dion. Reimer and Cuthberts girlfriends are friends.
Cuthbert has a girlfriend on the side too? what a trollop
At the very least, from a humanitarian standpoint he has to have known that they've been trying to get rid of him since pretty much the day after he signed that contract, so at least its over with.
Interesting part is there were rumours last year that Detroit was interested in Dion, amirite?
I guess for Babcock, this toy looked better in the display case than in real life use.
So much hate for phaneuf. I don't get it. When he was paired with Hamrlik (vet that helped cover) and was firing rockets on the power play, he was damn fun to watch. The hit on Denis Hamel was great.
__________________
.
"Fun must be always!" - Tomas Hertl
The Following User Says Thank You to dustygoon For This Useful Post:
So much hate for phaneuf. I don't get it. When he was paired with Hamrlik (vet that helped cover) and was firing rockets on the power play, he was damn fun to watch. The hit on Denis Hamel was great.
Sure, he was great the first few seasons. Then he became god-awful and couldn't score on a one-timer to save his life and barely hit anymore.
Suddenly without those 2 assets his horrible defensive game really stuck out.
This has probably been said dozens of times but haven't read the thread, the Leafs didn't help the Sens they made them worse by giving them such a low hockey IQ defenceman.
As crazy as it may sound, Cowen has lower hockey IQ than Phaneuf.
The leafs got nothing of value for Dion outside of a 2nd round pick, which is buoyed by losing the prospects sent the other way. Ottawa picked up a huge financial burden for a long time. It's like they thought lets concentrate the lousiness of Michalek, Cowen, and Greening into one player. Who could that be, oh right Phaneuf, lets make a call. Makes no sense.
__________________ Fireside Chat - The #1 Flames Fan Podcast - FiresideChat.ca
The more I think about it, the more I like it from Ottawa's perspective.
Had Ottawa traded a 2nd + a prospect for Phaneuf@4M I think people, outside of the vocal Phaneuf haters, would consider it a good move by Ottawa. Essentially Ottawa did do that.
With the Leafs taking on three nearing dead-salary contracts. Instead of the Leafs retaining the salary for Phaneuf, they took on the salary via the other contracts. It's a bit more than just semantics as Phaneuf does still retain his 7M cap-hit, even if a team like Ottawa doesn't care about cap-hit, future potential trade partners could.
I'm sure people will continue to look at Phaneuf and his 7M cap-hit and make fun of the Sens in the future for it, but given the context I think it was a solid trade.
It is surprising how a cash-strapped team could have 3 terrible contracts though. No wonder Karlsson has no support.
Phaneuf @$4 million is a good player. But getting creative with the math doesn't change the fact that Phaneuf actually costs $7 million. And will continue to do so for five more years.
