Toronto Maple Leafs: Phaneuf Trade Remains Leafs Masterstroke

In an eye-opening move, former Toronto Maple Leafs captain and punching bag Dion Phaneuf was traded by the Ottawa Senators to the Los Angeles Kings last night.

As is the case with any new league-wide developments, one question must be asked:

“How does this effect this Toronto Maple Leafs?”

Does it establish a trade market? Not really. Phaneuf and his bloated contract were shipped to the Kings in exchange for Marian Gaborik and his bloated contract. That doesn’t exactly set the market price for defencemen. e

Instead, this trade highlights just how masterful it was for Phaneuf to end up a Senator in the first place.

The Trade

Toronto receives: Colin Greening, Milan Michalek, Tobias Lindberg, Jared Cowan, a second-round draft pick.

Ottawa receives: Dion Phaneuf, Matt Frattin, Ryan Rupert, Cody Donaghey, Casey Bailey.

Salary

As was reported last night, Ottawa will retain 25% of Phaneuf’s salary for the remaining three years(!) of his deal.

Frankly, that is hilarious.

When the Senators acquired  Phaneuf from Toronto exactly two years and six days ago, it was done so with a focus on cutting costs. Ottawa shipped roughly $9 million worth of dead salary to Toronto, in exchange for Phaneuf’s entire $7 million price tag.

Somehow, the Leafs wriggled free from one of the NHL’s most onerous and restricting contracts without retaining a single penny of it.

Using their financial might, they were able to absorb the cap hits of Colin Greening and Milan Michalek, two players who had greatly fallen out of favour in Ottawa.

In doing so, they made perhaps the best ideological choice in sports. That being sacrificing short-term pain for long-term gain. If you polled the Senators now, do you think they’d rather be paying 25% of Phaneuf’s salary so he could play against them?

I doubt it.

Instead, they’d likely be content paying Greening $750,000 in the AHL.

Assets

Here’s a rundown of what the Leafs did with the assets Ottawa gifted them.

Greening has assumed a mentorship role on a young Marlies team. During his parts of two seasons as a Marlie, he’s been credited by numerous prospects as an invaluable presence in the locker room.

Not to mention, he’s good for roughly 40 points a year.

Tobias Lindberg, the prospect Toronto received from the deal, has now been shipped to Vegas in exchange for Calvin Pickard. To date, Pickard possesses the third highest save percentage in the entire AHL, while projecting to be the Leafs long-term backup goaltender.

Michalek was buried on the Marlies in 2016-17, while Cowan was bought out upon arrival. Both players have now parted ways with the team, and their salary no longer remains on the books.

The Leafs then used the Senators second-round pick to draft behemoth defence prospect Eemeli Rasanen. While in the midst of a rollercoaster season, his potential as a mobile, gargantuan shutdown defender is mouthwatering.

Shifting focus to the Sens, none of the assets received from the Leafs remain with the organization. The last semblance of the trade is now Phaneuf’s retained salary.

Not only did this trade signify the first major step of Toronto’s rebuild, it put forth one of the best cases of asset management in recent memory.

Next: Marlies Notebook: Soshnikov Cocktail

Boy, does it suck to be Ottawa.