Phaneuf traded in Blockbuster Deal

In a completely shocking trade announced by many in the blogisphere as well as NBC sports, the Toronto Maple Leafs have completely stunned the hockey world by announcing the acquisition of Dion Phaneuf from the Calgary Flames.

"We're still open for business, we're not done," [Burke] added.

Once thought of as a franchise that had meekly little value to make any kind of trade, the Toronto Maple Leafs GM Brian Burke was able to send 4 disgruntled TML players to land a hard hitting defenseman Phaneuf.

"Disgruntled" and "underachieving" were two reoccurring words used by analysts on this trade. Both teams were able to swap players who were struggling to produce offense and buried on the back end lines. Jamal Mayers, one of the Leafs players being shipped off to Calgary in the deal had been linked to trade demands earlier in the past week.

I like this deal and give it my endorsement as Phaneuf matches the "truculent" style that Burke was after all along. This puts a defensive outlook for the Leafs that deepens the roster with stars. The Flames get more offense to jump start their blue collar style of play. Ian White, while popular in Toronto, will bring his reportedly consistent work ethic to the Flames to cut down on how many shots Kipprusoff faces on a game-to-game basis.

To Leafs: Dion Phaneuf, Keith Aulie and Fredrik Sjostrom
To Flames: Ian White, Matt Stajan, Nick Hagman and Jamal Mayers.

But the Maple Leafs weren't quite done with the trading this day as Brian Burke raided his old Anaheim Ducks team to acquire disgruntled netminder J.S. Giguere. J.S. was unhappy riding the bench while his back-up Jonas Hiller was getting the starting nod more often. And the Ducks get Vesa Toskala and Jason Blake who were two disappointing and underachieving players in Leafs uniforms.

J.S. Giguere can stabilize a shaky goaltending situation in Toronto that might also have been the key to the Leafs win-loss record. Giguere fits in as a stopgap until Gustavsson can be ready for future NHL action. Burke, a cancer survivor, was a prime candidate to mentor young Kessel, but his departure was a necessary house cleaning for a 50 goals in 3 TML season disappointment.

To Leafs: J.S. Giguere
To Ducks: Vesa Toskala and Jason Blake

[Via: FOX Sports]