Post#302 » by bryant08 » Tue Aug 17, 2010 10:04 pm
^There's no point even arguing with a Habs fan. I remember pulling up a post the last time this argument was made, with you claiming the Leafs must've given up Kadri or Kessel when the deal was first speculated to have been made. That's the type of value people expected for Phaneuf and if you didn't see the impact he had on this team defensively then I don't get what you were watching.
Years of everyone in Calgary saying they hated him? This guy was a fan favourite, a part of that team's core and we know very little of reported locker room issues so to assume that the belief was he only caused problems is not fair. Calgary dealt Phaneuf because at the time they believed they also improved their offense as well as got a defenseman producing at a high level in Ian White. Ian White might have a better statistical season than Phaneuf, but the wins we added when the Phaneuf deal was made is all the proof you need in terms of impact. We have very little knowledge about the deal being regarding chemistry issues in the locker room and to move a guy for that type of deal based on those issues makes little sense. Regardless, his personality which seems to be pretty frank and brutally honest based on what we've heard (notably him talking to Kadri) is something we need moving forward for this team to be successful.
In 2010-11, Hagman/Stajan/White will have a combined cap hit of $9.5M, while Phaneuf will count for $6.5M, so the Leafs had to make a decision regardless. And again, I'll fight the fact that he's not a "terrible" contract to the death, so there's just no winning here. With the captaincy, the contract, the assets we gave up in the trade, there's a lot riding on Phaneuf returning to dominant form for the Leafs (he clearly didn't have the same impact as in the past last season offensively). Frankly, I'll take my chances with that contract considering he's just 25, logs huge minutes in a key role defensively, and has put up 45+ points in 4 out of his 5 NHL seasons.
