Follow me on Twitter please: @rdcloutier

Only 101 followers away from 4,000. When that happens, I'm giving away a hat. Nothing fancy. Just a plain ol' ball cap. Maybe an Expos cap. You never know.


I love how Oilers rumors start.

I get ripped on constantly.

"You have no connections."

"You have no inside sources."

Or my favorite:

"You just make things up."

K, so Bill "Muddy" Watters was on the radio talking to someone. Was it Stauffer? Gregor? Tencer? I have no idea who it was. I didn't hear the interview. But what I do know is he said something like the Oilers trading for Dion Phaneuf would make sense, and the rumor mill went crazy. All of a sudden, everyone thinks the Oilers and Leafs have been talking all summer about Phaneuf.

I think what he said was, the Oilers and Leafs spoke about Phaneuf. Big deal. Did you know his first name is actually "Wilbur"? Nerd.

I've got bad news for you. Or good news for you, depending on how you look at things: Watters was talking about what makes sense, not what Oilers and Leafs management have been doing.

I'm not at all saying it's not possible the two sides have spoken about Phaneuf. More than likely, Nonis, while talking on the phone with MacTavish, said, "yeah, we have a defenseman named Phaneuf," and MacT said back, "hey, I've heard of him. Grew up in Edmonton."

That's about it.

Oh, it's possible a deal for Phaneuf to Edmonton could happen. I'll get back to that in a second. But first, let me express my annoyance with all of you. When Watters suggests something might happen, it's cute. When I do, well, I'm just unconnected no-one who makes things up, aren't I? I mentioned a week before Paajarvi got dealt that he was on the block. I mentioned several times David Perron was a target. But do I get any credit? Of course not. As one person so eloquently put it to me, if you make up enough rumors, eventually one will be right. Like throwing a hot dog down a hallway, or something.

For the few of you who have faith in me, let me explain to you about Phaneuf.

The Oilers, sure, would be a better team with him. He'd automatically be the closest thing they have to a true top-pairing defenseman. Lots of people hate the guy, but if you go back in my blogs over the years, I'm a big fan. I'd love to see the Oilers deal for him, provided they didn't need to rip their arms off to make it happen.

And therein is the issue. If you're the Leafs, you want Sam Gagner + Oscar Klefbom for this guy. Never going to happen.

For one thing, Dion is in the last year of his contract. For another, his cap hit is redonk. The Oilers aren't in cap trouble or anything, but I'll guarantee you there's no appetite in Edmonton to add a $6mil+ cap hit player for only one season with no guarantee of making the playoffs. Edmonton two seasons from now would be more open to taking a chance on Phanuef than they would be now, because no one knows how good (or bad) this team is going to be this season.

I'm guessing if the Oilers offered up something for Phaneuf, it would start with the Leafs taking a significant contract back. Ales Hemsky. And Leafs fans, don't tell me "we don't need Hemsky" because when you do, you demonstrate just how much you're missing the point. Hemsky is a $5mil per season contract with only one year left. Same as Phaneuf. Keep in mind we don't just deal players now days, we also deal contracts. The Oilers would want to off-set Phaneuf's $6.5mil by moving Hemsky's $5mil.

Of course, Hemsky for Phaneuf is not an even deal. So then the question is, what else do the Oilers need to throw in to make a deal happen? I'm guessing the Leafs motivation in making this deal would be to bring in Ladislav Smid. They have plenty of quality puck-moving in Morgan Rielly and Jake Gardiner. Cody Franson might have size, but he's more of a puck-mover, ditto Gunnersson. The only real beast back there is Phaneuf, so obviously the Leafs would want a beast back. Smid.

Look at this from the Leafs view point: Contract-wise, Phaneuf for Hemsky would more or less be a wash. What they'd get out of the deal is four seasons of Ladislav Smid, who is bargain priced compared to Phaneuf.

Now look at this from the Oilers view point: Hemsky + Smid for Phaneuf? If Dion does not sign an extension immediately, this deal is an absolute disaster. And even if he does, you're taking a risk. Everyone knows Phaneuf's history. Granted, he's older and wiser now. He likely wouldn't be a dressing room issue. But the fear would be there.

Do I see this deal happening? Not remotely. Not saying it's impossible. I just think it would be one of those rare deals where both Leafs fans and Oilers fans would all hate it. I'd love it, personally, but I'm weird. I have this crazy idea in my head that if the Oilers pairings this season were Phaneuf/JSchultz, Ference/Petry and NSchultz/Belov that this team would actually do pretty well. Lots of puck moving, and a fair amount of toughness. I like it. But, like I said, I'm weird.

The point of this blog wasn't really to debate if Phaneuf would help or hurt the Oilers, or if a deal is even plausible. Like I said at the start of this, I love how rumors start. Let's hope tomorrow Don Cherry says the Penguins should give Malkin to the Oilers because he's Russian. Twitter will go electric.

Join the Discussion: » 161 Comments » Post New Comment

» Goodbye and Good Luck

» Ranking Top 5 Roster Groups - Blog #1

» Mods and Rockers

» The Reverse Psychology Blog

» The 10 Least Interesting Teams in the NHL