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Trading Down - Why The Leafs Are No Better After Sunday's Blockbusters

February 1, 2010, 4:44 PM ET [ Comments]
Ken Beckett
Toronto Maple Leafs Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
The NHL's trade deadline is on March 3rd. It's usually the day that GM's gear up for and try their best to make a trade which gives their team an even better chance at making a run towards the Stanley Cup.

Toronto Maple Leafs GM Brian Burke decided on Sunday that March 3rd was too far away and got an early jump on the action.

The hockey world woke up to news on Sunday that it would be a game changing day for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Exactly what would happen, or who would be traded or released nobody knew. But everyone waited anxiously for the first shoe to drop.

Rumours were spread, names were mentioned, but as the 11am hour approached, Brian Burke called a press conference and more specifics began to make themselves clear.

At the end of the day, the Toronto Maple Leafs made two blockbuster trades, acquiring Dion Phaneuf from the Calgary Flames, and goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere from the Anaheim Ducks.

There's no denying that Dion Phaneuf is one of the hardest defencemen to play against. He plays a very physical game, is always one of the team leaders in hits, and has a booming shot that can improve the Leafs power play.

With Jean-Sebastian Giguere, the Leafs get a goalie that has a Stanley Cup ring. And it will be that experience that Toronto will count on, as with yesterday's trades the Leafs are now one of the youngest teams in the league.

The Leafs became better defensively on Sunday. Something that they desperately needed to do as they have had 195 goals scored against them this season. That's the more than any other team in the league. Specifically, 15 more than the slumping Edmonton Oilers.

While Toronto upgraded their defense, offensively the Leafs are weaker after Sunday's trades and could be in some big trouble.

Toronto has not been the most offensively explosive team in the league to begin with. Their 148 goals this season are good enough for 14th overall in the league. However once you look deeper into those numbers, some concerns about the Leafs offense become quite apparent.

Brian Burke gave up a lot of his top scorers in Matt Stajan, Niklas Hagman, and Jason Blake. In addition to Ian White and Jamal Myers, those players have scored 57 of the Leafs' 148 goals. That's 39% of their offense that Toronto has now lost.

Even if you count Phaneuf's 10 goals in addition to Toronto's other Sunday acquisition Frederik Sjostrom lone goal, that's still quite a drop in offence. Without the 57 goals from the former Leafs, and with Phaneuf's and Sjostrom's goals, Toronto would only have 102 goals this season. That's 22 worse than the Boston Bruins who rank last in league scoring with 124 goals.

Leafs GM Brian Burke is of course aware that this is now a huge issue for the team and made clear on Sunday that the Leafs makeover likely isn't over.

"We're still open for business," Burke stated. "We're not done."

There are still many skilled scorers available and have been rumoured to be on the trading block. And if the Leafs continue to lose and are unable to score, there will be immense pressure for Burke to add a scorer to pick up the slack.

Another area of concern where this trade may weaken the Leafs is team chemistry.

It was a complete overhaul that Brian Burke pulled off as he gave up seven players to acquire Phaneuf, Giguere, Sjostrom, as well as prospect Keith Aulie. Seven players that the rest of the Leafs players were used to playing with, and who knew the system.

It will take awhile for Dion Phaneuf to get acclimated with his new teammates. To learn their plays and their system, and what head coach Ron Wilson is looking for. There is also Phaneuf's locker room presence that raises some concerns.

In Calgary, Phaneuf was not friends with all of his teammates. It was rumoured that he barely even spoke to fellow defenceman Robyn Regehr. There was also a conflict in December when Phaneuf had a behind closed doors argument with Flames head coach Brent Sutter that was overheard by a reporter covering the Flames.

Phaneuf's trend of doing what he wants has continued in Toronto on Monday. As after Monday morning's practice, he walked into the Leafs locker room and reportedly took over what music was being played.

Leafs bench boss Ron Wilson was quoted as saying that he liked Phaneuf's "swagger." However it is something that could rub his teammates the wrong way. Especially the Leafs other bruising defenceman Mike Komisarek who has a history with Phaneuf's girlfriend, actress Elisha Cuthbert.

Not only are there are chemistry issues with Phaneuf, there also appear to be potential issues with J.S. Giguere and Jonas Gustavsson.

After Monday's practice, Ron Wilson told the media that Giguere would get the bulk of the starts in goal the rest of the way over Gustavsson. That's a sharp contrast compared to last week when Wilson stated that Gustavsson would get the majority of starts the rest of the season over then Leafs goalie Vesa Toskala.

Giguere was also asked what his role would be with the club. If he was there to mentor Gustavsson the way he mentored Jonas Hiller in Anaheim. Giguere however said his move to Toronto had nothing to do with being a mentor for The Monster.

"I'm not here to be his coach." Giguere explained.

So while Sunday's blockbuster trades did improve Toronto defensively, they also weakened the Leafs' offense substantially. It seems now with an even bigger lack of offensive skill, and some questions about team chemistry, the Leafs may not be in any better of a position than they were in on Saturday.

Though as Brian Burke said, the Leafs are still open for business. And this story will continue to unfold until trade deadline day on March 3rd.

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