Everyone has their own opinion about Maple Leafs Captain Dion Phaneuf. There are two ends of the spectrum; those who think Dion is still valuable to the Leafs and those who think he has absolutely no worth and should be traded for absolutely anything in the off season.
Where do you fall?
Before everyone gets their panties in a knot let’s take a look at this magnificent Maple Leaf team since Phaneuf was acquired by the Leafs in the blockbuster trade that brought him to Toronto…
Garbage.
That’s how bad the Leafs have been in the overall picture. Goaltending has been up and down from season to season; oddly enough that’s exactly how the Leafs seasons have gone as well. Red hot for half of a season and ice cold for the next. Consistency has been a huge problem for the Leafs over the years as they have collapsed in the second half of two seasons in a row now. Who is to blame?
Well, I will tell you the coaching and management is a great place to start. That doesn’t mean the players are not responsible; but if you are putting together a team of players and they are simply not great; you likely won’t get great results. That’s just the name of the game.
No bonified number one center, since Sundin. No bonified #1/2 defenceman to help out Dion Phaneuf.
Sure top pairing defensemen are rare and hard to come across; but you have to at least find a suitable partner for your defense when they will be matching up against other teams best players. Not only for 5 on 5 hockey; but for killing penalties and of course putting the puck in the net on the powerplay.
Hockey is a team sport, like most sports if your team sucks mostly everyone on the team will struggle. This is no different for Phaneuf than it is for Bernier or Kessel. The team infront of Bernier gives up a lot of scoring chances and a half assed effort back checking…do we fully blame Bernier? I sure as hell hope not, considering he’s been hung out to dry more than beef jerky. Do we blame Kessel for not scoring 40 goals this season and leading the team into the playoffs with his elite offensive talent? No, we don’t, but we sure do like to complain about Phil. Just like we do with Dion, who has had nothing but AHL caliber partners in his time in Toronto playing for the Leafs.
Take a look around the league; everyone loves to compare Phaneuf to players on other top pairings. Wait a minute; all of the teams we compare him to are contender teams. So let’s get this straight…Phaneuf is horrible because he’s not as good as some of the top D men in the league’s partners. Funny isn’t it? His partners are horrible. Most of them are back in the AHL and won’t be coming back to the NHL.
It’s everyone’s fault that this team is crap and in dire need of a full ‘scorched earth’ rebuild.
You get Phaneuf a legit top pairing partner and you would likely see his game improve.
You partner up Phil Kessel with an excellent center and you would surely see his point total rise; and likely his plus minus out of the gutter.
You improve the Leafs team overall and Bernier’s save percent should go up, and his goals against should go down.
As for Phaneuf, he’s had a tough go in Toronto. His production has slowed down, his minutes have stayed about the same; but he still gets beat to the outside and he still misses that 110 mile an hour slapshot more often then he should.
Is he a great captain for the Leafs? Surely not, he doesn’t seem to have the respect from his teammates and he lacks the hard hitting grit that he once had and established himself as one of the biggest hitters in the league.
Is there still time for Dion to turn around his game in Toronto?
Will Phaneuf be traded before he has time to turn it around? This I think will be the case.
Detroit was quite interested in Phaneuf at the deadline, perhaps they persue him in the off season….I can picture it now, Phaneuf playing with Kronwall, two of the hardest hitting defensemen in the game. Playing on a good team, with a solid foundation of players in an excellent system behind Babcock; Phaneuf may thrive.
Sometimes the grass is greener on the other side, and moving Phaneuf to the right team is going to end up hurting the Leafs more than helping them unless they are able to rip off another teams GM, which is unlikely with Nonis calling the shots; even if Shanahan is holding his hand.
Time will tell how it all unfolds; and whether or not Dion gets back on track to the force that he once was.
Thanks for reading.