I imagine the pervasive train of thought in Leaf Nation is that the Leafs are now Stanley Cup contenders? :)

They lost some offensive punch, and Dion is not exactly going to tighten up a blueline that has had problems in their own end all year. I don’t think Toskala is the reason they gave up so many goals.

It all depends what they do with that cap space, if they do anything with it down the stretch.

I really think these are excellent moves for the Leafs. Clears a bunch of dead wood, opens up some cap space, and provides a cup winning mentor for their goalie of the future in Gustavsson. Opens up a spot for Kadri, if they so desire, as well as other Marlies to audition for next season.

Also, Komisarek, Schenn and Phaneuf is a nice base for the blue line. Wonder if Kaberle will waive his NMC to allow Burke some more maneuvering?

I don’t think I’ve ever heard as much bitching in my life in the NHL as I’ve heard about Phaneuf this season from Calgary fans and the press. Is anything actually wrong with his play? Or is this just a case of nutso Canadian fans/press? Does Brent Sutter just hate him for no reason? I looked at his stats and they look OK to me. He shots per game is down, but otherwise his numbers look OK. Heck, if he played here with those numbers we’d probably be raving about him. I’m finding it really hard to believe that a young guy who was considered a franchise defenseman could really be as bad as Calgary people seem to think he was. Any thoughts from someone who might actually watch the Flames enough to know?

0vermars – I’m not sold on Komisarek and think he is seriously overrated simply because he’s awful offensively. A lot of hockey fans actually believe that the more offensively incompetent a d-man is, the greater a player he is. I’m not saying you’re one of those, I’m just making a general observation. The best thing that happened to the US Olympic hockey team was the news that Komisarek won’t be able to play for them. Cough cough – I think Zach Bogosian might be available…

I really dont see how this is such a great trade for toronto. They have absolutely no offense now. theyre top scorer now has 19 goals (ponikarovsky) and kessel has been very streaky. i believe he went 12 games without a goal earlier.

And is a guy who has 20 goals this season on an awful leafs team a spare part?
Or a great young defender with good offensive upside who many leafs projected as being a captain?
Stajan, who has 41 pts in 55 games is also a “spare part?”

I’m just not seeing how these guys are as bad as everyone is saying. Yet Phaneuf (22 pts), who has been regressing in points, +/-, and ppp the last 2 seasons, is supposedly a future norris winner and all around star?? What am I missing here? How was this a good trade for Toronto?