Reaction to Phaneuf deal

Today was supposed to be catch-up day for PTSR, and instead Burke wrecks my plans with the Phaneuf deal. I keep getting asked about "the trade", so here's my thoughts. Leafs needed to act now. Absolutely no way Burke can afford a bottom 5 finish this year.

Add those two elements together and the flames and leafs were perfect trading partners.

Being married to a Calgarian, we watch Flames games very regularly and Phaneuf is nowhere near the defenceman he used to be (this year or last.) Leafs gamble on Phaneufs contract (6.5 for the next 4 years.) If he's a bust, leafs are in trouble with a contract that's iron clad. On the other hand, the Flames do get salary relief next year with most of the acquisitions from the Leafs being UFAs, and in this salary cap era that cannot be under estimated.

Sutter is probably one of the best minds in hockey. There's no way he lets Phaneuf go unless there is a problem and feels the contract is too much of a risk for the performance he is getting. On the other hand, Burke must feel he can 'rehab' Phaneuf and is willing to take a risk.

I spent the better part of the day listening to both Toronto and Calgary sports radio and was surprised that Leafs nation wasn't jumping for joy about this one and had skepticism about Phaneuf. On the other hand, Flames nation was generally upset that they did not receive more for Phaneuf.

Two other quick notes:
- The parallels between the Flames/Phaneuf relationship and Sens/Redden relationship is eerie
- Amazing work done by Darren Dregger from TSN on this trade, particularly from twitter end

Stay tuned to see what Bobcat thinks of the deal later on Monday at Prime Time Sports!