There are plenty of teams that would do that, so no.


But just FYI, that 7mil was his asking price.... The start of negotiation. You can bet it comes in below 7mil.
- burn

Doesn't matter what other teams would do...the Islanders would give essentially 2 1st rounders and a 2nd for a 30 year old Vanek....doesn't mean the rest of the teams have to. As for the Leafs, 7.1 million over 7 years would be mistake for the Leafs and Phaneuf's hockey career, as for his home life....he'll be set.

Both are eligible to return as of today I believe. both have missed 10 games.
- Big_Lightnin

getting those two back are gonna be huge, especially Kule!!!

Oh well, if that is the biggest thing we have to female dog about, and we are winning..

I'll take it.
- bixll

I wish Ballsak would disappear, but whatever.
- bixll

he's gonna lose his job by the time he gets back from LTIR... so there's that

Doesn't matter what other teams would do...the Islanders would give essentially 2 1st rounders and a 2nd for a 30 year old Vanek....doesn't mean the rest of the teams have to. As for the Leafs, 7.1 million over 7 years would be mistake for the Leafs and Phaneuf's hockey career, as for his home life....he'll be set.
- ThePresident

phaneuf wioll be resigned at roughly the price tag you just mentioned.

do yourself a favour and just accept it.. it will hurt less in the long run

however.. if he continues to play the way he has this year i really dont mind.. right now he's one of the tougher defenders to play against.

he's gonna lose his job by the time he gets back from LTIR... so there's that
- Big_Lightnin

Well, at least we have something new to look forward to. More good news.
Glass half full.

corsi stats are useless. I have heard of them and let me tell you, if you think you can justify a roster decision based on some numbers that a nerd came up with in his parent's basement instead of real tangibles, you'd be mistaken. Dion is consistently in the top of the league in minutes, hits and since he came into the league, he is top or top 3 in D scoring (huge debate over that in this thread the other day).

Dion is a rock who obviously makes mistakes as he plays so often against top end players. He is also a high risk/reward player so again he will make mistakes.

He is physical, provides offense and plays half the game. He may not put up as much offense as he did when he was younger, but he was a nightmare defensively when he was younger; i'll take that trade off any day. As he gets older he will continue to get better defensively (probably regress offensively but again, i'll take that).

Our d corps without him would be horrendous defensively, and there are no UFAs available and no top D available, I don't care what you offer. So to your point, i'll take tangibles over Corsi anyday.
- clark_griswold

I find Phaneuf to still be terrible defensively. He pinches at the wrong times, he takes stupid penalties (usually because he is out of position), and he doesn't use his boy in the one place he should (in front of our net). He would be a very good #3 D-man, but I do not consider his a $7M d-man. That is Weber territory and he is not even close to the d-man Weber is.

getting those two back are gonna be huge, especially Kule!!!
- Leaffan8113

oh hell ya.

Kulemin-Bolland-Raymond 3rd line is going to be nuts. an actually checking line that can contribute offensively on a regular basis!!

what will they think of next?

It's the market now, you can't control that.

You either lose Phaneuf for nothing, or pay up. Right now, Leafs need and want him, so they're going to pay up. As long as they do they're best to keep the # as low as possible.
- peddy-93

If I could trade Phaneuf to EDM for their 1st round pick, I'd do it...considering it is going to be top 5 whether Phaneuf is on the team or not....it's clearly a great market right now considering what Garth Snow just stupidly set the bar at with the Vanek trade....I could only imagine the package in return for Phaneuf, would be very beneficial I'd imagine.

People have to understand two important things when comparing contracts. 1. Inflation and 2. The difference between signing an RFA and a UFA.

1. Inflation: Every year the cap rises(this year is an exception that won't happen until next CBA agreement). This means that every year, the prices that players can demand also increase.

2. RFA vs. UFA: For a UFA teams have to think of what the player could get on the open market. Phaneuf easily gets $7mil for 7 years on the open market.

All that said, Phaneuf IS CRUCIAL to the Leafs and he is one of the top 30 D-men in the league. With 30 teams, that means he's a legit 'ACE'. Will he ever be in the Norris conversation. Highly unlikely but he's still an elite D in the NHL.

My problem isn't with the $7+ per year, its the length. If he wants 8 years that's okay, but he needs to take a lower per year amount. It's not likely a guy like Phaneuf will be in his prime at 34-35-36 years old.

$50 mil over 8 years averages to $6.25 per year. I'm okay with that. Dion would be leaving some money on the table - but he should give a bit of a hometown discount. He's already rich as $&%. Why not please your fan base a bit?

Doesn't matter what other teams would do...the Islanders would give essentially 2 1st rounders and a 2nd for a 30 year old Vanek....doesn't mean the rest of the teams have to. As for the Leafs, 7.1 million over 7 years would be mistake for the Leafs and Phaneuf's hockey career, as for his home life....he'll be set.
- ThePresident

It does matter if you want the player.

All the numbers point to him being worth it.

Doesn't matter what other teams would do...the Islanders would give essentially 2 1st rounders and a 2nd for a 30 year old Vanek....doesn't mean the rest of the teams have to. As for the Leafs, 7.1 million over 7 years would be mistake for the Leafs and Phaneuf's hockey career, as for his home life....he'll be set.
- ThePresident

Phaneuf is not the only breadwinner in his family. Pretty sure they'll be ok.

That said, I'm gonna go out on a limb and bet Nonis doesn't just bend over and take the first offer from Camp Dion.

Whaddya think?

I left 6 pages ago, are people still talking about letting Phaneuf go with no plan to replace him?

phaneuf wioll be resigned at roughly the price tag you just mentioned.

do yourself a favour and just accept it.. it will hurt less in the long run

however.. if he continues to play the way he has this year i really dont mind.. right now he's one of the tougher defenders to play against.
- Dozzer

I know +/- is a useless stat, but he's a +7 this year playing against the best players in the league, with an average defensive partner.

That's impressive, haters just choose to ignore facts because they dislike the player.

Phaneuf is not the breadwinner in his family. Pretty sure they'll be ok.

That said, I'm gonna go out on a limb and bet Nonis doesn't just bend over and take the first offer from Camp Dion.

Whaddya think?
- Big_Lightnin

It's ok, there were a lot of people that said Kessel doesnt deserve 8 mil per year.

I left 6 pages ago, are people still talking about letting Phaneuf go with no plan to replace him?
- Bigzby

No, Tacos, sweet delicious tacos

Mike Zeisberger ‏@Zeisberger 2m

Carlyle: "Lupul will be game time decision." Same defence at Sat meaning Liles will not play. #Leafs

People have to understand two important things when comparing contracts. 1. Inflation and 2. The difference between signing an RFA and a UFA.

1. Inflation: Every year the cap rises(this year is an exception that won't happen until next CBA agreement). This means that every year, the prices that players can demand also increase.

2. RFA vs. UFA: For a UFA teams have to think of what the player could get on the open market. Phaneuf easily gets $7mil for 7 years on the open market.

All that said, Phaneuf IS CRUCIAL to the Leafs and he is one of the top 30 D-men in the league. With 30 teams, that means he's a legit 'ACE'. Will he ever be in the Norris conversation. Highly unlikely but he's still an elite D in the NHL.

My problem isn't with the $7+ per year, its the length. If he wants 8 years that's okay, but he needs to take a lower per year amount. It's not likely a guy like Phaneuf will be in his prime at 34-35-36 years old.

$50 mil over 8 years averages to $6.25 per year. I'm okay with that. Dion would be leaving some money on the table - but he should give a bit of a hometown discount. He's already rich as $&%. Why not please your fan base a bit?
- Njuice

No, Tacos, sweet delicious tacos
- AngryWhiteMale

that was in the last blog like 4 hours ago

oh hell ya.

Kulemin-Bolland-Raymond 3rd line is going to be nuts. an actually checking line that can contribute offensively on a regular basis!!

what will they think of next?
- Big_Lightnin

i like.

any word on lupul for tonight?

I left 6 pages ago, are people still talking about letting Phaneuf go with no plan to replace him?
- Bigzby

Mike Zeisberger ‏@Zeisberger 2m

Carlyle: "Lupul will be game time decision." Same defence at Sat meaning Liles will not play. #Leafs
- faceto27

expected as much. Calling up somebody else would have been a slap in the face (or... another slap in the face... ) even if it is just as insurance.

leave all the kids down to keep playing and learning.

It's ok, there were a lot of people that said Kessel doesnt deserve 8 mil per year.
- peddy-93

thankfully he had a good start though. Media would have had fun if he only had 2-3 goals by the 20 game mark like last year

Man, the Phaneuf hate in here.... so many ridiculous comments... do some of you even hockey?

Grabo has 5 goals and 10 pts in 12 games, he's +2, and is 52% on faceoffs.

I wish Bozak could be that aweful


- Big_Lightnin

all the points in 2 games. He's on the 3rd line now. But yeah, he's awesome