Trading Phaneuf Gives Flames Better Balance

Trading Phaneuf Gives Flames Better Balance

By Adrian Dater
January 31, 2010

The conventional wisdom on any trade usually goes: whoever gets the best player in a trade, wins the trade. It's true that the Toronto Maple Leafs probably did get the most talented player in their
blockbuster deal with the Calgary Flames early Sunday morning. And it's true that Toronto could be the "winner" of the deal in the long run.

But for right now, Darryl Sutter hit a home run for the Flames. I picked them to win the Stanley Cup before the season, and I feel better than ever about that pick now.

How could the Flames give up a 24-year-old, already proven, two-way D-man who can make a pretty play at the offensive end and knock your block off in the defensive end? Why would Flames GM Sutter give up an ‘A' player for four C-pluses or B-minuses?

Think of it like a spaghetti sauce. The Flames with Phaneuf were like a sauce overloaded with garlic. They already had plenty of garlic, with A-list players such as Jarome Iginla, Robyn Regehr, Jay
Bouwmeester and Miikka Kiprusoff.

The Flames now have a better balanced sauce with the four Maple Leafs in the mix. Matt Stajan is a nice pinch of oregano. Ian White is a nice dash of basil. Ian White is the cilantro and Jamal Mayers is the
thyme.

Sound goofy? Maybe. I'm hungry right now.

But to carry this metaphor one last clichéd step, it's clear there were just too many cooks in the kitchen in Calgary. The Flames had four big-name guys in front of Kiprusoff, but when they weren't out there, the ice got a lot thinner. And while nobody has said it on the record, it's been well known around the Flames that there were some chemistry problems in the locker room.

Is it all Phaneuf's fault? No. But some of his off-ice TMZ-ish behavior raised questions about his commitment to the team and embarrassed the organization.

The Flames got two pretty good forwards in Stajan and Hagman, a serviceable utility guy in Mayers and a defenseman - White - who actually had more points (26-22) than Phaneuf at the time of the trade.

Phaneuf has scary talent, but look at his numbers: 10 goals, 22 points and a plus-3. He had 11 goals all of last year, and a minus-11. This is supposed to be the next Norris Trophy winner?

The fact is, he hasn't been as good a player since signing a mega contract with Calgary. Maybe this was just the shakeup he needed to get his focus back, which is why, as I said, Brian Burke could be
laughing last over this deal.

But for now? The Flames got the complementary spices they needed for a championship recipe.