Brian Burke Doin’ Work

Brian Burke was doing work this morning completing one enormous trade and another notable deal. Let’s get right to the details:

From the Calgary Flames, the Leafs will acquire D Dion Phaneuf, F Fredrik Sjostrom, and D Keith Aulie.

The Flames get F Matt Stajan, F Niklas Hagman, F Jamal Mayers, and D Ian White.

Analysis:

Burke dumps some “junk” in Stajan and Mayers (both are UFAs this year). Ian White has been one of the better Leaf defensemen this year but his size and lack of truculence probably turned Burke off. Hagman is the most valuable piece in this trade — the Finnish forward is signed for the next two years at $3M per and has 20 goals, 13 assists on the season.

Phaneuf can be a #1 defenseman. He hasn’t particularly played like he is this season, but it’s quite clear what he is capable of. Sjostrom is a defensive winger — the type of player Burke usually employs on his third line. He will probably stick around. Finally, Keith Aulie is a massive, intimidating defenseman. The 6″6 Canadian won Gold at the World Junior Championship. He was the Flames’ third best prospect according to Hockey’s Future.

I think the Leafs win this trade, but I don’t feel the Flames lost it. It’s something they had to do. The signing of Jay Bouwmeester made Dion’s place in Calgary questionable both on the ice and financially. The Flames are a better team from this day forward for this season while the Leafs improve the state of the organization for the future.

From the Anaheim Ducks, the Leafs acquire G Jean-Sebastien Giguire.

The Ducks get F Jason Blake and G Vesa Toskala from the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Analysis:

This trade is a lot easier to break down. Jason Blake’s $4M per was something the Leafs didn’t want any part of for the future. Toskala going to the Ducks is a simply salary swap to even out the deal as he won’t have an impact in the net for Anaheim (he’s neither good enough, nor will he play a lot due to the presence of Jonas Hiller). Vesa is also an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season.

The Leafs pick up a solid goaltender in Giguire. Burke says that this won’t change a thing in regards to the development of Jonas Gustavsson. The Leafs gain roughly $2M of cap space for this season in this deal while gaining approximately $2M from this year forward.

Again, both sides get what they want done. Burke grabs himself a better goalie and sheds Blake’s contract while the Ducks drop an expensive backup (since the re-signing of Hiller).

Going Forward

The Leafs are in a better position going forward. Outside of what was just talked about, there are still movable pieces on the Leafs. They have around $22M tied up in defensemen alone with Tomas Kaberle, Mike Komisarek, Francois Beauchemin, Jeff Finger, and Phaneuf.

This is a bit of a problem, but my instincts tell me Tomas Kaberle is on his way out for a valuable piece and that Jeff Finger will be a member of the Toronto Marlies in time. In the press conference this afternoon, Brian Burke said something to the tune of: “I won’t hesitate to put my Finger on the phone to send someone down.” Could be unintentional, probably is, but it’s likely to happen.

The last of the Leaf players to go at the deadline might be Alexei Ponikarovsky and Garnet Exelby. A second-rounder+ for Ponikarovsky sounds about right, while anything for Exelby will get the job done.

I think the loss to the Canucks really hit a nerve of Brian Burke’s last night. These are two huge trades that got done pretty quick (unless they were being worked on prior).

I’ll leave you on this eventful day with Dion Phaneuf signing you a wondeful tune. Enjoy! (Thanks to Pension Plan Puppets for the video)

Derek can be reached at derek@peteprose.com