Hogtown begins the Dealing...

This past Sunday, Toronto GM Brian Burke tried to share things up on his roster by dealing Ian, White, Matt Stajan, Niklas Hagman and Jamal Mayers to Calgary for Dion Phaneuf, Fredrik Sjostrom and Keith Aulie. He then kept the trade winds blowing and dealt Jason Blake and Vesa Toskala to the Anaheim Ducks for Jean-Sebastien Giguere.

Fantasy Impact: In Toronto, the Leafs should now have two bona-fide studs on the PP with Kaberle (who’ll do the passing) and Phaneuf (who’ll do the shooting). The latest rumor out of Calgary is that Phaneuf and Jarome Iginla had got into a “donny-brook” that led to fisticuffs in the locker room and it was pretty evident that the chemistry in the locker and on the ice was suffering. The Leafs are now trying to build from the crease out with Giguere as the team’s #1, Phaneuf and Kaberle mentoring Schenn and Carl Gunnarson while Komisarek and Beauchemin should round out the Leafs likely top 6. Aulie is the next coming of Hal Gill and a potential Leaf in 2011. The Leafs PP should be better, but Phaneuf’s +/- is about to take a pounding. The Leafs are going to have to call up a bunch of guys from the farm to finish out this season unless they turn Ponikarovsky into 3 new forwards. Jeff Finger seems to be a defencemen that Bruke would like to move, and is he does, he'll get at least one forward coming back that can play in the NHL. Giguere still has this year and next on a big $ deal, so he’ll start plenty. The Leafs won’t be hugely improved and we’re not convinced the Giguere can capture the magic he did in the ’02-’03 season. That said he’ll be better than Toskala and Gustavsson – at least in the short term. For the Flames, they get some depth and some cap relief. It will be intriguing to see if Stajan adopts the #1 pivot, or the #3. Rumors are swirling that the Flames are trying to move Jokinen to the Rangers as well. Stajan is a younger version of Daymond Langkow and may see his point per game drop with a reduced role and minutes. Hagman stands a strong chance or helping the goal starved Flames as he has 20 goal potential and seems not to need prime minutes to achieve them. Ian White actually has more points than Phaneuf and has decent offensive skills. He’s worth a flyer in deeper leagues’, but he’ll be the 3rd option on the PP from the point after Boumeester and Giordano. The Ducks, well they get a little cap relief and some forward depth in Blake who may be so relieved to escape the pressure cooker that is Toronto, that he might put up some decent fantasy numbers. Watch him closely as he’ll get second line duty right away.