Kypreos tweets that Ontario captains being shopped

[Stringer]

phaneuf... he can be traded for a bag of dicks for all i care.

Yup. A big o'l bag of dicks.
+1 and agree.

[Stringer]

am i the only one that misses the sundin/alffy era? now that was a rivalry.

There are still a few of us around.
And yea, that WAS an epic rivalry

[MXHockey]

Wouldn't mind spezza. Gagner and something for him would be alright. It would an upgrade for centers. But not sure.

Maybe Edmonton is in on both?

They may as well re-sign hemsky if they are going to trade for Spezza - they had sick chemistry.

[hockeymanG23]

I don't think phaneuf's ntc applies until his extension kicks in which would be July 1.

Like many players before him, I imagine he would be pissed signing a big extension with a ntc only to be traded before the extension kicked in.

Please correct me if I'm wrong, I'm sure the newest CBA had a rule referred to as the "Jeff Carter Clause" where, if a player signs a new contract with a NTC, that NTC kicks in right away even if the player is still in the last year of a deal they doesn't contain that security.

Even if the team wanted to move Dion right now I don't think they can without his approval, and who know, they might get it anyway.

[Axeman33]

As an Oilers fan, I'd have no issues shipping out Gagner and a 2nd in 2015 for Spezza. I don't think I would be comfortable paying much more then that considering his contract/contract status. You have to think if the Oilers are in fact sniffing around, an extension is being discussed prior to any trade going through. Probably a condition on the draft pick possibly.

As far as Phaneuf goes, I realize the Oilers would like to upgrade their D and go snag a top 4 Dman, but this is not one I would be too happy with. You have to think the Leafs are shopping Dion because they realize his contract is garbage and they don't want it. You don't shop your recently re-signed Capt unless you don't like what you see. I say let Toronto eat that crappy contract.

[Big Ev]

He's no doubt tired of being the scapegoat...a role he's played, undeservedly, for years. I can't think of another high-skilled, "soft" player that takes anywhere near the amount of heat Spezza does.

There will be a lot of Spezza-haters in Ottawa who will be in for a rude awakening next season.

Funny, I can't think of another high skilled player who has never won anything in his career.

[Excelsior]

An Ottawa TSN radio host just reported that he heard Spezza asked for a trade during the season. Makes sense seeing as Murray had offers at the trade deadline. Goodbye Spezza.

[2014olympicgold]

I would think that anyone who gets Phaneuf would get him on a pretty good deal. When the cap goes up, so will the salaries. So if a team can deal with that contract for 2 yrs, Dion becomes a very solid D for the price. The rule is 1 player cannot get more than 20% of the cap, so theoretically a player could make 14mill/yr if the cap goes up to 70mill next yr.

Also anyone a team trades for Dion will be such a step back for the leafs, no one on that team could play 20+minutes vs the top guys. So the leafs would have to look elsewhere in FA most likely. The top D-men in FA would be Boyle, Markov, Orpik, and Matt Greene (LA Greene). The only guy there I can see help fill the Dion void would be Greene, but I still can’t really see it.

[JagrBomb]

Please correct me if I'm wrong, I'm sure the newest CBA had a rule referred to as the "Jeff Carter Clause" where, if a player signs a new contract with a NTC, that NTC kicks in right away even if the player is still in the last year of a deal they doesn't contain that security.

Even if the team wanted to move Dion right now I don't think they can without his approval, and who know, they might get it anyway.

if dion rejected a trade, there is no way it would stay secret. once the fans found out, he would be boo'd every game, chants of "phaneuf sucks" etc, the fans would drive him out of toronto. same way they did with wilson...he's gone if leafs can find the right deal.

edmonton or calgary makes the most sense, leafs would obviously have to take back a lot of salary. gagner? or package him with reimer for wideman and rights to cammy?? i don't even know what phaneuf is worth to be honest, if they can get his contract off the books ill be happy. he's not a bad dman, he just clearly isn't a #1 yet is paid to be one. calgary would be the best fit, they have guys like giordano, butler, smid etc that can do the heavy defensive work, i think phaneuf could flourish playing there again. he's just clearly not a fit in toronto.

[golfguy1672]

Funny, I can't think of another high skilled player who has never won anything in his career.

Only thing that comes to mind is the entire San Jose sharks team haha

[kbooks]

Yes, yes, yes.

Be careful for what you wish for. Leafs traded Larry Murphy to Detroit for Future considerations. Larry Murphy. Two Stanley cups later and entry to the Hockey Hall of fame is what Detroit got for those future considerations.

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=554037

The next Leaf Scapegoat a few years later was Bryan McCabe and Leafs did a little better this time they got a 4th round pick and a crippled defenceman named Mike Van Ryan.

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=248234

Now in both cases the leafs had struggling teams and the fans had concluded that first Murphy and then McCabe were what was at the root of the teams problems on defence. So getting rid of the scapegoats was suppost to make the team better. We all know how those moves improved the Leafs.

Murphy, McCabe and now Phaneuf are not the cause of the problems with leaf teams. Yes they had frustrating parts to their games but who doesn't. Phaneuf is the most reliable guy on the Leafs back end. He plays well most nights against the other teams top players and was along with Gunnarsson the only plus player on the leafs D last season. Gleason -21, Franson -20, Rielly -13, Gardiner -3, Ranger -1

Now yes I wish Phaneuf would hit the dam net more often when blasting from the point. Yes I wish he did not have those mental lapses in his own end. But on most nights he is the most steady and reliable guy leafs have on the back end. What leafs need is to provide Phaneuf with better support on the back end without him the back end would be an even bigger disaster.

The guys I would like to see moved off the back end are Franson, Ranger and Gleason (not likely with his salary) to make room for a defensive stalwart like Granberg and even McWilliams both of whom are solid shut down D as they demonstrat night in and night out with the Marlies. A trade to pick up Edler would be the kind of step that would help improve the leafs disappointing back end not moving out the strongest asset leafs have on the back end. Yes Gardiner and Rielly will likely be better than Phaneuf in time if we don't panic and move them out (if they make a mistake and put the puck in their own net one night) but they are not even close to providing what leafs get from Phaneuf night in and night out (well most nights anyway).

[metaldude26]

If the Leafs can be convinced to eat anywhere between $1-2 million annually off that new contract then I'm all for the Oilers jumping in there. Same for Spezza though his deal has but a year left so there's less urgency.

I mean, Phaneuf and Petry would make a totally acceptable top pairing compared to the nonsense they've been trotting out these past couple of years. I would applaud such a move.

[kevinsrangers]

Phaneuf is the best D the Leafs have right now. Toronto fans have a history of blaiming all the teams problems on key D. Fans drove Larry Murphy out of town so he could get all star awards and Stanley cups elsewhere but was suposedly the reason Toronto was losing games. Bryan Mcabe was also driven out of town to have a number of solid seasons for Florida as there captain.

Now I would agree that Phaneuf is no Drew Doughty or Shea Weber but he is the best all round D in the Toronto system. Perhaps in a few years Rielly will surpase him but for now we should be trying to add support for Phaneuf rather than forcing him out of town.

couldnt have said it better myself.

[JagrBomb]

If the Leafs can be convinced to eat anywhere between $1-2 million annually off that new contract then I'm all for the Oilers jumping in there. Same for Spezza though his deal has but a year left so there's less urgency.

I mean, Phaneuf and Petry would make a totally acceptable top pairing compared to the nonsense they've been trotting out these past couple of years. I would applaud such a move.

word is the leafs have to retain salary if they are to move him. it would probably look better on the leafs to get a better return while retaining salary then to just trade him as a cap dump.

i don't think the sens need to retain any salary for spezza, his cap hit is 7M but he is only making 4M next season. would be perfect for a low budget team like nashville, phoenix etc.

what you think the oilers would need to give up for phaneuf? gagner seems to make the most sense. doubt yakupov would be involved.

[golfguy1672]

word is the leafs have to retain salary if they are to move him. it would probably look better on the leafs to get a better return while retaining salary then to just trade him as a cap dump.

i don't think the sens need to retain any salary for spezza, his cap hit is 7M but he is only making 4M next season. would be perfect for a low budget team like nashville, phoenix etc.

what you think the oilers would need to give up for phaneuf? gagner seems to make the most sense. doubt yakupov would be involved.

Probably Gagner and a prospect. Martin Gernat? Hopefully not a Marincin or Klefbom. But if Phaneuf only costs about 5-5.5 mill a year due to leafs picking up some money, I could live with it.

Anything to improve our defence really