The Toronto Maple Leafs have traded captain Dion Phaneuf, Matt Frattin, Casey Bailey, Ryan Rupert and Cody Donaghey in exchange for Jared Cowen, Colin Greening, Milan Michálek, Tobias Lindberg and a 2nd-round draft pick in 2017.
Dion Phaneuf was brought to Toronto in a big 7-player swap with Calgary back in 2010. I enjoyed his Leafs debut from the 3rd row.
Today, Phaneuf is a 30-year old with five years remaining on a seven-year contract he signed two seasons ago worth an average annual value of $7 million. Quite simply, he had to go.
I never hated him the way many Leafs fans did, but I understand where that anger comes from. He was our captain, paid to be a top pairing defenseman, but failing to deliver on the promise of either. It's time to move on....
Update:
On episode 74 of my podcast, Jeff Marek told me what went wrong for Dion in Toronto. Here's that short 1:45 clip.
