Toronto Maple Leafs: The Long-Term Benefits of the Dion Phaneuf Trade

It was a trade no one saw coming, but in the end the Toronto Maple Leafs have been presented with a great opportunities by dealing Dion Phaneuf’s contract.

If you asked people a year ago whether they believed the Toronto Maple Leafs could trade Dion Phaneuf without retaining salary, it would have seem impossible, especially to a division rival like the Ottawa Senators. However, in his time as President of the Leafs, Brendan Shanahan has shown that nothing is impossible.

As part of his plan to clean house, he saw David Clarkson, Phil Kessel and Phaneuf as pieces that were not going to fit, so he needed to move them. Some of the credit can go to Dave Nonis for trading Clarkson to the Columbus Blue Jackets for cap space, although Shanahan probably pushed for it.

Although the Leafs retained salary on the Kessel deal, they got a better return with Kasperi Kapanen and the first round pick as the building blocks for the rebuild. Unlike the other past deals made by the Leafs, the Phaneuf trade should be seen as the one with more gains, because of the long-term benefits they obtain from it.

Next: Getting rid of wasted cap space