Consider the source but fun to speculate.  As soon as I heard the Leafs were shopping Phaneuf, I thought "he'd look great as a 3-4 pairing on the Jets but would they be willing to give up?"

 

hockeybuzz.com

 

There is a ton of speculation surrounding the two captains as we come into the draft and their names have been out in the rumor mill for many weeks now. This morning I talked to one of my favorite sources who is familiar with both of these situations to get a feel for whether or not the interest has picked up in the recent days:

"Spezza will have plenty of suitors. The Leafs are having a much harder time selling Dion Phaneuf to the NHL GMs," my source continued, " While it would appear he is the kind of defender most teams want, he is not only expensive, but doesn't have the greatest history of being safe with the puck in his own zone."

Phaneuf is also a very big personality to bring into any dressing room.

So far, the best I can tell is the Winnipeg Jets have shown the most interest in Phaneuf.

Spezza, on the other hand, is a much easier sale. At this point I am hearing the Wings, Sabres and Sharks could be among the teams interested...however, the Leafs could very much get involved with the Spezza trade game. They will have interest in him as a UFA a year from now for certain.

 

I'd rather spezza then him....

No thanks to Phaneuf. Wasn't it 2012 that he was voted the most overrated player in a poll of NHL players done by TSN?

over rated doesn't mean useless though. The way Flames fans and media talked and then Leaf fans and media he was hyped up as a #1 guy, he's not that and I hate the player a lot but he is a legit top pairing player, I just wouldn't want him to be the best defenseman on my team. 

He is what he is - a decent player who still gets overrated by media pundits.  Could be a top 3 D man on many teams - but don't ask him to be a leader.

 

Great shot, can hit like a truck, is a liability in his own zone at times, not the best puck distributor on the PP

phaneuf is ok, but at 7 million a year, he'd have to play first pairing minutes and we'd be in trouble. Look at the leafs the last 2 years, massive choke jobs.. dion captain of the team, they probably wont move him cuz nobody will give them what they want for phaneuf but if he is moved, i highly doubt winnipeg is even interested. Doesn't make much sense from a jets perspective here at all. 

Both Toronto and Winnipeg prolly stay (stuck) with their duds (Kadri & Phaneuf in TO, Kane & Bogo in Wpg). Our duds have more time to morph into players as Kane/Bogo both under 23 - Dion is nearly 30.

 

Prolly 80% chance Spezza is gone though.

 

Dion P. is probably 50/50

Kane around 20%

Bogo around 10%

 

A Bogo/Kane package prolly around 33% (Boston could actually use Kane's speed if he was going to a top-tier squad, Bogo could be decent in Beantown, too - he'd have to clean up those persistent mistakes that plagued him - Kane might need 30 or 40 games to get his awful habits repaired if thats even possible. All I know is they won't be able to repair the guy in Winnipeg - Boston would be a good experiment, especially playing on a top tier team with A+ goal-tending and a super system.

Why is Kadri a dud Nate? You realize he just had a 50 point season right? That's not bad for a young player playing 2nd line minutes. I am no Leaf fan but the anti-toronto bias is just something else. 

Bogo for Phaneuf with TO eating some salary is probably a deal that Toronto likes more than Winnipeg if only on potential.  But it doesnt really help either team.

 

Bryan Little for DP is interesting but Im not sure he's the type of player Leafs want.  And it certainly impacts the Jets' centre depth.

 

I think the Jets will make some moves to improve bottom six depth but thats about it unless Kane has quietly demanded a trade, then we're talking blockbuster.

 

But if TO is willing to eat some of DP's salary than Edmonton is foolish to not make a deal work.  They need a stud D and despite Phanuef's drawbacks, he's the perfect fit for the Oilers.

Bogo for Phaneuf with TO eating some salary is probably a deal that Toronto likes more than Winnipeg if only on potential.  But it doesnt really help either team.

 

Bryan Little for DP is interesting but Im not sure he's the type of player Leafs want.  And it certainly impacts the Jets' centre depth.

 

I think the Jets will make some moves to improve bottom six depth but thats about it unless Kane has quietly demanded a trade, then we're talking blockbuster.

 

But if TO is willing to eat some of DP's salary than Edmonton is foolish to not make a deal work.  They need a stud D and despite Phanuef's drawbacks, he's the perfect fit for the Oilers.

Your Edmonton scenario makes a ton of sense. Edmonton has a ton of high flyers to utilize in trade scenarios - the russian prolly being the one they most want to discard/trade. Winnipeg is the team most likely to stand pat as local fans have come to "enjoy".

When you see the level of play and ferocity of most Stanley Cup games you realize how far away the Jets really are!

 

Bogo for Phaneuf with TO eating some salary is probably a deal that Toronto likes more than Winnipeg if only on potential.  But it doesnt really help either team.

 

Bryan Little for DP is interesting but Im not sure he's the type of player Leafs want.  And it certainly impacts the Jets' centre depth.

 

I think the Jets will make some moves to improve bottom six depth but thats about it unless Kane has quietly demanded a trade, then we're talking blockbuster.

 

But if TO is willing to eat some of DP's salary than Edmonton is foolish to not make a deal work.  They need a stud D and despite Phanuef's drawbacks, he's the perfect fit for the Oilers.

Your Edmonton scenario makes a ton of sense. Edmonton has a ton of high flyers to utilize in trade scenarios - the russian prolly being the one they most want to discard/trade. Winnipeg is the team most likely to stand pat as local fans have come to "enjoy".

When you see the level of play and ferocity of most Stanley Cup games you realize how far away the Jets really are!

 

I dont think there is a direct relation between where the Jets are talent-wise and Winnipeg fans' acceptance of same.  I think Jets fans are highly critical.  We just keep buying tickets, merch etc no matter what.  The media was quick to forcast a five year plan (even though True North never actually said that) and I think most Jets fans are smart enough to see this is a re-build.

 

Look at Edmonton.  How many years have they been re-building?  How many tippy top draft picks did they get?  And they didnt have to deal with taking over an organization like the Thrashers and the Jets are better than the Oilers right now. 

 

I believe the Jets *will* be free agent active at some point, but it will be when we make the playoffs a couple of times, and there is enthuesiasm and confidence around the team thus making a couple of key FA's want to be here and making it worth the financial commitment for TN to go out and get those guys.  There is no reason to sign a star veteran right now...  I want to see this team grow together.  The biggest changes this season might be more youth movement.

 

We have a new number one line.  We will likely have a new 3rd line centre.  And surely will have at least two new bottom six regulars (plus the 3rd line centre).  Whether thats Ice Caps players or free agent signing, I dont know.  But I would suspect its youth movement not veteran help (though if we can find three more guys like Frolik, Im all for it).

Your Edmonton scenario makes a ton of sense. Edmonton has a ton of high flyers to utilize in trade scenarios - the russian prolly being the one they most want to discard/trade.

 

If the Oilers trade Yakupov then who plays wing on the 2nd line? Keeping in mind that secondary scoring was the Oilers biggest problem last season.... No the move the Oilers will make with the forwards is replacing Gagner with a different type of centre, but Gagner for Phaneuf doesn't work for the Leafs because they're looking for the same kind of centre the Oilers are and Gagner isn't it. The Leafs are pretty set on the wing as it. I suppose the Oilers could send prospect D for Phaneuf but again I doubt the Leafs want to trade a piece like that for futures. I guess they could build some type of package swapping someone like Petry for Phaneuf but the Oilers really don't have the depth required to make big moves. It only fills one hole by opening up another. 

It might also depend on who else the Leafs decide to part with, thus what other holes will they need to fill.

 

Id be interested in picking up Reimer.  But I doubt that evolves into a blockbuster involving Phaneuf and some other big core piece of the Jets.  Thats just not the Jets' style.  Could we trade a prospect for Reimer's rights conditional on signing him?  Maybe.  I could see that.  And a pairing of Pavs and Reimer would make me more comfortable.  On the other hand, it also depends where the Jets see their other goalies.  Montoya proved two things: he can play more games, taking the load off Pavs and he isnt the answer as a starter.  But it seems Hutch is the future.

 

Ducks will also have some goalie surplus.  Gibson is their guy.  Anderson is likely their other guy.  Hillier becomes expendable.  But do the jets want to upgrade (or add depth) in net?  Will Montoya be re-signed?  Will it be Pavs/Hutch next season or is Hutch AHL bound for a year of seasoning?