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Captain Phaneuf

RedLeaf said:
Which Leaf player would you least like to lose to injury/suspension for a considerable amount of time?

IOW... Which players absence would have the most effect on the success or failure rate of this team?

Without question, in my mind, it's Dion.

I don't know about that, but he's playing his most consistent defensive hockey since coming here.  With Gardiner & Rielly zipping around, & Franson with a big point shot, maybe he feels he can concentrate on D?
 
I thought Phaneuf played his best game as a Leaf last night. Hope he can keep it up. The few games I have seen him play while I was in Tampa (leaf visits) he always seemed to be in the thick of play and one time about three minutes into the game sent one of the Tampa players over the boards into their bench with a thunderous hit.
 
It?s interesting to listen to the Sportsnet hockey show at noon. The talk so far is Phaneuf.

They?re speculating that he?s worthy of $50 million over 7 years.  He plays a ton of minutes, is on the plus with +/-, quarterbacks the powerplay, and is a rock on penalty killing.

I'm not sold on it...
 
Deebo said:
Lots of teams would be all over him.

I hope he is extended within the coming weeks.

Exactly. He's a legit 1st pairing defenceman, and a #1 on a lot of teams in the league. If he hits the open market this summer, he'd be the most appealing candidate for teams looking to upgrade their defence.
 
bustaheims said:
Deebo said:
Lots of teams would be all over him.

I hope he is extended within the coming weeks.

Exactly. He's a legit 1st pairing defenceman, and a #1 on a lot of teams in the league. If he hits the open market this summer, he'd be the most appealing candidate for teams looking to upgrade their defence.

His level of consistency should continue to improve as he gets more experienced, which has been his biggest issue since joining the Leafs. When he's at the top of his game, like he is so far this season, he's up there with the best defensemen in this league.
 
Deebo said:
I think he'd get more if he were to hit the UFA market.

I think that's probably true because of the way the cap is going to go up. Still, as I think a lot of people think re: Clarkson, there's something a little problematic about confusing the inflationary effect of the UFA market with a player's legitimate value to a club.
 
Nik the Trik said:
there's something a little problematic about confusing the inflationary effect of the UFA market with a player's legitimate value to a club.

In this case in particular, I think his value to the club is higher than the cap hit he'll get.
 
Deebo said:
Nik the Trik said:
there's something a little problematic about confusing the inflationary effect of the UFA market with a player's legitimate value to a club.

In this case in particular, I think his value to the club is higher than the cap hit he'll get.

Eh, I'm mixed on that. I think he's had a dynamite start to the season but I still have my doubts about him being the sort of #1 that a contender really needs.
 
To me, term becomes the real sticking point.  I have no issue paying Phaneuf $7M per year, as he'll easily earn that on the open market.  The issue becomes the 6, 7 or 8 years it will take to get him signed.  By the time he enters his mid-30's, the Leafs will (hopefully) have a very competant group of defensemen, led by Rielly and Gardiner, who will just then be entering the prime of their careers.

Right now, Phaneuf has tremendous value for the Leafs.  In 5 or 6 years, in a cap world (albeit an escalating one), I'd hat to have $7M tied up in a 3'rd or 4'rth defenseman.

All that said, I'd do $7.5 for 5 years.
 
Nik the Trik said:
Deebo said:
Nik the Trik said:
there's something a little problematic about confusing the inflationary effect of the UFA market with a player's legitimate value to a club.

In this case in particular, I think his value to the club is higher than the cap hit he'll get.

Eh, I'm mixed on that. I think he's had a dynamite start to the season but I still have my doubts about him being the sort of #1 that a contender really needs.

I'm fine with him being the #1 on a contender. But, ideally that's with another player of similar calibre (or say, a $6M defenseman.)
 
A Weekend at Bernier's said:
Right now, Phaneuf has tremendous value for the Leafs.  In 5 or 6 years, in a cap world (albeit an escalating one), I'd hat to have $7M tied up in a 3'rd or 4'rth defenseman.

Well, firstly, I wouldn't assume the Leafs will have 2 or 3 defencemen that are better than Phaneuf 5 or 6 years from now. If they do, they'll have one of the best defence corps in the league, since Phaneuf will still likely be pretty good at that point. On top of that, $7M on the cap in 5 or 6 years won't have the same impact it has now. While it obviously won't be #4 defenceman money, it could very well be #2/#2B type money, and there's a very good chance Phaneuf will still be that. He'll only be 29 by the time next season starts, and a number of very good defencemen still contribute at a high level at 35/36.
 
So I was listening to Bob McCowan talking hockey today (I know, big mistake...).  And he had the expected discussion with whatever person he was talking with about Phaneuf's contract extension rumours, and how overpaid he could end up being.  So he was trying to establish Phaneuf's standing as a defenseman in the league to roughly establish his value.  Paraphrasing, it went like this:

BM:  "Let me ask you this:  Would Phaneuf be the #1 defenseman on all 30 NHL teams?"
Other guy:  "No."
BM:  "Right.  So therefore we can conclude that Phaneuf isn't one of the 30 best defensemen in the league."

I swear to God he said that.  I don't know whether I consider that bizarre, grade school level argument and conclusion a greater affront to my hockey sensibilities or to my intellectual sensibilities.

No, Bob, you haven't established that Dion isn't one of the top 30 NHL defensemen, you've established he isn't one of the top 1 NHL defensemen.

 

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