Burke's Rights and Wrongs on January 31st, 2010

On Jan.31^st, 2010, the Toronto Maple Leafs received D Dion Phaneuf, F Fredrik Sjostrom and F Keith Aullie from the Calgary Flames in exchange for F Matt Stajan, F Niklas Hagman, F Jamal Mayers and D Ian White. The Leafs also acquired G J.S. Giguere from the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for G Vesa Toskala and F Jason Blake. The general manager of the Leafs, Brian Burke, coordinated these trades. Although you may think Phaneuf and Giguere are pretty good deals, there are some areas they could have improved further. Such as why not to trade White away and why they should have received another player from the Ducks.

Ian White at the beginning of this season was their 6^th defensemen. Over this season and until this trade, in my mind opinion, and that coach of Ron Wilson’s, White has moved up to the 3^rd or 4^th spot. He is also one of the best penalty killers the Leafs had on defense. He has a great shot from the point gathering 9 goals, 26 points and a rating of +1 over 56 games. Instead of trading White, maybe they should have traded Garnet Exelby, Jeff Finger or Mike Komisarek to Calgary, because in my mind White is more talented than other defence they could have traded. Maybe this would have had helped our goaltending and we wouldn’t have to make that Ducks trade.

I don’t think that even the stellar play by J.S. Giguere in his first two games, earning two shutouts, makes his play equal to the likes of Jason Blake and Vesa Toskala. Now Vesa, he definitely isn’t equal to Giguere but Jason Blake’s play was definitely very close to calibre of J.S. So perhaps Saku Koivu or Kyle Chipchura should have been pulling on a Leafs sweater on February 2^nd. Also Jason Blake was a first or second liner so I think that a third liner or one of the second or third defensive pair should have been sent to the Leafs.

So if the Leafs got a defensive forward like Kyle Chipchura and had kept Ian White then their defensive game would probably have improved. Most of the criticism for the Leafs is coming from them creating big leads and then, in the third period, they lose the game by giving away goals or taking penalties. With the acquirement of Phaneuf and Giguere, they improved their defence while getting a big booming shot from the point.