Just over a year ago, when Leafs GM Brian Burke and assistant GM Dave Nonis pried Dion Phaneuf away from Calgary, many had wondered whether he had it in him to get back to his previous, Norris trophy nominated level of play. When Phaneuf entered the league in the 2005-2006 season, he impressed with his big open ice hits and booming shot from the point, netting 20 goals and 29 assists for 49 points. In 2007-2008, he was nominated for the Norris trophy as the league’s best defenseman, putting up 17 goals and 43 assists for 60 points. He went on to post 3 goals and 4 assists in the playoffs as the Flames were eliminated in the first round.
Since then, his play has declined somewhat. He’d been caught out of position trying to make a big hit, and has been burned by several forwards flying by him with their foot speed. His point totals declined to 49 in 2009, and just 32 last year between the Flames and Maple Leafs. With 10 goals and 12 assists through 49 games with Calgary, there were rumblings of a rift in the Flames locker room, and the deal was made. Toronto sent forwards Matt Stajan, Niklas Hagman and Jamal Meyers, along with defenseman Ian White, in exchange for Phaneuf, forward Fredrik Sjostrom and defensive prospect Keith Aulie, in what has turned out to be one of the most one-sided deals in recent NHL memory.
Phaneuf posted just 2 goals and 8 assists in his final 26 games with the Leafs last season, causing many to wonder whether he really did have it in him to get back to an elite level of play. After management gave him the Leafs captaincy to start the season, a position vacant since Mats Sundin left in 2008, many were wondering if the team was putting too much faith into someone that was reported to have been a locker room problem. In the first half of the season, Dion didn’t do much to appease the fans’ worries, potting 1 goal and 10 assists while missing 16 games with a deep cut to his leg and a subsequent infection.
Once he was returned from the injury, it seemed things started to turn around gradually. Leafs goaltender James Reimer would begin his rise to prominence around the same time as the calender flipped to 2011. Phaneuf was playing better in his own end and started seeing more minutes as a result. We started to see Phaneuf’s trademark open ice hitting, as he re-appeared on a few highlight reels in early January. It wasn’t until the Leafs dealt Francois Beauchemin and Tomas Kaberle, freeing up power play time for Phaneuf, that we started to see a real change.
In the last 22 games, Phaneuf has 6 goals and 9 assists for 15 points, with 3 of those goals coming on the power play. He now sits at 7 goals, 19 assists for 26 points in 55 games, a 0.47 PPG pace that would see him net 39 points over the course of an entire season. While it’s not quite the numbers he put up in his early days in Calgary, over his last 22 games his PPG is 0.68, a pace that would give him 56 points over the course of a season.
Phaneuf is just starting to grow into his role as captain, logging the most minutes on the team with an average of 24:54 per game, while logging an average of 1:50 per game on the penalty kill and an average of 3:52 per game on the power play. He is second to only Luke Schenn in shifts per game. He leads all Leaf defenders in goals, assists, points, power play goals, shots and plus/minus. He is second to Luke Schenn in hits, and is 6th on the team in blocked shots, in spite of missing 16 games.
While hindsight is always 20/20, the general rule in the NHL when trading is that whomever got the best player won the deal. Even though Phaneuf had fallen off of his usual level of play in Calgary, he was clearly the best player of the seven exchanged in that deal. However, at $6.5 million per season through the 2014 season, the Leafs were taking on significant risk in acquiring Phaneuf, banking on his ability to return to form. While there were many dressing room rumblings in Calgary, it seems that none of that has followed Phaneuf to Toronto.
Last night, Phaneuf showed management exactly what they were hoping for when they acquired him. He came out and dominated against Carolina, factoring into all 3 Leaf goals with 2 goals and 1 assist, coming up with key plays on the penalty kill while logging 26 minutes, finishing a +1 and being awarded the game’s first star, in what was a must-win situation for the Leafs. It was another strong outing by James Reimer, who made 36 saves for the win.
The Leafs sit 4 points back of the idle Buffalo Sabres and just 2 points back of Carolina after last night’s play. They will need to be pretty much perfect from here until the end of the season, but if the Leafs are to see post-season play this year, it will be in large part due to the leadership and play of their captain.
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Born and raised in Northern Ontario but currently living in Toronto, Tyler wouldn't have it any other way. Home to his two favourite sports teams, Tyler revels in the day to day sports experience that is Toronto. 