Leafs make first blockbuster deal, acquire Phanuef and Giguere

January 31, 2010 – Adam Steevens

Brian Burke makes two significant moves to open up the deadline dealing in 2010:

Sunday morning, Burke remade the Maple Leafs with two bold moves, acquiring defenseman Dion Phaneuf and goalie J.S. Giguere in separate trades.

“We are in buying and selling mode,” Burke said during his morning press conference to announce a deal for Phaneuf, who come aboard with two other players from the Calgary Flames in exchange for four players.

The complete deal was Phaneuf, right wing Fredrik Sjostrom and prospect Keith Aulie to Toronto for forwards Niklas Hagman, Matt Stajan, Jamal Mayers and defenseman Ian White.

Burke was back at the podium later in the day to announce the acquisition of Giguere from the Anaheim Ducks, Burke’s most recent post before assuming the reigns in Toronto last season. Sent to Anaheim were goalie Vesa Toskala and winger Jason Blake.

Wow. The struggles of the Toronto Maple leads obviously came to a head, and Burke made some aggressive deals to improve his team. The Leafs did give up a ton in this trade, but Dion Phaneuf and Giguere make this team much better. Anaheim is breathing a sigh of relief, because they had just recently signed Jonas Hiller to a huge, $18mil extension, and Giggy was sitting on a no-trade clause. If they couldn’t manage to trade him, they’d have to buy out the remainder of his contract.

Calgary is also struggling, and while Phanuef is a talented player, Matt Stajan, Ian White, Jamal Mayers, and Niklas Hagman add a ton of depth to a struggling Flames roster. Toronto gave up a lot in this deal, but I think this is a solid move from Burke – Dion Phanuef is a skilled, two-way defenseman, and J.S Giguere, although he’s had his own struggles in Anaheim, is a Conn Smythe Trophy winner.