There is more and more smoke regarding Dion Phaneuf being on the trade block.  Larry Brooks of the New York Post has said the following about him:

Despite Calgary general manager Darryl Sutter's adamant denial that Dion Phaneuf is on the trade market, another NHL GM yesterday told The Post that the Flames are "desperate" to move the defenseman and the annual $6.5 million cap hit he will carry through 2013-14.

I've said it before and I'll say it again if a player like Dion Phaneuf is available Scott Howson and ownership have to do whatever it takes to land this guy.  He is EXACTLY what we have been lacking for years on the backend.  Players of his ilk just don't become available often.

There is some risk - as there is in any trade - but he's a guy I roll the dice on and don't look back.  Frankly my biggest concern about going after this guy isn't his play on the ice but his attitude towards coming to "lowly Columbus".  Let's face it - Columbus isn't exactly on a player's wishlist of top 5 places to play.  He doesn't have a no trade clause so he wouldn't have much of a choice but for the price I'm willing to play I want a motivated player who is up to the challenge of being a key piece in taking this franchise to the next level.

The proposal I've made before was this year's 1st, Filatov plus a salary dump in Juice or Commodore.  I'm going to revise that a bit based on what I've read Calgary's needs are which is cheap quality offense and a cheap dman to replace Phaneuf as this team is against the cap.

I give them the choice of the following:

1. This year's first, Filatov, Moore or Voracek
2. Stralman, Russell, Tyutin or Klesla
3. Commodore, Juice or Pahlsson
4. 2nd round pick

#1 gives them a young blue chip talent which is the meat of the deal.  I didn't include Brassard as I couldn't sacrifice the center depth.

#2 gives them a cheap but quality dman who can log a lot of minutes. They can go young and offensive with a guy like Russell or Stralman, an all around guy like Tyutin or a defensive guy in Klesla.

#3 gives the Jackets some salary relief and the Flames a veteran.  The Jackets would have to shed a veteran salary to make this work for them.  I'd prefer Commodore or Juice but would settle on Pahlsson.

#4 is icing on the cake to push this deal through. That is how much I believe we need this guy.

Time to geek out hockey style on you - here is an example of what our lineup could look like next year if say the deal went down as Voracek, Tyutin, Pahlsson and a 2nd round pick:

Umberger (4) Vermette (3.75) Nash (7.5)
Clark (2.5) Brassard (2.8)  Huselius (4.75)
Calvert (.650) UFA (1.5) Dorsett (.550)
Sestito (.585)  Murray (.650) Boll (.650)

Phaneuf (6.5) Hejda (2.0)
Stralman (1.5) Klesla (2.975)
Commodore (3.8)  Russell (1.3)
Methot (1.0)

Mason (.765)
Garon (1.2)

Total: 50.92 million

I'd hate to lose Voracek but you have to give to get and like it or not the Jackets are the deepest at wing.  The Jackets move 6.92 million in salary out while taking on Phaneuf's 6.5 which leaves them room to upgrade further if ownership budges on the budget. They key for Howson is getting them to bite on taking back one of the Jackets veteran contracts which would be the difficult part hence why I threw in a 2nd round pick as a cherry on top.

This lineup doesn't account for what Howson could move a Filatov for which with Phaneuf in the mix would allow for him to be dealt for forward help.  It also doesn't account for the player taken in this year's draft who could contribute soon and allows for John Moore to spend a year in the AHL.

The offense could use another player (perhaps this year's pick or give Filatov another look?) but I LOVE the looks of that D.  There is mobility in each of those pairs with Phaneuf, Stralman and Russell.  Phaneuf adds a major physical presence to that group and will eat a LOT of minutes.

There are a lot of other trade scenarios that could be considered but the bottom line is I believe the Jackets have the assets to acquire this guy.  They would sacrifice some future for the sake of now but they can afford to.

Here is an idea of what Phaneuf would add if comparing his stats from this year to those of our team.

Points: 20 (9th on CBJ)
+/-: (3rd on CBJ with players over 20 games)
TOI: 23:16 (1st on CBJ)
Hits: 128 (1st on CBJ)
Blocked shots: 56 (3rd on CBJ)
Missed shots: 56 (1st on CBJ)
Give aways: 43 (1st on CBJ)
Take aways: 15 (7th on CBJ)
Shots: 123 (3rd on CBJ)
Goals: 8 (6th on CBJ)

I think Phaneuf would be the first to say he's not having a great year - especially offensively by his standards - but this dude has averaged 51.5 points the past 4 seasons and is only 24!  This further fuels my theory that this guy wants and needs a change of scenery.  He needs to clean up his defensive end some and limit those turnovers but this is a guy who is the real deal and can be the anchor on the defense the Jackets have sought for years!

Enough with "hoping" a guy can player higher in the lineup - this is a guy who "can" play higher in the lineup!

..and what a shot from the point he possesses!

As Brian from the Jacket Backers tweeted me the other day -- there is no future if we don't win now.  Phaneuf would be a significant step towards winning now.

This may all be a pipe dream but it's what I need to hang my hat on as a fan right now.  Nothing will disappoint me more than to see this guy get shipped to another team for a price we were capable of paying (I still haven't forgotten about Erhoff).

My bet is if Phaneuf moves it won't be til the offseaon but if they are wanting to deal him now to shake things up the Jackets cannot afford to sit this one out.

Now go get em Howson!

-LTL

Comments (6)

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written by wesleylaw, January 24, 2010

As I have noted previously, Dion Phaneuf was ON THE BOARD and Don Boyd & Company wanted to take him BUT Dougie Mac MADE THEM TAKE ZHERDEV !!
I think it's a great idea, but remember we have had a lot of good players in this "sink hole" of a team attitude and the team has not improved, but THEY have dropped into the losing mentality that is the Jackets ... (1) player can (obviously) not turn this team around.
Sydor, Spacek, Federov, Foote (no matter how much you hate him > he could see the writing on the wall), Ray Whitney, Marchant, Beauchemin, Grant Marshall, even Jody for Christ's sake ...
Great player - Phaneuf - difficult locker room & more difficult ownership !!!

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written by wesleylaw, January 24, 2010

Sorry, don't forger Glencross !!!

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written by LTL, January 25, 2010

Completely agree wesleylaw. The addition of Phaneuf won't fix all the ails the Jackets. It would be a nice step to finally fill a significant hole on this roster but MUCH more work would be needed.

Another thing I'd like to see happen this offseason is a complete analysis and overhaul of the draft a development side of the hockey operations. We know MacLean screwed a bunch up (See your Zherdev example) but it's been three years and there still are major issues. I'm very concerned as to why all of our sophomores have taken big step backs this season. The Filatov situation concerns me. The lack of any real progress by our prospects in Syracuse concerns me. The fact we can never seem to mine a quality player out of the 2nd round concerns me.

Another big one is obviously a decision on coaching - is a new voice needed? Do other players need shipped out? How to change the losing culture that has resurfaced?

Lots more work to be done for sure.

Thanks for the comment as always!

-LTL

Whoa! Hold On!
written by Cobra, January 25, 2010

I agree with most of what you say....we need guy like Phaneuf; but it's a completely worthless move if you lose some of our most valuable assets. Two things in particular: Voracek and Russell are OFF the table.

Forever the optimist, I'm willing to chalk up a lot of this year's misery to the youth of this team. The fact is we have a lot of "sophmores" who are going through growing pains. But Jake is a beast. I see him becoming a potent power-forward that will give us a true 2nd-line scoring treat. If we let him go he will make us pay each time we play Calgary (or whoever) for years to come.

Next, Russell is the best skater on our blueline. Teams kill for D-men like him. If grabbing a player like Phaneuf is taking two steps forward, losing Russell is taking 2 steps back (maybe 1 step at this stage of Russell's career). It's a wash and not worth it. I remember reading about how many trade offers we had a couple summers ago that all involved Russell so I believe many other clubs see his potential as well.

My two cents....

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written by Mase1, January 25, 2010

WesleyLaw: Great stuff, my man! I totally agree that, while improved, this team's "country club" attitude is still an issue - Reference our lack of a boiling point, many times over.

Much like Freddie Mo's not gonna move - in fact, mark my words, he's resigned, at the end of the season - Hitch can't let his man crush leave us, right?

Same goes for Rusty - another man crush. 8 years in, and, does anyone really think he'd draw ANYTHING, on the market, had we let him go?

Sure, Russ may be a guy that intrigues a few teams, but, the fact remains he doesn't have a shot, from the point, that scares ANYONE. He also gets overwhelmed by bigger, more physical types. Mad props to him for taking that shot and coming back - this team could use a few more like him and DD.

As for Phaneuf, as I've said before, not gonna happen. This org's too cheap, and...who do you pair him with? Does this team have anyone who's athletic enough to match up with him?

LTL: Dead on (RE) the draft and scouting group! Sure, there's a new GM in charge, but, the jury's out on the 'Cuse players, as well as the following 1st and 2nd round picks:

- Cody Goloubef
- Teddy Ruth
- John Moore (not being picked for the US Jr World - while political, still a concern he didn't make the squad. Also remember: he was the 19th overall pick - those other teams knew something in passing over him)
- the endless no. 2 pick bums: Fritsche, ah, too many to mention

It was interesting - late in Dougy Mac's tenure, THN and TSN noted how lousy a job the CBJ did in their drafting - Dougy got all defensive, of course, but again, problems still remain in this area.

Year 9, and still no no. 1 D-Man or pairing, nor a no. 1 Center...

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written by LTL, January 25, 2010

Fair enough Cobra.

Consider this list for a sec:

Klesla, Nash, Leclaire, Zherdev, Picard, Brule, Brassard, Voracek, Filatov and Moore.

That there is a whole lot of potential and promise but so far I see just one star out of that entire group and we are talking 9 out of 10 lottery picks here.

That is horrendous.

Some could develop into them but judging by our track record I'm not holding my breath.

Would I rather keep Voracek and ship out Filatov...? Yep. Would I rather keep Russell and ship out Klesla? Of course.

The problem is I doubt there is a Phaneuf coming to Columbus with that package and the massive hole on defense remains.

Perhaps Howson can pull off that kind of deal -- if so I'd be thrilled but realistically I think he'll have to include some pieces we'd all rather not part with.

You know what they say - have to give to get.

Voracek and Russell may turn out to be stars but chances are better they turn out to be average to above average NHLers.

If I can turn them into the one stud defender we've always lacked I pull the trigger. Remember the team that gets the best player typically wins these things.

Anyhow. Great comments again by everyone. Love good hockey talk!

-LTL