| Brian Burke Pulls Trigger on 7 Player Trade
With the news already breaking today about Brian Burke's extreme makeover,Toronto Maple Leafs edition, let's take a closer look at who's in and who's out. First, the big news for the Toronto Maple Leafs in terms of marque names are the additions of Dion Phaneuf from the Calgary Flames and Jean-Sebastien from the Anaheim Might Ducks. With recent news that Jonas Hiller signed a four-year, $18 million contract with Anaheim, it was already speculated that Jean-Sebastien Giguere would be on the trading block. For the Toronto Maple Leafs who've lacked success with Vesa Toskala and Jonas Gustavsson, they were a perfect trading partner. A look at both trades in terms of salaries and players in/out for the Toronto Maple Leafs after the jump... 
Let's Make a Deal
Trade with Anaheim Mighty Ducks: Brian Burke traded Vesa Toskala and Jason Blake for the services of Jean-Sebastien Giguere. In Toronto this season, Vesa Toskala had an abysmal .874 save percentage and a 3.66 goals against average. Though Toskala has a $4 million cap hit, his value in this trade is that he has an expiring contract. In today's salary cap NHL, salary has to move in both directions for a trade to occur and an expiring contract has tremendous value in facilitating this. Jason Blake has two more years left on his contract valued at $4 million per season. He's had 10 goals and 16 assists in 56 games this season for Toronto. Jason Blake is already 36 years old. Jean-Sebastien Giguere lead the Anaheim Ducks to a Cinderella run for the 2002-3 season by making it to the Stanley Cup finals. Though they lost to the New Jersey Devils in a hard-fought game 7, they went on to win the Cup in the 2006-7 season. This season, Jean-Sebastien Giguere has been supplanted by Jonas Hiller as the Ducks' staring goaltender. He's only played in 20 games this season while posting a .900 save percentage along with a 3.14 goals against average. He has one more season left on his contract with a $6 million dollar cap hit. Trade with Calgary Flames: Who's in: Dion Phaneuf, Frederik Sjostrum, and Keith Auley. Dion Phaneuf wasn't selected to play for Team Canada at the 2010 Olympics this season. He has 10 goals and 12 assists in 55 games this season along with a +3 rating for the Calgary Flames. He brings with him a $6.5 million dollar cap hit along for the next four more years. However, Phaneuf is only 24 years old this season. Frederik Sjostrom is a 26-year-old Swede who's has just a single goal and five assists in 46 games this season. Sjostrom who plays wing has just one more year left on his $750,000 contract. Keith Aulie is a 6'6" defenseman who's playing for the Abbotsford Heat in the AHL this season. He was selected in the fourth round, 116 overall at the 2007 NHL entry draft. He has six points in 43 games this season. Who's out: Niklas Hagman, Matt Stajan, Jamal Mayers, and Ian White. Niklas Hagman is a 30-year-old Finnish winger who has 33 points in 55 games this season including 20 goals. He has two more years left on his contract with a $3 million dollar cap hit. Matt Stajan is a 26-year-old center who has 41 points in 55 games this season. He's an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season with his previous contract valued at $1.75 million. Jamal Mayers is a 35-year-old right winger who has 8 points in 44 games this season. He has a $1.333 million contract that expires at the end of this season. Ian White is a 25-year-old defenseman who has 9 goals and 17 assists in 56 games this season. He's listed at 5'10 and 185 pounds. He's an RFA at the end of this season. This year, his $850k contract expires. Bottom Line?
In terms of broad strokes, the Toronto Maple Leafs have improved their goaltending and defense at the expense of their offense. However, the Leafs are currently ranked 16th in the league in terms of goals per game scored while they are 30th in goals-against per game. Bottom line is that the Leafs were in dire need of a new goaltender. This should address an issue for the Leafs to help them improve which is a priority since the Boston Bruins acquired their top-2 draft picks for the upcoming 2010 NHL draft in the Phil Kessel trade.
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