Dion Phaneuf Appreciation Thread

[diceman934]

Don't get me wrong, I wish we could add Bouwmeester to our blueline, but I'd still take Dion in a heartbeat over JayBo, who has found himself in a great situation compared to Phaneuf. Dion has consistenty outscored Bouwmeester by a substantial margin throughout their careers, but suddenly JayBo is putting up monster numbers... call it the Pietrangelo effect.

Who would you rather play with, Pieterangelo or Gunnarsson? How many points would Phaneuf have playing with a big, fast, talented budding superstar just entering his prime like Alex instead of Gunnar?

Which group of forwards are easier to play defense behind, the stingy Blues or the Leafs?

Re Dion's offensive numbers, I saw an interview two weeks ago. Dion said that Carlyle doesn't want his Dmen blasting away, looking for goals. He wants them to direct the puck at the net, looking for deflections and rebounds. That might explain why we only have 3 goals from our blueline all year (Dion has 2 of them). Franson, Gardiner, Rielly have all been shut out.

I enjoy your posts Diceman. You're one of the best posters here. And even though some of your criticism is valid, I think you're being a little hard on Phaneuf. No, he's not Chara, but he's on the outer edge of "elite" Dmen. And (unlike the braindead Dion bashers) you acknowledge that he's having a hell of a year.

On the HNIC pregame show, they were talking about how, with the new TV deal, the cap is projected to go as high as $80M over the next 3-4 years, or maybe even more! Even if they give Dion a raise, it will be a bargain a few years down the road. I shudder to think of this blueline without him. Guys that can do what Dion can do (be physical, excel in a shutdown role against the best players in the game, and still add significant offensive numbers) are extremely hard to come by. And when you get one, you keep him.

Thanks for the kind words.

My issue with Dion has always been his affect on the team.....

The cap is going to go, we all know this, but we will need the cap space to resign many players who will be required to remain competitive. The fact that Bolland and Lupul have been out and our record without them is not very good leads me to believe that leadership is an issue.

I like what Dion brings to the team on the ice, but he is not the player we need to drop a Max term deal on as I question his ability to lead the team. His contract and that of his team mates need to be moveable if things are not working out and a 8 year 7M plus deal makes Dion not moveable.

Dion at 6.5M for 5 or 6 years maximum is a good contract. We need the salary amount to be lower the longer the term to make him a asset that we can move if needed. Dion had a great year last year and as well this year, however we need to be thinking 3 to 4 years down the road.

I'm not in the group that feel that if we do not resign Dion we will be done....as long as we replace him with a physical D man who can play lots of minutes we would be fine. We have all kinds of D man who can replace his offense. We currently have 3 D man in the minors that will be ready for the NHL soon and we need to make decisions that is best for us long term.

Dion at 7M plus 7 years, is not a good decision in my opinion long term. This is the type of decisions that has hurt us historically and with the cap it makes us stagnate in our ability to improve.

Dion's value may be at it's highest right now, and trading him may help us long term. We are not a cup contender now but in 2 to 4 years we may be, however the decisions we make now effects the ability we may require to the pieces we will need to take the next step.

 

[achtungbaby]

Why are you responding to a question that was not posed or even directed at you? Your answer by the way is also wrong.

This the second time you've been told this week that it's a public discussion forum. People can respond to any comment they choose to respond to. Hope this helps the confusion.

 

[McGuiresMonsters]

He's been told to stop shooting, because, all he does is injure his own players!

He can't hit the net, but, he can take his own players heads off from the blue line.

I honestly needs a separate stick for when he's on the PP. His blade is extremely open-faced which is good for chipping pucks off the glass or lifting them to centre when playing defence, but it's no wonder so many of his shots go high.

I get scared for everyone standing in front of the net any time he takes a blast from the point.

 

[unassisted]

Just noticed he's a +14 after tonight. Good for 9th overall (as of this post).
I know +/- is a crappy comparison statistic, but it's pretty telling when the next closest Leaf is a +5.

 

[Pyromaniac3]

I'm not in the group that feel that if we do not resign Dion we will be done....as long as we replace him with a physical D man who can play lots of minutes we would be fine. We have all kinds of D man who can replace his offense. We currently have 3 D man in the minors that will be ready for the NHL soon and we need to make decisions that is best for us long term.

If we had that kind of defender available, why didn't we get him already? Could easily replace Franson/Fraser/Ranger or make Gunnarsson move down.

Trouble is those defenders are had to find and will likely require massive overpayment. Rather pay Dion 1-1.5mil more than give up more valuable assets.

 

[Faltorvo]

The burden of proof is on you for this because you are the one predicting doom and gloom for our salary cap situation.

Take a few days if necessary.

It's neither, we are not in a doom and gloom but we are also not in a great spot either.

I'll call it a "tricky" spot.

My number crunching has us buying out Liles and a 5,6m cap raise, even then ,we won't be able to or barely re ink what we have now.

 

[Faltorvo]

Actually I would say the reverse is true..I know so many Leafs fans that dont give a flying "you know what" about watching any other teams...they dont watch the playoffs because the Leafs usually arent present in the last decade. They admit as much...therefore they have these grandiose ideas of how great their team is..despite the actual efforts and results displayed on the ice. They compare Dion Phaneuf to the best defenders in the league when nobody else in the hockey world does. They seem to think that every player they acquire is a stud...they seem to dislike any criticisms no matter how valid of the team/ management/ coach or individual players.

Thats a lot closer to the truth than what you claim. And without hate for Phaneuf or gross admiration...he is a good defenceman..no doubt..especially when compared to the rest of the pathetic blue line that the genius spent 5 long years putting together...but he is NOT a Norris Candidate nor is he a Canadian Olympian.

The only player on the roster that can be claimed as a top 10 player at their respective position at the moment is Phil Kessel. That's reality.

Fair argument could be made for JVr at LW.

 

[Faltorvo]

Missing the point entirely...I am not in the bash Dion camp although I am in agreement that one has to step carefully before signing stupid agreements like Leaf management has been doing for years now. Sometimes you have to let players walk...shoulda done it with Bozak...shoulda done it with Clarkson..."Easy to say..but who would fill the gap..blah blah blah".. is the typical brainless argument.

...like these players are the only ones who will ever be able to play in their respective roles...please.

Its not better to OVERPAY for a player than let him walk and worry about filling his shoes. Not in a Cap world. Not if you plan to ever win anything. Perhaps in Pre-hardcap days you just give the guy the money to keep him....but big picture nowadays says no you dont. Are the Leafs on the cusp of winning anything at the moment? Delusional if your answer is anything but No. So why worry about it? You have months and even years to make trades..sign FA's, draft players...In Clarksons case its SEVEN Years to find another Clarkson.

Also my point was really how Toronto is more of a Leafs market than it is a hockey market. Who are we kidding? Leafs fans for the most part support the Leafs and not pro hockey in general. Can't even get fans to go out to watch the farm team FFS. And they are future Leafs but not present Leafs.... so not much interest. The games are actually affordable. My circle of friends are mostly Leaf fans and they couldn't give a crap about a playoff series featuring Chicago and San Jose. What the hell kind of "hockey fan" is that?

Also how many hockey markets in the NHL would pay the highest ticket prices for a mediocre to lousy product and sell out the joint every night for 50 years? One. Toronto.

The GTA is choked full of Hockey fans.

There is only so much free time to spread around.

Between following the Leafs, playing your Own games, kids to practice and their games, that adds up to a lot of dedicated hrs just to hockey.

 

[KessMeRandy]

Thanks for the kind words.

My issue with Dion has always been his affect on the team.....

The cap is going to go, we all know this, but we will need the cap space to resign many players who will be required to remain competitive. The fact that Bolland and Lupul have been out and our record without them is not very good leads me to believe that leadership is an issue.

I like what Dion brings to the team on the ice, but he is not the player we need to drop a Max term deal on as I question his ability to lead the team. His contract and that of his team mates need to be moveable if things are not working out and a 8 year 7M plus deal makes Dion not moveable.

Dion at 6.5M for 5 or 6 years maximum is a good contract. We need the salary amount to be lower the longer the term to make him a asset that we can move if needed. Dion had a great year last year and as well this year, however we need to be thinking 3 to 4 years down the road.

I'm not in the group that feel that if we do not resign Dion we will be done....as long as we replace him with a physical D man who can play lots of minutes we would be fine. We have all kinds of D man who can replace his offense. We currently have 3 D man in the minors that will be ready for the NHL soon and we need to make decisions that is best for us long term.

Dion at 7M plus 7 years, is not a good decision in my opinion long term. This is the type of decisions that has hurt us historically and with the cap it makes us stagnate in our ability to improve.

Dion's value may be at it's highest right now, and trading him may help us long term. We are not a cup contender now but in 2 to 4 years we may be, however the decisions we make now effects the ability we may require to the pieces we will need to take the next step.

is it possible that the reason our record isn't as good without them is because they're 2 of our top five forwards, oorrrrrr??? is it strictly on Dion that his team had a lesser record missing about 15% percent of their regular scoring. Just wondering.

 

[Breakingbad28]

After last nights game Dion is a +14 and the second player (four way tie) on the leafs have a +5 ;furthermore, Dion has been on the ice for 40Goals For (leads the team), but has been on the ice for 28 Goals Against —but 16 on PK, while Rilley has 24 Goals Against, and NONE are on the PK.