What do you think happened to Dion Phaneuf?

[vadim sharifijanov]

it is kind of weird that every NHLer has to have physically the same wife , isn’t it?

i remember when brendan leipsic’s DM thread got leaked and ended his career, one of the big ones was him making fun of tanner pearson’s wife’s appearance, after she’d just had a baby and was no longer normatively thin or blonde. tbh that was the one that surprised me the least when you really look at the culture of these guys.

 

[ESH]

I think it’s worth mentioning that Phaneuf did have 2 pretty solid seasons in 11-12 and 12-13 for the Leafs. He was their #1 guy taking on the toughest assignments, and he was always dragging around some no-name beside him. His most common partners were usually Keith Aulie, Carl Gunnarsson, Mike Kostka, Korbinian Holzer.

 

[MadLuke]

I think it’s worth mentioning that Phaneuf did have 2 pretty solid seasons in 11-12 and 12-13 for the Leafs. He was their #1 guy taking on the toughest assignments, and he was always dragging around some no-name beside him. His most common partners were usually Keith Aulie, Carl Gunnarsson, Mike Kostka.

He played almost 35% more minutes that the closest other defenceman for the leafs those years, most EV by game, PP by game and SH by games.

I could be overvaluing nhl coachs judgment but a part of me now always make me respect a player that get used like that, even if it is Ron Hansey with Colombus, specially that the Leaf made the playoff in 2012-2013, most used by far guy on a playoff team, you must have been good in many ways.

 

[Big Phil]

I think by the time of the Toronto trade it was we’ll known that he was overrated. I lived in Calgary when it happened and there was utter dismay at how little the flames got for him and what a terrible trade it was. Assuming Sutter isn’t an idiot I think he got the most that was available which admittedly wasn’t much.

Here is the thing, I was around at that time and I can remember the trade to Toronto. When you consider the guy was 2nd in Norris voting in 2008 and then in January 2010 he is traded, you would think this was an exciting time. It wasn't. And I don't remember why I wasn't overly excited about him. Was it just sort of decided at that time that Phaneuf was declining and wasn't going to be the same player anymore? I don't know. Because in all honesty he should have still been good. People on here are saying his game wasn't translating into much but if he kept playing the way he did early on in his career he still would have been elite. It is just hard for me to believe, with watching him, that he was able to fake three seasons of good play and then it caught up to him. I think he was the real deal at one point. Something started playing with him after that but I think he certainly COULD have had the sort of career we assumed he might have.

I know people would say things like that at the time but it was always, always, always an insane thing to believe. Even in the most favourable outcome it's hard to imagine him having a better career than what Ovechkin or Crosby have achieved or were expected to achieve. It always just felt like it was just a way to say you liked hard hitting defensemen.

I know myself I thought "Look, the guy is a stud on defense, but there is no way I'd pass up Crosby or Ovechkin over him." He was a noticeably clear #3 out of that pack.

 

[MarkusNaslund19]

It did seem like a he lost a step physically, but I think he was basically a Phil Kessel of D.

Which is to say that on a good team, with better players doing the heavy lifting, both can be effective in flashy ways. Big hits and slapshots for Phaneuf, sprinting down the wing to fire a cannon of a wrist shot for Phil, but when counted on against the big boys, both get exploited.

Both were essentially top flight luxury items.

 

[MS]

Honestly, not a lot happened to him.

The thing here is basically just how people rate NHL defenders by how many PP points they score. If some 2nd pairing ES guy scores 50+ points on the back of 30+ PP points, he's a superstar. If some elite top-pairing defender doesn't get PP minutes, he'll never be more than a 'solid #2'. Dougie Hamilton gets more Norris votes than Jaccob Slavin or Chris Tanev despite being a vastly inferior player.

Phaneuf in Calgary was a 2nd pairing guy getting played as a 2nd pairing guy (with Regehr soaking up the high-leverage matchups) and scoring 20 ES points ... but then piling up 30-35 PP points to look great on the back of a hockey card.

Then the league figured out how one-dimensional he was on the PP and over-reliant on his shot, and managed to limit his effectiveness.

And then in Toronto/Ottawa he was a 2nd-pairing guy getting top-pairing minutes and scoring the same 20 ES points ... with only 10 PP points to finish with 30 points.

All that really changed were his PP numbers.

 

[Conspiracy Theorist]

 

[TheMoreYouKnow]

I think as a D-man to truly be great in the NHL you need the ability to control the game and set the tone. I feel like Phaneuf even at his best was just really good at chasing the game if you want to call it that.

 

[Voight]