The Senators Get More Serious With Phaneuf

The Ottawa Senators are six points out of a possible playoff spot in the Atlantic Division. It makes sense that they would go after someone who could help them on defense and to keep pucks away from the Ottawa net. Tuesday morning, they finally got their wish from a division rival.

That's right. The Toronto Maple Leafs and the Ottawa Senators just completed a massive nine-player trade centered around veteran defenseman Dion Phaneuf, who goes to the Senators. This deal comes less than 24 hours after the Winnipeg Jets re-signed Dustin Byfuglien to a long-term deal. This trade also removes the No. 1 available defenseman from the trade market. Since the Maple Leafs are trying to rebuild, it would make sense that they would benefit from removing Phaneuf's contract from their pile, which had a $7 million cap hit.

Also involved in this deal going to Ottawa are forwards Matt Fraction, Casey Bailey and Ryan Rupert, as well as defenseman Cody Donaghey. Going the other way are defenseman Jared Cowen and forwards Colin Greening, Milan Michael, and Tobias Lindberg. The Leafs also receive a second-round pick in 2017.

I'll be honest. I did not expect the Maple Leafs to be trading with their biggest rival in the Ottawa Senators. The Flames and Oilers don't even seem to trade with each other too often either, so this comes as a big surprise. Not only do the Senators get more defensive help, but they also get rid of contracts they felt were ugly to them. Unfortunately for them, these deals do not involve a long-term commitment, so Phaneuf could easily walk away from the Senators if he wanted to. I don't think that's gonna happen, though. He understands that Ottawa is trying to snag a final playoff spot and having a bit of defensive help does that. On the other side, Toronto is rebuilding itself and having a player that might take a cap hit is not something they want.

The only value Toronto may get out of this trade is young Jared Cowen. He can be improved, but he has been bad so long for the Senators he might actually be bought out if he doesn't improve with the Maple Leafs. Milan Michalek is the same way, although he has not played up to what he used to be.

I think the Leafs went in the right direction here. They knew they were rebuilding and they wanted to get rid of some of the players that they felt shouldn't be part of that rebuilding process, and Phaneuf was not part of the plans. Plus, Phaneuf is already getting past his prime and not worth the $7 million cap hit. Now they give that contract to Ottawa and did a good job of helping to penalize Ottawa in terms of money and salary for the near future.