Ritter's Rant: News from Around the NHL

Written By: Mark “The Hard Hitter” Ritter

The six-player deal between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Calgary Flames has gotten a ton of press over the 36 hours, and rightfully so given the parameters of the deal.

Word out of Calgary is that the fans are happy to see Dion Phaneuf being shipped out and, by all accounts, seem satisfied with the return.

From a Toronto standpoint, Leaf fans are all but ready to compare Phaneuf to Wendel Clark in the toughness department and seem satisfied to part ways with Matt Stajan, Nik Hagman, and Jamal Mayers.

Sure, there are more than a few Leaf fans that raised an eye when they heard Ian White was also included in the deal, but they’ll get over it.

The fact of the matter is, almost any NHL general manager or scout will tell you that 90 percent of the time the team that gets the best player back in a trade will usually win the deal. With that in mind, clearly Phaneuf is the best player in the deal, and therefore Toronto won the trade, plain and simple.

As for the Vesa Toskala trade? Well, let’s face it, there wasn’t exactly a huge demand for either Jason Blake or J.S. Giguere. Barring this season’s totals, which are unimportant, Toronto gets rid of Blake’s $3 million in salary and inherits Giguere’s $7 million contract, of which $6 million applies to Toronto’s cap.

What it amounts to is a $3 million cap hit for Toronto to incur in 2010-11, a figure that would have been on par with the one Brian Burke would have had to pay to another goalie on the free agent market.

Is Giguere the answer? Probably not, but he is great insurance, and his addition allows the Leafs to let rookie goaltender Jonas Gustavsson continue to evolve into the No. 1 goalie the Leafs feel he is capable of being.

The Montreal Canadiens just can’t seem to catch a break. Just when Canadiens fans were starting to talk about the playoffs, news hit that leading goal scorer Michael Cammalleri will likely miss six to eight weeks with a knee injury.

Through 56 games with the Canadiens, Cammalleri has notched 26 goals, adding 22 assists along the way. Amongst those who were acquired via free agency, Cammalleri has proved to be one of the better offseason signings, trailing only the New York Rangers' Marian Gaborik (another free agent signing) in goals scored.

Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury has a record of 27-15-1 through 44 games with a 2.55 goals against average and a .909 save percentage, which are impressive numbers. Missing from his totals? A shutout—Fleury has none this season.

With the acquisition of defenseman Dion Phaneuf come concerns that the Leafs have too much money invested in their defensemen for 2010-11. Mike Komisarek is slated to make $4.625 million, Tomas Kaberle $5.250 million, Francois Beauchemin $3.6 million, Jeff Finger $3.5 million, and Phaneuf $7.0 million, with Luke Schenn and Carl “Ouzi” Gunnarsson rounding out the top seven at $875,000 and $630,000, respectively.

A quick tally reveals that Toronto has nearly $25 million committed to their top seven defensemen. Clearly, Leafs GM Brian Burke will be looking to unload one or more of his big money defensemen on or before the trade deadline.

Candidates should include Finger (a player that admittedly will be hard to deal), Komisarek (who is injured right now), and, you guessed it, Kaberle (who has a no-trade contract).

If Burke can unload Finger, it will be a miracle; then again, people said that about Jason Blake too, and it happened. Komisarek, signed by the Leafs as a free agent this summer, would be the more likely candidate, but at $4.625 million over the next four years, it’s going to be pretty difficult to find a trade partner.

Anyone else out there get the feeling that the Leafs will be entertaining offers for Luke Schenn?

Despite the Washington Capitals' 10-game winning streak, there are those out there that still believe they will need to add some talent on the back end. It's no secret that the Capitals are deep up front. With that in mind, might Burke try to convince the Capitals to take the likes of Kaberle, Komisarek or Beauchemin off his hands in return for a little offense?

It’s tough to speculate which forwards might come back the other way. One player I’d like to see coming to Toronto would be Capitals defenseman Karl Alzner, who, like Schenn, has great upside and comes at a cheap rate.

Congratulations go out to Carolina Hurricanes forward Rod Brind'Amour, who no longer owns the distinction of worst player in the NHL. That “honor” now belongs to the Edmonton Oilers' Shawn Horcoff. His minus-25 rating is only one off Brind'Amour’s minus-24, but it does get Brind’Amour out of the basement...great job Rod!

Until next time,

Peace!