Trading Season is Officially Open

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Thanks to Toronto Maple Leaf's GM Brian Burke, you can consider trading season officially open. With the Winter Olympics just around the corner, many fans and experts weren't sure how the festivities would impact this year's trade deadline. Looking at the calendar, there would only be a few days between the end of the Olympic games and the NHL trade deadline. Consequently, many believed that trades would come later than usual to avoid any surprising injuries that may come from the two weeks of grueling international hockey. Well, with Burke pulling the trigger on two big trades this weekend, I think it's safe to say that he's looking to make his moves early. What will everyone else do?

With the Maple Leafs sitting in the basement of the Eastern Conference, it was clear that the club needed a shakeup. So, with that in mind, the former Anaheim Ducks GM looked to rebuild his backend first with a goaltender he knew well...JS Giguere. The 32 year old goalie was the backstop that took Burke's club to the Stanley Cup finals and won in 2007. With Jonas Hiller signing a four year extension and currently holding the Number One position in Anaheim, it was a no-brainer that Giguere would be willing to waive his no-trade clause. In return for Giguere, the Leafs sent former Sharks goalie Vesa Toskala and winger Jason Blake to the Ducks...a worthwhile trade in my opinion. Toronto gets a new Number One goalie to help stop the puck...something they need badly as they've let in the most goals in the NHL so far this season (197).

As a Sharks fan, I must ask, "How does this affect San Jose?" Well, to be honest, the trade probably won't have that much of an impact on us. Granted, we won't have to face Giguere anymore, but with Hiller as the top Anaheim goalie, we weren't going to see him that much anyway. The same can be said of Toskala coming this way...we're probably not going to see Tosk in the nets very often either. As for the addition of Blake, who has 10 goals and 16 assists through 56 games this season, I don't see him changing our outlook very much at all. He's a solid winger and has played in the West before (with the Kings early in his career), but I doubt he will be the silver bullet that will destroy our season.

However, the other Burke trade will have much more impact...on the entire Western Conference in fact. Over the weekend, the Calgary Flames sent Dion Phaneuf, Fredrik Sjostrom and prospect Keith Aulie to Toronto for forwards Niklas Hagman, Matt Stajan, Jamal Mayers and Ian White. Now that Burke had his goalie, apparently he decided to work his way outward by looking at how he could improve his defense...well, with the addition of Phaneuf, I'd say that was a pretty good start. The 24 year old, hard-hitting defenseman is already a star in the league as he's proven to be a big-time playoff player...on offense and defense. It's quite shocking that the Flames would let a player like that go, but if we can land Joe Thornton, then Toronto can land Dion Phaneuf.

Early analysts' opinions say that the Leafs are the winners here given that they landed Phaneuf and Aulie, a solid prospect who is 6'6" and plays D. However, the Flames did get a number of guys who are capable of putting the puck in the net...something that will help Calgary's weak offense. In fact, between all of the players coming to Calgary, they account for 47 goals which may not sound like much, but for the Flames, that number represents 34% of their "goals for" so far this season.

So again, I must ask, "How does this affect us?" Well, for starters, I'm sure glad that Phaneuf is out of the Western Conference. That guy simply had our number...whether it was knocking out one of our star players or scoring the big-time goal late in the game, Dion was always a pain to play against. As for all of the talent coming to Calgary, it probably does make them a better team now that they have a lot more scoring depth. However, after losing their star defenseman and locker room leader, it's difficult to say if the trade will translate into success. Personally, I would love to know the answer to that question given the fact that the Flames are currently sitting in the 8th playoff spot and could be facing the Sharks in the first round of the post-season.

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