I am unimpressed.
Hagman and Stajan are 2nd line players added to a team comprised almost entirely of 2nd and 3rd line players. Mayers adds nothing to the team that they don't already have. White is an unknown commodity (to this blogger) but I find it difficult to believe he is an upgrade over Dion. And Toronto - the ultimate hype machine - hasn't built him up much.
Dion did not ask to be traded. He did not want out. He's crushed by this trade. Listening to his media scrum (and good on him for talking to the media) this is apparent.
The trade is a clear sign that Sutter had not anticipated adding Bouwmeester and he has filled the organizational role that Dion had. I do not believe this is a reactive "panic" trade, a terrible January does not alter the long term structure of an organization this stable. Still, my initial reaction is this is a lousy trade.
The Flames add no elite players. No draft picks. No prospects, in fact they trade away a very promising prospect in Aulie. The obvious weaknesses of the team - powerplay, playmaker for Iginla, restocking draft picks - are not addressed.
I like Hagman, but at $3M he is not a bargain and his value is not comparable to that of a 24 year old defenseman in the mold of Phaneuf. Stajan is a nice piece, but (yet another) borderline top 6 and a pending UFA - a "guy" that easily could have been acquired at the trade deadline for a much lesser asset.
Pronger, obviously a better player but on the other side of hill, was unloaded for Sbisa, Lupul, two 1st round picks, and then some.
Kessel was traded for two 1st round picks (likely including a top 3 this offseason) + a 2nd.
These were both moves made with desperation. Made in the offseason which removes the need to balance salary, but the returns are comically disparate.
Even if Dion needed to be traded (for one reason or another), Sutter made a bad trade from an asset management perspective. Was he really worried that this trade would fall through and he'd have to take a much lesser package at the deadline?
Another thing to consider, the Flames add four NHL plaayers and only subtract two. This necessitates waiving part of this already poor return or (more likely) it results in Lundmark and Backlund being sent back down; so the analysis of the talent being added to the forward ranks must include those players being removed from the team in the short term (and this return is all short-term).
Why Phaneuf? Looking at the Flames defensive core (before the move was made), it was young with a high ceiling and great athleticism. But not so young the team couldn't have spared a guy like Cory Sarich - who likely could have been moved for a pending UFA (especially if paired with an asset like Keith Aulie). Wouldn't that have accomplished the balancing of salary dispersion this trade seems to be about?
I hope that Dion pushed himself out of town with the rumoured conflicts between himself and team leaders, because if this is a trade made only to "rattle cages" and "shake things up" then I am not optimistic about this team or it's leadership.
