In your opinion, how good do you think Phaneuf really is?

[ontariojames]

There seems to be a wide range of opinions on Phaneuf on here, so I'm curious to see what some of your opinions are on how good you think he is.

In my opinion, he is not a legit #1 dman and isn't even close and never will be simply because he doesn't have the hockey IQ. On a team with good defence I would say he is probably an ideal #3 or 4 at even strength. I don't think he was ever as good as people thought he was in Calgary, I think their overall good team defence covered up a lot of his shortcomings. Plus, he was a big,physical Canadian boy who could skate and put up big numbers offensively and I think that helped to make him overrated.

What do you guys think?

 

[Kin]

I've said this before but I've always thought that big players who can throw the occasional big hit get overrated defensively by wide margins. Phaneuf isn't good positionally, makes bad reads and frequently gets beat by faster players. There are good things about him but I think all of his flaws are compounded by an inconsistent effort.

He's not useless. He's got good offensive skills and plays a physical game but I really question where the team can go with him as the team's #1.

 

[ontariojames]

I've said this before but I've always thought that big players who can throw the occasional big hit get overrated defensively by wide margins. Phaneuf isn't good positionally, makes bad reads and frequently gets beat by faster players. There are good things about him but I think all of his flaws are compounded by an inconsistent effort.

He's not useless. He's got good offensive skills and plays a physical game but I really question where the team can go with him as the team's #1.

I've had this belief for awhile as well, regarding big, physical dmen being overrated. I believe this, along with his blocked shots numbers, is why Komi was so overrated, and Beauchemin to an extent, although he does seem to be capable of being a solid top 4 guy sometimes.

 

[ZBBM]

I've said this before but I've always thought that big players who can throw the occasional big hit get overrated defensively by wide margins. Phaneuf isn't good positionally, makes bad reads and frequently gets beat by faster players. There are good things about him but I think all of his flaws are compounded by an inconsistent effort.

He's not useless. He's got good offensive skills and plays a physical game but I really question where the team can go with him as the team's #1.

Bingo.  You can close the thread now.

 

[Tigger]

I've said this before but I've always thought that big players who can throw the occasional big hit get overrated defensively by wide margins. Phaneuf isn't good positionally, makes bad reads and frequently gets beat by faster players. There are good things about him but I think all of his flaws are compounded by an inconsistent effort.

He's not useless. He's got good offensive skills and plays a physical game but I really question where the team can go with him as the team's #1.

Bingo.  You can close the thread now.

Wait, no more opinions?

 

[Mack674]

I've said this before but I've always thought that big players who can throw the occasional big hit get overrated defensively by wide margins. Phaneuf isn't good positionally, makes bad reads and frequently gets beat by faster players. There are good things about him but I think all of his flaws are compounded by an inconsistent effort.

He's not useless. He's got good offensive skills and plays a physical game but I really question where the team can go with him as the team's #1.

Bingo.  You can close the thread now.

+1.

He's the player that we should have gotten in Komisarek, or rather, filling the void that Komisarek was supposed to as a physical presence on the blue line as a top 4 dman.

He's no Pronger.

EDIT: Someone compared him to Bryan McCabe in another thread and I think that's a fair comparison. I'm not really sold on him being the captain of the Leafs but when I look around the roster, there really isn't anyone else that stands out to me that would be able to fill that position any better than Phaneuf currently does. Unless maybe Nash or Getzlaf show up out of the blue...

 

[Tigger]

Well, except that Komisarek's best full season offensively is 13 points less than Phaneuf's worst full season offensively.

I don't mind Dion, he's not the best but he's far from the worst, in about as general a sense as possible.

 

[Mack674]

Yes, I forgot to mention minus the offensive aspect. Dion is far superior in that regard. I wouldn't consider him a shoe-in as an all star though.

 

[lamajama]

Yes, I forgot to mention minus the offensive aspect. Dion is far superior in that regard. I wouldn't consider him a shoe-in as an all star though.

He was named as the 7th D man for the next Olympics in a recent article
projecting the roster. I remember thinking "Yikes". I don't need a
turnover, wide-shooting machine in the Olympics unless they play for the other teams.

 

[ZBBM]

I've said this before but I've always thought that big players who can throw the occasional big hit get overrated defensively by wide margins. Phaneuf isn't good positionally, makes bad reads and frequently gets beat by faster players. There are good things about him but I think all of his flaws are compounded by an inconsistent effort.

He's not useless. He's got good offensive skills and plays a physical game but I really question where the team can go with him as the team's #1.

Bingo.  You can close the thread now.

Wait, no more opinions?

That is correct.  Once I have pronounced on something, that's it.  QED.  8)

 

[moon111]

Phaneuf is in the top 20 in shots, goals, assists, points, hits, and power-play goals/assists/points.
The only crack against him is his defense, which IMHO is a team wide problem which brings it back on the coach and so-called system they are using.  Burns, Lemaire, Hitchcock, etc... and Phaneuf wins the Norris.

 

[Boston Leaf]

He plays big minutes against the other teams best players, night after night... He is not a top 5 in hockey, but in a 32 team league he is a #1 for a team (IMO) YE she makes mistakes but Chara makes a ton of errors too.. He is masked by great goaltending that cover up for his errors

 

[Kin]

He is not a top 5 in hockey, but in a 32 team league he is a #1 for a team

I couldn't have put it any better.

 

[harps64]

Phaneuf is in the top 20 in shots, goals, assists, points, hits, and power-play goals/assists/points.
The only crack against him is his defense, which IMHO is a team wide problem which brings it back on the coach and so-called system they are using.  Burns, Lemaire, Hitchcock, etc... and Phaneuf wins the Norris.

Are you Brian Burke in disguise?

 

[cw]

He is not a top 5 in hockey, but in a 32 team league he is a #1 for a team

He's currently paid as a top 7 in cap hit. Arguably, overpaid some.

I was hoping for more when he arrived. Someone who could learn to dominate the game some - be a stud. I don't think that's in the cards. He hasn't become as strong defensively as I'd hoped - maybe he's lacking in the mental part of the game.

 

[moon111]

Phaneuf is in the top 20 in shots, goals, assists, points, hits, and power-play goals/assists/points.
The only crack against him is his defense, which IMHO is a team wide problem which brings it back on the coach and so-called system they are using.  Burns, Lemaire, Hitchcock, etc... and Phaneuf wins the Norris.

Are you Brian Burke in disguise?

Burke would never question the coaching.

 

[Coderaspberry]

He's a good #2 or 3 d-man, speaking purely in a "role" sense.  I had hoped he'd shore up the mental mistakes as he matured, but really, he's reaching "peak" years and for all of the good stuff he can bring, he's still prone to lapses in judgment that make me more than wary of labelling him a stud d-man.  Basically, he's at the bottom rung of upper echelon defensemen.

I think the Leafs have to hope that either they develop or luck into a #1 guy.

*sprinkles magic pixie dust on Gardiner*

 

[armche123]

Phaneuf is in the top 20 in shots, goals, assists, points, hits, and power-play goals/assists/points.
The only crack against him is his defense, which IMHO is a team wide problem which brings it back on the coach and so-called system they are using.  Burns, Lemaire, Hitchcock, etc... and Phaneuf wins the Norris.

Are you Brian Burke in disguise?

Burke would never question the coaching.

so true lol

 

[itsgametime]

he's 10th in defensemen scoring.  There are 3 other defensemen in the top 10 that have a plus/minus in the minus.  He is what he is - an offensive defensemen thats just ok in his own end and plays for a crappy team.  So tear him apart on here - if he played for Detroit he'd easily be top 5 in the league

 

[ZBBM]

He hardly hits any more. He skates like Frankenstein. He bungles the puck and gives up odd man rushes. He gives the puck away in our end time after time. Offensively he's good but not consistent.

Looking at his game overall he's not a top D man.

Like cw said -- disappointing.