Leafs sign Dion Phaneuf to 7 year extension

[Kin]

Whatever your opinion of Dion is, Jonas Siegel correctly pointed to the fact that no other defenceman in the league has faced more difficult competition in the past 2 years than Phaneuf. That in itself warrants the term and money. Period.
http://www.extraskater.com/players/qual_comp

Sure, if you're defining quality by a very narrow definition. But the problem with that statistic is that the Leafs' being lousy with regards to Corsi as a team is going to unfairly weigh the "quality of competition" against the team. If everyone looks like a superstar when they play the Leafs then it'll look like the Leafs defense is going up against nothing but superstars.

From a practical standpoint do you really think that Phaneuf is going up against better players than Weber or Suter?

 

[2badknees]

He got a 500k raise and fans are up in arms? I don't get it.

Neither do I. He's one small piece of the team, not the entire bench.

I was listening to 1050 radio and O'Neill was yapping on and on about how it was a huge raise (?), and how he didn't do anything to deserve it, and how it would cripple the team going forward, etc etc....

The irony, considering how O'Neill was such an underperformer in a Leafs uniform. I wish someone had called in to remind him of that, so he could have gotten off his high horse. I can't stand the guy when he's on the radio.

 

[Madferret]

Up to this point what would you guys say are Phaneuf's captaincy defining moments in Toronto over the past 4 years?

Just so I know what you would consider a defining moment as captain. What were Alfredsson's in his 14 years as Ottawa captain?

Shooting the puck at Niedermayer and trying to kill him.

Guaranteeing wins and then failing to deliver them.

Leaving.

Taking a pay-cut to help the team stay competitive <thrice>

Leading the team & playoffs in scoring on route to the Stanley Cup finals

 

[freer]

He got a 500k raise and fans are up in arms? I don't get it.

Neither do I. He's one small piece of the team, not the entire bench.

I was listening to 1050 radio and O'Neill was yapping on and on about how it was a huge raise (?), and how he didn't do anything to deserve it, and how it would cripple the team going forward, etc etc....

The irony, considering how O'Neill was such an underperformer in a Leafs uniform. I wish someone had called in to remind him of that, so he could have gotten off his high horse. I can't stand the guy when he's on the radio.

Oneil got paid a 1.5 million and score two goals a year. I find that a little hard to say he was over paid.

 

[hockeyfan1]

Any word if there is a NTC or NMC?

Limited no trade I believe (more than 10 teams).

As per THN:
If there is a silver lining for those who are worried Phaneuf will turn into a depreciating asset sooner than later, it?s that Nonis was able to procure a modified no-trade clause in the new contract. Phaneuf still can be traded prior to the contract kicking in next season and must provide a list of teams (TSN reported the number as ?more than 10?) to which he would accept a trade. Giving the franchise roster flexibility is important to the Leafs GM.

 

[Tigger]

Right now it's a fair deal.  Worry what it's going to look like in a few years though.  Picturing a $7 million Bob Rouse.

If it's the Bob Rouse that won two cups, ok.

Also, even Rouse made a big chunk of change as a free agent after never putting up the kind of numbers Dion has, I remember thinking it was pretty huge for the time ( pre cap, still ) over million a year in Detroit in the mid '90s.

 

[Tigger]

Whatever your opinion of Dion is, Jonas Siegel correctly pointed to the fact that no other defenceman in the league has faced more difficult competition in the past 2 years than Phaneuf. That in itself warrants the term and money. Period.
http://www.extraskater.com/players/qual_comp

Strictly speaking, it's not simply a matter of just facing the toughest competition, it's facing them and being successful at it (and I'm not arguing his success or lack of it either way).  But certainly it's a fact that can't be overlooked.

I believe it is safe to say that this year Phaneuf is pretty good in shutting down the best opposition players. Let?s hope it remains so.

Yeah, I don't recall as much from last year but this year he has been very good against the top players from other teams on a regular basis.

 

[Syntax McLawdog]

Taking a pay-cut to help the team stay competitive <thrice>

Leading the team & playoffs in scoring on route to the Stanley Cup finals

Everything else aside, this is a reasonable counterpoint. Also it made me laugh. The truth is always funny.

Dion deserves this extension, because this is what the market dictates. Life with a dump package instead would be embarrassingly bad. And, like a level head mentioned earlier, it is not an immovable contract. This is one more step toward stability, which....

For the next little while, i think i'm Swedish.

 

[hockeyfan1]

Phaneuf's cap hit of $7M will be fifth highest among NHL defencemen:

Doughty
Weber
Letang
Campbell
Phaneuf

Phaneuf's QoC at 30.3% ranks first in the league, and fifth amongst defencemen.
Corsi is -3.7%
Fenwick -2.5%

Phaneuf's season by the numbers:
2009-'10  (81 games)  G12  A20  Pts 32 (Calgary/Toronto)
2010-'11  (66 games)  G8  A22  Pts  30 (Toronto)
2011-'12  (82 games)  G12 A32  Pts  44  (Toronto)
2013        (48 games)  G9  A19  Pts  48  (Toronto)
2013-'14  (39 games)  G4  A11  Pts  15  (Toronto)


Source:  B/R

 

[Bullfrog]

Phaneuf's QoC at 30.3% ranks first in the league, and fifth amongst defencemen.

How is that possible?

 

[dappleganger]

Whatever your opinion of Dion is, Jonas Siegel correctly pointed to the fact that no other defenceman in the league has faced more difficult competition in the past 2 years than Phaneuf. That in itself warrants the term and money. Period.
http://www.extraskater.com/players/qual_comp

Is that because he didn't have to face the Maple Leafs?

 

[hockeyfan1]

Phaneuf's QoC at 30.3% ranks first in the league, and fifth amongst defencemen.

How is that possible?

Here are the QoC stats as per player position (in this case defence):
http://www.extraskater.com/players/qual_comp?min_gp=25&sort=tottm_f&pos=D

Here as per overall (all skaters):
http://www.extraskater.com/players/qual_comp?min_gp=1&sort=tottm_f&pos=S

 

[hockeyfan1]

The fact that Phaneuf's QoC rating/ranking is tops among NHL defencemen merely shows how much competition he faces in terms of opposing forwards and the quality of the opposition.  Also the fact that he logs more ice time among the Leafs d-men, etc.

 

[losveratos]

Phaneuf's QoC at 30.3% ranks first in the league, and fifth amongst defencemen.

How is that possible?

Here are the QoC stats as per player position (in this case defence):
http://www.extraskater.com/players/qual_comp?min_gp=25&sort=tottm_f&pos=D

Here as per overall (all skaters):
http://www.extraskater.com/players/qual_comp?min_gp=1&sort=tottm_f&pos=S

I think he meant how is it possible that he's first in the "league" but 5th in dmen.

 

[hockeyfan1]

Phaneuf's QoC at 30.3% ranks first in the league, and fifth amongst defencemen.

How is that possible?

Here are the QoC stats as per player position (in this case defence):
http://www.extraskater.com/players/qual_comp?min_gp=25&sort=tottm_f&pos=D

Here as per overall (all skaters):
http://www.extraskater.com/
players/qual_comp?min_gp=1&sort=tottm_f&pos=S

I think he meant how is it possible that he's first in the "league" but 5th in dmen.

There should have been a correction.  It should have read:

Phaneuf's QoC at 30.3% ranks first amongst defencemen and
fifth in the league.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

I think people make too much of a big deal about Phaneuf leading the league in QoC. Right now his rating among opposing forwards is 27.7%. There are 32 other defencemen within 1% of that rating. Generally speaking any defencemen who plays against a top line on a regular basis will have a 26-27% rating. Your 2nd unit will be 25-24 and your bottom pairing will be in the 23-22 range. That's really all the stat shows.

Siegel said earlier that no other defenceman faces tougher competition than Phaneuf. Chara's rating is 0.2% lower than Phaneuf's, does anyone really think Chara isn't generally speaking going up against the exact same players that Phaneuf is? Carlye isn't the only coach that always tries to match up his top pairing against the other teams top unit.

 

[Kin]

I think people make too much of a big deal about Phaneuf leading the league in QoC. Right now his rating among opposing forwards is 27.7%. There are 32 other defencemen within 1% of that rating. Generally speaking any defencemen who plays against a top line on a regular basis will have a 26-27% rating. Your 2nd unit will be 25-24 and your bottom pairing will be in the 23-22 range. That's really all the stat shows.

Siegel said earlier that no other defenceman faces tougher competition than Phaneuf. Chara's rating is 0.2% lower than Phaneuf's, does anyone really think Chara isn't generally speaking going up against the exact same players that Phaneuf is? Carlye isn't the only coach that always tries to match up his top pairing against the other teams top unit.

I think this is a very good point and I think that highlights one of the problems with that particular statistic. Phaneuf and Gunnarsson are both among the league leaders. Ryan Suter isn't. Suter, however, plays significantly more minutes than either guy. His ice time is to Phaneuf's more or less what Phaneuf's is to Paul Ranger.

So because there's a limit to how many minutes a first pairing defenseman can play against an opposing team's top line, Suter is going to be playing his minutes against the other team's best but also eat up some minutes against "easier" competition, driving his number down.

So to sit here and say that Phaneuf's 24 minutes are somehow more difficult than Suter's 29 minutes based on this number seems pretty hard to justify.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

Phaneuf and Gunnarsson sit 70th and 130th respectively in EV TOI/G, which probably supports the idea that there's a decent amount of defencemen out there who play similar minutes against top line opponents and then some.

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

I think people make too much of a big deal about Phaneuf leading the league in QoC. Right now his rating among opposing forwards is 27.7%. There are 32 other defencemen within 1% of that rating. Generally speaking any defencemen who plays against a top line on a regular basis will have a 26-27% rating. Your 2nd unit will be 25-24 and your bottom pairing will be in the 23-22 range. That's really all the stat shows.

Siegel said earlier that no other defenceman faces tougher competition than Phaneuf. Chara's rating is 0.2% lower than Phaneuf's, does anyone really think Chara isn't generally speaking going up against the exact same players that Phaneuf is? Carlye isn't the only coach that always tries to match up his top pairing against the other teams top unit.

Well said, I agree with that.

 

[Boston Leaf]

Dion is a +15. even with the mess the other night against the Rangers he was not a minus player