After a summer of moves that ranged from foolish to dumbfounding, Dave Nonis made another questionable decision on the eve of the Winter Classic that he probably felt he had no choice but to make.
The Toronto Maple Leafs general manager signed captain Dion Phaneuf to a seven-year, $49 million extension Tuesday, locking up the team’s captain through his 36th birthday. It’s a hefty price tag for a player who isn’t among the elite defenders in either shutting down the opposition or scoring from the blue line, but if it wasn't the Leafs giving Phaneuf this deal, it would have been another team this summer.
Nonis would have been better off letting someone else make that mistake.
Phaneuf’s cap hit starting in 2014-15 is $7 million, tied for the fifth highest among defensemen with Drew Doughty and behind Shea Weber, Ryan Suter, Kris Letang and Brian Campbell. Zdeno Chara, Erik Karlsson and Alex Pietrangelo are not far behind Phaneuf, either.
Both Weber and Suter are premier defenders capable of contributing offense, while Letang is one of the most dangerous scorers among defensemen ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NHL
Article written by Dave Lozo
Dion Phaneuf’s Contract Another Questionable Move by Toronto Maple Leafs
December 31st, 2013 by Dave Lozo Leave a reply »
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