There were a ton of rumors surrounding the Toronto Maple Leafs and Dion Phaneuf prior to the trade deadline. The Detroit Red Wings appeared to be Phaneuf’s destination, but a deal never came to fruition. Initial comments suggested that the two sides couldn’t reach a deal because of salary cap space and then time simply ran out.
Though Phaneuf is still currently rocking the white and blue, don’t write off the white and red quite yet. According to Ottawa Sun, the Red Wings and Maple Leafs plan to talk about a trade involving Phaneuf this summer.
With talks going nowhere, the belief is Wings’ GM Ken Holland felt it would be better for both sides if they revisited this trade in the off-season and that’s why he made the deal for New Jersey blueline Marek Zidlicky.
“What usually happens is these trades get too big to do at the deadline,” said a league executive.
“It’s OK for the Leafs because they’re going nowhere this year and trying to rebuild. The Wings have something pretty good going.”
A trade over the summer would make a lot of sense for both teams. For the Leafs, there’s really no rush to move Phaneuf and a move over the summer would still clear up his cap space for 2015-16. For the Red Wings, the team is in a position to contend for the Cup now and they can sit back and evaluate what they’re willing to sacrifice without the pressure of the trade deadline.
Whether or not a trade will actually get done this summer is another story, but it appears that the two teams are willing to revisit the topic and the environment this summer may be more conducive in allowing a deal to happen.
