Editor's Note: For more great discussion check in with the original fanshot here.
Brian Burke was not done when he swung a blockbuster for Dion Phaneuf. He proceded to trade Jason Blake and Vesa Toskala to Anaheim for Jean-Sebastien Giguere. I can only assume that his next move will be to turn water into wine. Picking up JS Giguere has been discussed from the moment that Burke took the Leafs' reins and the chatter became deafening once Jonas Hiller was signed to an extension. The Leafs win this trade hands down. We will never hear "it goes through Toskala" again or "Blake fires into [goalie's] chest".
The consensus among Leafs fans was that Vesa Toskala had about as much value as a broken hockey stick. A quick look at his basic stats confirms it
The numbers on Blake are just as staggering. MF37 nailed it: Blake scored 40 goals the year before he signed in Toronto and 50 in 216 games as a Leaf.
The Ducks get a player that works very hard but is not a smart hockey player. He is incredibly predictable, doesn't pass, can't shoot, but he works his tail off.
Earl Sleek has an amazing post looking at his performance this year by period. The good news is that he is incredible in the first two periods. The bad news is that he is Toskala-esque over the third period and overtime. Cap-wise, Giguere is on the books next year for $6M but the next year Burke just took $4M off which is a hefty chunk of change. This makes two terrible goalies that Burke has unloaded on Anaheim creating a rather funny situation:
Imagine Hiller goes down for Anaheim. They will have Toskala and Pogge LOL
- 6rick6
This takes away some cap flexibility next year as the Leafs will have almost $47M committed to just 14 players but not one of them is Jason Blake so that's reason enough to smile. Giguere is a massive upgrade on Vesa Toskala, has already spoken to Wilson about mentoring Jonas Gustavsson, and is seen by Burke as an incredible example for the young goaltender to folllow. This is partly about upgrading the goaltending but also about creating a perfect atmosphere for Gustavsson to reach his full potential.
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