Fantasy Winners & Losers in Pair of Blockbusters

Toronto Maple Leafs GM Brian Burke officially made two deals today.  The first sends Ian White, Niklas Hagman, Jamal Mayers and Matt Stajan to Calgary for Dion Phaneuf, Keith Aulie and Fredrik Sjostrom.  The other sends Jason Blake and Vesa Toskala for Jean-Sebastien Giguere.  What does this mean for your fantasy team?

The Winners:

Matt Stajan – Stajan showed promise playing with Phil Kessel and likely will see time with Jarome Iginla.  The move seems typical for GM Darryl Sutter as he always targets underrated players who likely thrive with a change of scenery.  Rene Bourque, Nigel Dawes and Curtis Glencross amongst others improved their overall game since coming to Calgary.

Jean-Sebastien Giguere – Burke believes Giggy to be a legitimate number one goaltender as he announced during his press conference today.  With the contract extension to Jonas Hiller yesterday he must have known his time in California would come to an end.  Giguere reunites with his former goaltending coach François Allaire, who should help the struggling netminder regain his form.

Jay Bouwmeester – With Phaneuf out of Calgary, Bouwmeester becomes the number one offensive defenseman.  At least he will receive a chance to with White and Mark Giordano waiting in the wings.

The Losers:

Vesa Toskala – Toskala goes from splitting time in net to keeping the Anaheim bench very warm.  Perhaps a return to the Western Conference will revitalize this formally promising goaltender, but with Hiller playing time should be scarce.

Jonas Gustavsson – At this point Burke makes it incredibly clear he thinks “The Monster” needs another two years of development.  Not a knock on the promising young netminder but with Giguere shoring up the goaltending you should see Gustavsson less between the pipes.

Ian White – White may thrive in Calgary but he will not see the type of minutes he played in Toronto.  With the Leafs he placed second in average TOI, with only Francois Beauchemin playing more minutes.  With Giordano, Bouwmeester and Robyn Regehr manning the blue line the chances of seeing that time seem slim.

Jury Out:

Tyler Bozak – With Stajan now in Calgary will Bozak step up his game and consistently play with Kessel?  One has to wonder if competition with Mikhail Grabovski or Stajan helped the kid’s game and how he will react to a vote of confidence.

Dion Phaneuf – The Leafs get better with their trade, essentially replacing White with Phaneuf.  Does Phaneuf get better with a change of scenery?  How will he handle the Toronto media?  Oddly enough pundits blame the comments of Sean Avery as the reason for a drop in play.

Niklas Hagman – What type of role will he play in Calgary?  He likely slots into their top six with Stajan but with other veteran options could he land on the third line?  If so, kiss the 30 goal season goodbye.