After another winless weekend dropped the Toronto Maple Leafs to last in the Eastern Conference standings, general manager Brian Burke made a couple of big moves to shake up his hockey club who are losers of their last six games.

And the deals Burke made were all the rage in the Toronto media on Sunday, most notably the trade made with Daryl Suter and the Calgary Flames.

The deal which brought big name defenseman Dion Phaneuf, forward Fredrik Sjostrom and prospect defenseman Keith Aulie to Toronto and sent forwards Niklas Hagman, Matt Stajan and Jamal Mayers to Calgary along with defenseman Ian White looked at first to be favored towards Toronto because of the big name they picked up in Phaneuf. However, after a closer glance I’m going to explain why the Flames received the better end of the deal.

Without a doubt the Leafs receive the best player in this deal in the likes of Dion Phaneuf. His physical presence fits into Brian Burke’s philosophy and his booming shot will be a huge benefit for the Leafs power play.  He’s proven at just 24 years of age that he can score in excess of 15 goals a season. 

But in terms of depth of the deal the Flames cashed in huge.

Matt Stajan has proven that he can score 15 to 20 goals a season and is on pace for 60 points which would be a career high. Not only will Stajan push Daymond Langkow for the number spot at center to play with Jarome Iginla but his acquisition will probably push the likes of Olli Jokinen out of Calgary. There are already rumors swirling about the possibility of Jokinen being shipped to the New York Rangers in exchange for Chris Higgins and Ales Kotalik.

Along with Stajan up front comes winger Nik Hagman who will add some scoring on the wing where the Flames haven’t had much other then Iginla and Rene Bourque. Hagman scored his 20^th goal in a loss to the L.A Kings on January 26^th. This marks the third straight season where Hagman has scored 20 or more goals.

On the back end the Flames added Ian White, who has really made a name for himself in Toronto this season. Although he may be unknown in other hockey markets White was arguably the Leafs top defenseman this season. At many points of the season he was the only plus rated player and was logging the minutes of a number one or two defenseman averaging  23:46 minutes a game. White has also scored nine goals this season and got a lot of opportunity on the Toronto power play.

The Flames also added Jamal Mayers who brings a major physical presence as well as a lot of penalty kill experience which the Flames lost in Fredrik Sjostrom.

In getting rid of Phaneuf yes the Flames lose a big time young defenseman but it almost seemed like there wasn’t room for an offensive, expensive defenseman like Phaneuf on the Flames roster. Jay Bouwmeester and Robyn Regehr make a combined 10.5 million dollars this season and Mark Giordano has proven he can log the minutes of a top four NHL defenseman averaging close to 21 minutes per game as well as chip in offensively.  He already has eight goals and 15 helpers this season.

So yes at the end of the day the Leafs end up with a big name player, but the Flames add major depth and secondary scoring with their acquisitions from the Leafs.

Acquisitions that without a doubt will spring the Flames back into a playoff spot in the Western Conference.