But they don't have a Shea Weber, and those aren't easy to find.
The question becomes if Phaneuf is on the decline, considering how far away the Leafs are, do you move on from him to: (a) get value while there is still value in return; and (b) be proactive to get out of that contract before it becomes a bad, immovable contract.
If the Leafs were competitive now, I don't think its even a question, you keep Phaneuf. Same goes for if Phaneuf was that 25+ minute stud #1 dman. But this team was put together 6 years ago, and this was the time frame they were looking forward to at that time to compete. When Phaneuf, Kessel and Lupul are in their primes, and guys like Kadri, Gardiner, Franson etc. are no longer young players but in their mid 20s. But the problem is the team stinks. It was poorly put together, and is missing some very key parts.
At this point we are just hoping for Nylander and Rielly to become stars, like we were hoping guys like Kadri, Bozak and Gardiner became stars. Its not a great position to be in. especialy because by the time those guys are Kadri/Bozak/Gardiner age, Phaneuf will be 34-35. We have no cap space, a core that is in its prime years and can't even compete for a playoff spot, an average farm system, and will continue drafting in no mans land.
They need to find impact players at center and defense. This is impossible to do without any cap flexibility if those opportunities even arise. Those types of players just haven't been available in free agency though. Boston seems to be the only team that trades them and they are running out of talent. While the solutions may appear simple, because its so clear what this team needs, they are some of the hardest vacancies to fill to a championship level.
It might be time to move forward on the premise that this team isn't competing any time soon. And I'm not talking about for a playoff spot. That should an achievable goal, even with drastic changes. But we want to build this organization into a winner.