The Leafs number one defenceman is being paid as he is a top-10 defenceman in the league. He isn’t, and that may be why the Leafs are having a tough time trading him. Despite having the sixth highest cap hit of any defenceman in the league, Phaneuf has struggled in Toronto to live up to expectations, both real and fantasy. In the last two seasons, he’s had just 11 goals and 60 points combined. Compare that to when he was with the Flames. His lowest-point season there was 47 points. Since he’s been in Toronto, he’s only been higher than 31 once.

5. Kari Lehtonen

I’ve never been a big believer of Lehtonen as a top-option fantasy goalie. But he’s a great number two, usually. Unfortunately, he’s going to be the number two goalie on Dallas this season, which means he’s going to be paid a lot of money to be the backup once Antti Niemi usurps him for the number one spot. Only once has Lehtonen been at .920 save percentage or higher, and only twice has he been below 2.50 GAA. To be able to be a bona fide number one goalie again on a team that trusts him, he needs to be dealt.

4. Dustin Brown

It’s always hard to trade away a captain, but the Kings and Brown both need this to happen. Brown is simply not effective anymore in L.A. Gone are his consistent 20-goal, 50-to-60 point seasons. All that remains is a 15-goal, 27-point player. And with the moves the Kings made this offseason, it’s almost as if the Kings are already thinking of replacing Brown. Lucic is three years younger, but more important, has a lot less wear and tear on his body (thanks to almost 250 less games of NHL action). Brown could see himself on the third line this season. Despite his troubles, he was still fourth on the Kings among forwards last season in ice time. A move may be needed to rejuvenate his career.

3. Alexandre Burrows

From 2007-08 season to 2012-13 season, Burrows was a bit underrated. In those five seasons (including prorating the 2012-13 lockout season), he averaged 79 games played, 28 goals, 52 points, plus-27 and 106 penalty minutes. In the last two seasons, he’s averaged 60 games played, 12 goals, 24 points, minus-five and 70 pims. Part of that could be chalked up to the disastrous John Tortorella hiring, but Burrows has also seen the quality of his linemates decrease. Last season, he played with the Sedins about 38 to 39 per cent of all even strength 5 on 5 shifts. Compare that to 2011-12, when he played with Henrik 73.7 per cent of the time, and Daniel 65.9 per cent. His time on ice has also decreased to 15:28 this past season (just 1:42 of that on the power play). Right now, he’s a second-line/third-line tweener. He needs a trade to a team where he can be a top six player again.

2. Travis Zajac

As I mentioned about Zajac a few weeks ago, he needs a top-line player to be able to be effective. If not, he winds up with 25-point seasons. Well, there’s no top-line players in New Jersey. And there likely won’t be for a long time. After all, they’re not a popular destination for free agents, they don’t have a lot of high-end offensive prospects in the system, and they don’t have enough assets that they could trade for one. To rejuvenate his career, and fantasy relevance, he needs to be traded to a team where he can play with elite talents.

1. Joe Thornton

I’m honestly surprised he hasn’t waived his no trade clause yet. San Jose obviously doesn’t want him (as evidenced by comments from general manager Doug Wilson over the past year, as well as stripping Thornton of his captaincy). Statistically speaking, Thornton just had his worst season points-wise since the 1999-2000 season. He’s obviously still a good enough player that the Sharks could get something decent in return, and there are plenty of teams where he would jump in as the first-line centre.