So the Dion Phaneuf haters are getting their wish.

So many times, on any given day, the haters out there will grumble that the Maple Leafs should trade their minutes-munching captain for anything, anyone, a bag of pucks.

Or they'll grumble no one would want him.

Essentially, they say, the Leafs are better off without him no matter what the return in a possible trade.

They, of course, are ridiculous. But the moment is here. Now Phaneuf is injured, a bad hand for fighting. Ironically injured for showing the kind of emotion he'd been criticized for lacking as the team's season went south.

We'll see how the Leafs do without him.

With him in the lineup -- and he's been remarkably durable -- the Leafs are 169-157-33 with a .517 points percentage.

Without him, the Leafs are 5-10-3, .361, an admittedly very small sample size.

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TRADE CHATTER

Phaneuf's injury comes at an inopportune time, at least as far as trades and trade speculation goes.

There are three potential landing spots for Phaneuf, should he agree to a trade.

-Los Angeles Kings. The defending champs went into Tuesday's games one point out of a playoff spot. They need an experienced blueliner with the suspension of Slava Voynov. The expected move of Mike Richards will clear some cap space -- about $5,200 a day which will amount to about $170,000 of accumulated cap space by the time the trade deadline rolls around.

-The Colorado Avalanche. They are three points out of the last wild card. They needed a blueliner before Eric Johnson (out three-to-eight weeks) got hurt. Now they need one even more. Johnson has 12 goals and plays more than 24 minutes a night.

-The Dallas Stars. Four points back and loaded at forward but weak on defence. At the recent board of governors meetings in Columbus, Leafs president Brendan Shanahan and Stars GM Jim Nill were among the last two to leave.

FRANSON, GARDINER EFFECT

Of course, every landing spot for Phaneuf is also a potential landing spot for both Cody Franson and Jake Gardiner.

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Franson, 27, could command a salary as high as Phaneuf's annual $7 million deal. The Leafs don't have that kind of cap space. He could find himself an expensive rental at the trade deadline.

Gardiner, 24, is signed to a long-term deal to a reasonable cap number and could yield a higher return.

GRANBERG TIME

As always, with an injury, it's a chance for someone else to shine. That person appears to be Petter Granberg, the highly regarded Swedish defenceman: Well-rounded defenceman. He's big, he's strong. Safe, moves the puck well.

He has one NHL game under his belt, the final game of the season last year. He's also an example of patient development. The Leafs took him in the 2010 draft (116th overall) and he remained in Sweden's top league until last season.

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