ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Tucked in the warmth on the surrounding grounds of the Big House, Maple Leafs general manager Dave Nonis made one point urgently clear as he announced the signing of Torontos captain through 2021. "We signed Dion to this deal because he deserved it," said Nonis on the eve of Wednesdays Winter Classic at Michigan Stadium. But the success of the seven-year extension between the Leafs and Dion Phaneuf wont just be about the 28-year-old defender, but the ability of Nonis and the organization to surround him and the Toronto core with capable talent. Right now that core includes at least six players; Phaneuf along with Phil Kessel, James van Riemsdyk, Joffrey Lupul, David Clarkson and Tyler Bozak – all signed until at least 2017. And while that group must remain productive – and increasingly so from a generally disappointing first half – the overall team success is likely dependent on the quality of talent the club adds in the coming years. "Weve added these pieces because we think that they can help us win long-term," said Nonis of that core group. "Its now going to be up to us to add players around them. We feel we have some pieces coming, but were not where we need to be yet. We still need to add some pieces around players like Dion and Phil and [Lupul], JVR. Those are players that will help any team in this league win, but we need to continue to add to that group." No team has done a more efficient job of surrounding their impressive core than the Chicago Blackhawks (though the Pittsburgh Penguins and Boston Bruins could make equal argument). "I think theyre a model for the league, not just our hockey club," Randy Carlyle said of the defending Stanley Cup champions earlier this season. Chicagos core is among the more dynamic in the league – much of it built through the draft – but the organization has done well in surrounding that group with wave upon wave of helpful young players and outside talent. In recent years, the likes of Andrew Shaw (fifth round pick), Marcus Kruger (fifth round), Bryan Bickell (second round), Corey Crawford (second round) and Brandon Saad (second round) all proved invaluable toward the Blackhawks capturing their second Cup in four years last season. For the Leafs that means improved drafting and development. It means finding more capable assets through the draft, ever an important tool in todays cap age. "Theres still only three ways to do [build around the core] – trade, free agency or the draft," said Nonis. "We have to do a better job in all three areas. But the draft is going to be more and more important as players start to earn six, seven, eight, nine, 10 million – who knows what the numbers are going to end up being. "If you have players that are entry-level players or just coming out of entry-level that are earning substantially less that can contribute youre going to have a better chance of winning. We need to try to find some of those players." Not only does that mean the continued development of young players like Morgan Rielly, Jake Gardiner, Nazem Kadri, Peter Holland and Jonathan Bernier, but success here and there from a solid and yet unspectacular prospect pool that features Matt Finn, Connor Brown, Petter Granberg, Dominic Toninato, and Josh Leivo. It also means finding more useful players to contribute right now. Chicago found help for example in the form of veterans like Johhny Oduya and Michal Handzus. Uneven all season, Torontos patchwork defence – which featured no major additions last summer – is a source requiring definite upgrading in the summer of 2014 and beyond. As for Phaneuf, he may be an imperfect first defender, but is a capable first defender no less in a league where commodities of such kind are difficult to find and then keep. More and more teams are locking up their most talented players long-term leaving the free agency pool increasingly weak and short of high-impact options, especially on defence. Among the top unsigned defenders for the summer of 2014 are 37-year-old Dan Boyle, 35-year-old Andrei Markov, and 29-year-old Dan Girardi. Internally, the Leafs have promising long-term options for the top of their defence in the 19-year-old Rielly and 23-year-old Gardiner, but neither is near ready to assume the difficult duties Phaneuf holds at the moment. And while the likes of Finn, Granberg, Stuart Percy, and Tom Nilsson offer prospective hope further on down the line, they are suitably unknown commodities. "If youre signing players because you dont have anyone to replace them youre making mistakes," said Nonis. "Hes going to play at this level and beyond, I feel, for seven years and maybe beyond that. Its not that you dont have anyone to replace Dion, its that hes done enough to prove to us that he is a player that is near the top of the league in terms of how he stacks up against the top defencemen." The difficulty of his minutes is easy to overlook. His role on a generally unstable Toronto defence requires him to match up nightly against the most difficult competition in the league. In Wednesdays Winter Classic for example, that tall challenge will include large quantities of Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg. "I dont think you can look beyond the situations and positions that Randy puts him in," said Nonis. "Theyre not always the best situations. He plays some pretty tough minutes." In fact, no defender in the league has faced more challenging competition in the past two seasons than the Leafs captain, this according to ExtraSkater.com. And though hes struggled to produce offence this season – 15 points in 39 games – Phaneuf has ranked amongst the top-20 at his position in offensive production in each of the past two seasons. The Leafs were in a surprise in 2013, finishing fifth in the conference while nearly upending the eventual Cup finalist Bruins in the first round. But theyve fallen under considerable strain this season – just four regulation wins since Nov. 1 – and have proven a poor defensive contingent again after struggling in that regard a year ago. Phaneuf is more solution than problem. The Leafs simply need better players around him. "You see some of the best players around the league," said Nonis, "if you put them on a team by themselves theyre going to have a hard time winning. We think were adding pieces that will help us win." Giants Jerseys 2020 . Numbers Game looks at the As getting Jon Lester from Boston, sending Yoenis Cespedes to the Red Sox along with a deal involving the As and the Minnesota Twins. The Athletics Get: LHP Jon Lester, LF Jonny Gomes, OF Sam Fuld and cash. Giants Jerseys China .ca. Kerry, In the first period of Saturdays Montreal-Ottawa game, Brendan Gallagher is called for goaltender interference. Craig Anderson is outside the blue paint trying to make the save. https://www.cheapjerseysgiants.us/. The Senators return from a lengthy layoff caused by Wednesdays attack on Parliament Hill to host the New Jersey Devils on Saturday night. San Francisco Giants Gear . The 25-year-old Brazilian player has only made four Premier League appearances for United this season and underwent a medical test in Italy on Friday. Cheap Giants Jerseys . Billy Hamilton finished off Cincinnatis biggest comeback of the season for a doubleheader sweep.The Boston Bruins got a huge overtime goal from an unlikely source, and the Anaheim Ducks got on the board against the Los Angeles Kings. Notes on Fraser, Murray, Vanek, Carter, Vatanen, Andersen and more. FRASER THE OT HERO FOR BRUINS The Montreal Canadiens had an opportunity to take a 3-1 series lead against the favoured Boston Bruins with Game Four headed to overtime scoreless. Then, Bruins rookie LW Matt Fraser knocked a loose puck into the net to give the Bruins a 1-0 win, tying the series at two games apiece. Fraser, a 24-year-old winger called up to replace demoted winger Justin Florek, had three goals and five points in 27 career NHL games, but has been an effective scorer in the AHL, scoring 90 goals in 179 AHL games over the past three seasons. Fraser, who was acquired from Dallas as part of the Tyler Seguin trade, joined Carl Soderberg and Loui Eriksson on a Bruins third line that dominated play, the trio on the ice for more than 70% of 5-on-5 shot attempts, led by Fraser at 74.1%. Canadiens D P.K. Subban played 22:52, the first time under 26 minutes in this series, yet 1:19 into overtime, when Fraser scored, the Habs had the pairing of Douglas Murray and Mike Weaver on defence and that should have been an indication of trouble. That pairing was obliterated in terms of puck possession, on the ice for four shot attempts for and 20 against. Francis Bouillon wasnt great for Montreal, but hes been more effective than Murray, who has been on ice for 12 shot attempts for and 42 against (22.2 Corsi%) in two games. While were pointing out troubling signs for the Canadiens, RW Thomas Vanek didnt have a single shot attempted in 16:09 of ice time. The only other Canadiens to get zero shot attempts were Daniel Briere, who played a game-low 8:02, and Weaver. Montreals leader in shot attempts was captain Brian Gionta, with eight. Bostons leader, in terms of shot attempts, was D Dougie Hamilton, who had eight in 23:28, his second-highest ice time of the playoffs. If the Canadiens are going to pull off this series upset, they are really going to have to earn it. The series is even even though the Bruins have held the lead for less than four minutes in four games. Thats not to say that tthe Bruins havent been the better team -- theyve controlled more of the play -- but this series was there for the taking and now its a best-of-three with two games in Boston.dddddddddddd DUCKS GET ON THE BOARD The Anaheim Ducks got a late second-period goal from Teemu Selanne, then needed a late third-period marker from Ben Lovejoy to ultimately give them a 3-2 lead in Game Three against the Los Angeles Kings. The Kings now lead the series two games to one. The Kings held a possession edge throughout the game, particularly taking advantage against the Ducks line of Mathieu Perreault, Patrick Maroon and Teemu Selanne, a trio that was on the ice for 22.2% or less of 5-on-5 shot attempts. At the same time, Maroon set up Anaheims first goal, on the power play and, as noted, Selanne scored a crucial go-ahead goal. Anaheim was forced to turn to G Jonas Hiller for the last 9:58 of the third period, as starter Frederik Andersen left with a lower-body injury. Andersen had stopped 22 of 23 shots when he got hurt. Jeff Carter led the Kings with a goal and an assist, four shots on goal and seven shot attempts, though Carter and linemates Tanner Pearson and Tyler Toffoli started more than 80% of their shifts in the offensive zone, so they were tilted in that direction. For the Ducks, it was Ryan Getzlaf, who had an assist, four shots and seven attempts. The Ducks inserted D Sami Vatanen into the lineup, playing the Finnish rookie 20:19; only Francois Beauchemin played more among Anaheim defencemen. Theres a reasonable argument to be made that, although undersized, Vatanen should already be handling regular minutes on the Ducks blueline, rather than toiling in the minors waiting for a call-up when the team is in trouble. After dropping the first two games of the series at home, the Ducks desperately needed to get a positive result in Game Three. It wasnt easy, and they lost their starting goaltender in the process, but their win makes the Freeway Series much more interesting heading towards Game Four. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. ' ' '