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GM Brian Burke has shaken up his struggling squad with a pair of blockbuster multi-player trades with the Calgary Flames and Anaheim Ducks.

In the first trade, with the Calgary Flames, Toronto netted stud defenceman Dion Phaneuf. The Leafs also landed forward Fredrik Sjostrom and prospect defenceman Keith Aulie from Calgary in exchange for forwards Matt Stajan, Niklas Hagman, Jamal Mayers and defenceman Ian White.

“This deal takes some offence out of our lineup,” said Burke. “That’s the next question, who replaces that offence. But I think it puts a big weapon on the blue line. It makes us much more difficult to play against. Now we’ll try to go to the next step. We’re open for business.”

The second trade took longer to complete, but the Leafs sent Vesa Toskala and Jason Blake to Anaheim for Jean-Sebastien Giguere.

Blake has two more years left in which he'll earn $3 million a year, but the cap hit is $4 million. Toskala is an unrestricted free agent this summer.

Giguere has one year left at $7 million but needed time to decide whether to waive his no-trade clause. The Ducks were under pressure to move the veteran goaltender after signing Jonas Hiller to a four-year, $18 million extension.

Burke was ecstatic to land Phaneuf, 24, calling him the “centrepiece” of the deal. Phaneuf has four years left on his contract, paying him an average of $6.5 million a year. He has 10 goals and 15 assists.

“He’s an elite player,” said Burke. “In terms of our getting better, we added Phil Kessel whom I view as an elite player, and Dion Phaneuf, whom I view as an elite player.

“This guy is a warrior. He’s got a cannon for a shot. He plays the game hard. I want players who are hard to play against. This guy makes our power play better. He’s a quality person.”

Phaneuf learned about the trade Sunday morning on his way to the Saddledome in Calgary.

"Well, it's definitely a shock, but I'm very, very excited about going to Toronto and being a Maple Leaf," he told reporters in Calgary. "I found out this morning. The toughest part is saying goodbye to your buddies and the relationships that you've made. You guys actually found out before me."

Mayers, who’d requested a trade, and Stajan are unrestricted free agents this summer. White is a restricted free agent who developed into a top-four blue liner. Hagman has two more years after this one at a reasonably priced $3 million a year.

Aulie is a 6-foot-6 defenceman playing in the AHL. He’ll report to the Marlies.

Sjostrom, 26, has one goal and five assists in 46 assists with the Flames. “We’ve had difficulty killing penalties and this is one of his strong suits,” Burke said of Sjostrom.

The Leafs have lost six in a row (0-4-2) but Saturday night’s loss, 5-3 to Vancouver after blowing a 3-0 lead, was not the catalyst, said Burke.

“We’ve been working on this for a while,” said Burke, crediting Calgary GM Darryl Sutter with adding the last pieces by suggesting adding Sjostrom and Mayers.