I think it mostly doesn't matter to us at this point...trade value wise, none of the assets had much value. Nobody else would take Phaneuf.
While I think Phaneuf is a great person and surely great in the locker room, I don't think he should be a part of anyone's top 4 if you want to seriously contend...and his contract necessitates that.
The Kings have the luxury of deploying him properly which is probably why he's been so effective. He's usually on the 3rd pairing with Martinez and gets a lot of PP time so his ES time is limited. The rest of the defense are great on the PK, so there's no need for Dion to be out there short handed. It's a perfect situation for him to play to his strengths.