Apr 8, 2015; Columbus, OH, USA; Toronto Maple Leafs right wing Phil Kessel (81) against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena. The Jackets won 5-0. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports
Cyn
No, we didn’t get fair value. Wait for it…
It wasn’t the worst deal in the world. But, in the NHL world, for a player like Kessel who was actually preforming up to “Kessel Star” potential then by the terms of this trade we would’ve been completely fleeced.
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At end of the day Kessel hadn’t been preforming for the Leafs. He pretty much phoned it in the last half of the season. The Leafs got what they could for him – what other teams saw on paper, the Phil Kessel from this season, not the “true” Phil Kessel.
I’m sure all the un-coachable rumors that have been circulating in the media didn’t help his case either. Who wants to have to push a player who is making 8 million dollars to perform? Shouldn’t he already be there? Isn’t that why he earned that payday?
If the Leafs were smart (in my opinion) they would’ve held onto him until the mid-season trade deadline and have attempted to raise his value. I’m not saying that Babcock could’ve worked miracles on the “un-coachable Kessel”, but could his value have really declined any more?
Yes, these look like promising prospects but prospects are just prospects and until they start performing at the NHL level. There really isn’t a good sample size at all to prove their true potential. There have been many “promising” prospects that have disappeared into obscurity over the years – not to mention the Leafs aren’t exactly known for player development. I find the trade extremely risky.
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Pittsburgh, on the other hand, gets a guy who has shown high production abilities but just hasn’t performed as of late and has fallen into a funk. Toronto media is especially hard on the players. In Pittsburgh he won’t have that pressure on him as the star with Crosby and Malkin skating next to him. It’s the Crosby show over there.
The top five in Pittsburgh is going to be lethal.
Also, with Gary Roberts being hired to work with Kessel, he will undoubtedly be whipped into shape. There is no playing around with Gary – who is a fitness freak. It’s a shame that Kessel is still in our conference. In typical Leafs fashion, there is no doubt in my mind that he will be lighting us (and the NHL for 50+ goals) up next season. It’s a curse that has reoccurred with all of our ex-players.
No, we didn’t get the worst deal in the world but I feel like it could’ve been better. Luckily we retained minimal salary with $1.25 million per season for the remainder of his contract. It could’ve been much worse. I was thinking it would’ve been a minimum of $2M. With an extremely tight cap we should be grateful for this.
If Kessel was actually the Kessel we thought he would be, and had bought into this as Leafs fans hoped, there would’ve been a much bigger return for him. However, if that was the case we wouldn’t have moved him anyway.
Short term this is going to hurt us but in the long term this trade could end up being extremely beneficial. Let’s be happy with the two draft picks and move on to focusing on developing these promising young prospects. This is a rebuild after all. Let’s focus on the future not on the now.
Next: Robb Ellis' Take