Toronto Maple Leafs: Phil Kessel Was the Right Player at the Wrong Time

In September 2009, Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke completed a blockbuster trade when he acquired Phil Kessel from the Boston Bruins for a pair of first round picks and a second-round pick.

Phil Kessel was in between an all-star and a superstar for the Toronto Maple Leafs; the problem was he was the right player at the wrong time for the organization.

After acquiring the Madison, Wisconsin native, Burke immediately signed him to a five-year deal worth $5.4 Million per season which equated out to 9.51% of the cap.

A fair deal for a 22-year old that had already beat cancer and was coming off a 36-goal season in just 70 games.

Toronto Maple Leafs: Phil Kessel Was the Right Player at the Wrong Time

The problem with trading for Kessel is that Burke used two top-ten picks in the deal and there was not much for talent surrounding him.

In his first season with the club, Kessel led the team with 30-goals and 55 points, while the second leading point producer was tied between Alxei Ponikarovsky and Matt Stajan, both of whom would be traded before the year was over. (stats hockeydb.com).

In his second season, again Kessel would eclipse the 30-goal mark, but the team’s other top scorers would be the likes of Clarke MacArthur, Mikhail Gabovski and Nikolay Kulemin.  All good players, but complimentary pieces at best and not top of the line players a contending team requires.

The two first round picks would end up being the second overall pick in 2010 which was used to select Tyler Seguin and the ninth overall pick in 2011 used to select Dougie Hamilton.  Both players were close to the talent level of Kessel, but also four and five years younger and on entry level contracts.

Kessel would go on to play six seasons in Toronto,  scoring 30+ goals in every season except for the lockout shortened 2012-13 season where he still collected 20-goals and 52-points in 48 games.  He currently sits 19th all-time in franchise goals scored with 181 (two ahead of William Nylander).

The former University of Minnesota forward was the type of player you build teams around, but when you trade away multiple top ten picks it makes it hard to bring in top level talent to help him.

If the Toronto Maple Leafs already had that talent on the team, it would have been a slam dunk to move those picks for a player like Kessel.  The problem was, the team was essentially starting from the ground up on a rebuild so there was no help on the way for Kessel in the way of other young stars.

Kessel is a 3-Time Stanley Cup Champion

Kessel would be traded to Pittsburgh Penguins during the shift in the organization and would immediately win a pair of Stanley Cups while being that additional player to an already elite team.  During the Penguins cup wins in 2016 and 2017, Kessel combined to score 45 points in 49 games.

Tuesday night, Kessel won his third Stanley Cup, now as part of the Vegas Golden Knights.  This time playing a smaller role and after collecting 36 points in 82 regular season games, suited up for just four games during the run.

Kessel was the perfect player in 2009 that a contending team needed or a team on the rise required to build around; unfortunately for Kessel and the organization, the Toronto Maple Leafs were neither at that point in time.