Confirmed with Link: Kessel for Spaling, Harrington, Kapanen, 1st, 3rd (Leafs Retain 1.25M or $8.75m) )

[Rare Jewel]

Is it confirmed that we gave them their 2nd back, And not our own?

 

[pspot]

people don't realize getting rid of Phil is a win in and of itself. I guarantee we will be a more competitive club next year without Phil around.

#Culturechange.

Tough sell right now, time will tell

I wanted him dealt years ago so obviously excited to be a leafs fan for first time in a long time

 

[Ovate]

This was a good trade:
We got a prospect in Kapanen who is now right behind Nylander and Marner.
We got another prospect in Harrington who is your future stay at home top four defenseman.
And we got a 1st round and 3rd round pick for 2016.

Case closed, this is a fine trade.

There's two sides to the trade, right? We got a good return. We gave up a great player, AND a 2nd AND retained salary.

 

[yubbers]

Because they're not really Leaf fans, they are Kessel fanboys.

Not sure why they're still here and not over at the Penguins board.

The guy with 88 posts questioning who's a leaf fan on hfboards.

Today has now brought everything

 

[Kurisu]

hope you guys are happy with the return, I'm f***** not. I woke up knowing that i would be disapointed with the return and big surprise, i am.

 

[Jack Bauer]

The salt in the wound will be if, after this mediocre return for Kessel, we still find Bozak in our lineup, on the first line when the season starts.

Salt in the wound?

Sounds like a recipe to picking #1 overall.

Scorched earth people. Going to get worse before it gets better.

 

[Northern Dancer]

You only can 3 of them each year and we're tying one up for 7 years. This year, we have only 1 left (Gunnarsson. Thanks Nonis ) and 2 for another 6 after this year

I see, we would be better off banking those retention options. I got it now. No use using them ever, they are gold if NEVER used.

 

[Durrr]

To say one way or another if the deal is good or bad you have to know what the market for Kessel was

Considering that the pens previous offer had been reportedly including pouliot, this is an awful trade. Leafs got hosed.

 

[marquee]

I hate this deal. Not excited about any part of this return. Best I can hope for is the Pens missing the playoffs which is very unlikely.

hate it as well. even worse when you recall what they dealt for Kessel and the return 7-8 years later.

That locker room cancer rumour is nonsese. hes on his way out what u expect these journalists to type? i guarantee next year hell be a great "teammate" in pitts.

 

[Menzinger]

Exactly! People are talking about the salary retention as if they were holding onto 40%-50% of his contract.
Looking at the 6 years of what we had in Phil Kessel, he didn't fit in our overall plan moving forward.

It's still over a million dollars in dead space for the next 7 years. It's not nothing.

 

[TMLegend]

That's the exact opposite of what the Leafs need.

On the contrary, you want your young players to experience what it takes to win and not toil in an losing environment.

 

[snizzb0ne]

There's two sides to the trade, right? We got a good return. We gave up a great player, AND a 2nd AND retained salary.

The 2nd will be replaced eventually.

 

[King Leaf]

Yep. Was delightful to watch him streak down the wing and snipe mid stride. He'll suddenly be considered elite again once he's out of Toronto and has a competent 1C alongside him. Don't want him to win a Cup this year though, given the pick!

Seriously, if this turns into a Top 10 pick next year somehow then I am perfectly fine with this.

 

[Mess]

Lots of people are happy with the return. Count me as one of them.

I respect that you feel differently.

The mistake was made acquiring Kessel for high picks at the beginning of a rebuild not the trading of Kessel for picks and prospects at the beginning on the next rebuild.

 

[Bullseye]

hope you guys are happy with the return, I'm f***** not. I woke up knowing that i would be disapointed with the return and big surprise, i am.

Then go back to sleep.

 

[Ratboy]

addition by subtraction, plus some decent assets.

inner vision.

 

[Purity*]

people don't realize getting rid of Phil is a win in and of itself. I guarantee we will be a more competitive club next year without Phil around.

#Culturechange.

Based on what?

 

[Sonofamitch]

Yeah the 2nd and the 1.2 mill ruined it for me, otherwise it would have been an acceptable trade. Not good but not bad either. If Pens miss the playoffs however we'll have two Top 15 picks next year which certainly isn't a bad thing.

1.2 is not as big a deal as everyone is making it. The second is what Pisses me off, especially if it's our 2nd .

 

[Crysis]

hope you guys are happy with the return, I'm f***** not. I woke up knowing that i would be disapointed with the return and big surprise, i am.

Another fan who thinks Kessel has tremendous value around the league. Face it the market for him was almost non-existent and if the UFA forward options weren't so thin this year he would still be a leaf.

We got SOMETHING for him and his horrid contract, that is AWESOME news for our rebuild.

 

[Leafsman]

We should not have retained salary and gave up a 2nd

We also shouldn't have given them Kessel but Pits likely disagrees.

Before the trade everyone was willing to accept a salary dump back which we didn't so it makes the retention a little easier to take.

$1.25M is <1.5% of the cap and about 8% of available cap space before even trading Kessel

 

[Ovate]

I see, we would be better off banking those retention options. I got it now. No use using them ever, they are gold if NEVER used.

Now we've got to choose between retaining on Phaneuf or Lupul or Bozak or on a UFA at the deadline.

 

[TheLeastOfTheBunch]

Giving up that 2nd is a bit much. Not a good trade for us, and I would've kept Phil around for another season

Oh well, we will be rebuilding with high picks it looks like

 

[hotpaws]

I always felt the Rick Nash trade was the comparable, and this wasn't too far off in the end.

Pittsburgh got the best player in the deal, which stands to reason. He's going to be dynamite playing with Crosby or Malkin. Amazing player who management failed to provide the correct pieces to allow him to excel. You're not playing Phil Kessel for stellar defensive play, you're paying him to score, and that's what he does very well. Getting a bit of salary retained is good as well.

Biggs is a total bust. Erixon is depth. Pitt get their 2nd back. This stuff is a bit of a wash to be honest.

The Leafs get back a package of pieces to fuel the rebuild. A first in 2016, and a 3rd adds more picks for Hunter to use. There's a remote chance that the 1st is a lottery pick, but I wouldn't bank on it. At the end of the day anyone with sense knew it would be the typical star player trade in the modern era: a package of decent pieces. Kapanen intrigues me, but I don't know enough to really comment.

I'm satisfied. Not overjoyed, but satisfied. Good luck to Phil in Pittsburgh. He was thrown under the bus in Toronto far too often. People will eat their words next season.

we never finished out of the bottom 10 with Kessel in a full season and Malkin and Sid weren't available in trades so we could unite him with PK here so why would we eat our words regardless of how he plays next year

 

[HoweHullOrr]

Glad all of the details have been nailed down now. It was pretty weird the way the details of the trade were released -> mass confusion.

 

[BraveCanadian]

Awesome.

He had to go.