The Word on the Kessel deal

 I didn’t like the deal at first, but if you look at it now, would you rather have given up Kaberle and Kadri for Kessel? Kadri looks to be the real deal and Kaberle could net us something in the summer as well. Plus the steal of Dion Phaneuf from Calgary didn’t cost us any picks, only 2 ufa’s a rfa and Nik Nagman. kessel has scored 28 goals this year with no training camp, no olympic break and sub par centremen until Bozak joined him. Also Seguin, Hall are unknowns until they play. look at it this way, Kessel or Tavares? I’d trade that pick knowing it’s Tavares now. Kessel looks to be better than Johnny T will be but I could be wrong. So basically what i’m saying is Kessel has proven this year that he is worth at least this years pick and a second. I just hope that we play all of next year like we are playing this March so Boston drafts lower in 2011 and I’ll call it an even deal. Plus seeing Boston struggle this year makes me happy.

Its often said, whoever gets the best player wins the trade
So the question is would you trade hall / seguin / fowler for Kessel?
How about Tavares / Duchene / Hedman?
Or to really put things in perspective, how about Kadri?
Im not mentioning Ovie, Sid or even Stamkos because everyone knew those guys were gonna be a big deal, and noone thinks Hall or Seguin are gonna be that good

Kessel is the best offensive player the leafs have, period. I dont think he needs a centre so much as he needs other offensive threats on his line, so that Dmen dont just key in on him like they did in the winter. He has a lethal wrist, a pretty good slapshot, and he is a GREAT passer, probably the best passer of our forwards. He gets himself in position to be dangerous.

He has issues, like how at times I see him get too sloppy, too fancy. But, since the start of the Sundin era the only forward Ive seen better than this kid in a leaf uniform wore #13. Phil is the guy we always wanted to play with Mats. And HE wanted to come HERE, he chose to play on a historic team with a huge, die hard fan base, instead of wallowing in obscurity like some 905er (seriously, i was on a plane next to a university student from Ohio and he didnt know that the blue jackets were an NHL level team wtf??? demand a trade NOW rick, id give columbus 3 first rounders)

…while Mats Sundin did it 10 times.

The more you look at Sundin’s stats post-retirement, the more impressed I find myself with Sundin as a hockey player. And this is coming from a huge Sundin fan.

from the Boston perspective…

Yes, no PJ Axelsson and a few key injuries to take into account but

With Kessel – top in the East and 2nd in over all goal scoring in the League

Without Kessel – Struggling to hold onto a playoff position(Cooke looping Savard didn’t help) and last in the League in goal scoring.

As I said to a Boston fan a few weeks ago: ‘Gee, the Bruins could sure use a Kessel-type forward this season’

Boston couldn’t resign him and to just drop an RFA offer on him would have only cost a 1/2/3 so that should have been the maximum you should have paid. If you draft in the top 5 your second rounder is also gonna be a top 35 guy then as well. Even if its not Hall/Seguin, one of the picks you give up could be another Schenn/Kadri/etc player. The picks will cost you less and save you cap room to sign Marleau do stuff with.

Personally knowing how high your drafting id take the picks but since im a Blues fan youd know more about it than me.

 If he can’t turn things around and make this team competitive in the next few years the deal probably ends up looking bad for the Leafs at best.
 If, on the other hand, Burke has the team competing with a few years left on Phil’s contract I think one could say that the deal has worked out pretty well.
 Kessel has been doing his part. With the exception of a fairly lengthy dry streak Phil has lived up to expectations, and it seems pretty reasonable to say that he’s going to score a lot of goals for the Leafs. My personal opinion after watching Kessel this season is that he doesn’t have the most complete game and I’m pretty sure that he’s never going to dictate the pace of a game and dominate like some players can, but he’s as pure a goal scorer as I’ve seen. I don’t remember the last Leaf player who scored so often without making any fancy moves or dekes, just beating the goalie straight up with a shot.
 However the deal ends up being remembered, right now I’m just enjoying watching Philthy Phil and hoping trusting that Brian Burke builds a team good enough that it’ll be hard to second guess his moves.

alot of the time people who judge this trade don’t understand where the value of draft picks comes from. Not only are the players you select potential impact players, they also remain under your control at a significant discount compared to other avenues of talent aquisition. Burke signed significant college free agents (Bozak, Hanson) which he was quoted at the time as being “like signing two first round draft picks” and are in the (enviable ?) position of being able to offer ice time and opportunity to any top college free agents this year. Getting too focused on the draft pick method of building a team can be misleading. Burkie aquired young, price controlled players just like he would have gotten in the draft, whether its bozak or seguin is really not the point. BOOM