For those who were disappointed in the return, I'm quite curious at what kind of package you would have imagined Toronto getting in return.
Aside from the cap retention, which had to be done to facilitate the trade, they managed to 1) set the table for the most well executed tank of the cap era 2) clear cap futures to make signing our future franchise players possible 3) acquired 2 assets, one of which brought us a franchise goalie we haven't had since 2004, and another young player who could become a core member.
Just thinking about Freddy Andersen, I'm just flashing back to the combined assets like Rask, Frattin, Scrivens, (the Demott pick which we later reacquired), the package of picks we sent to San Jose they used to package to get Logan Couture just to kick the can at Raycroft, Toskala and Bernier.
This is the thing about these hindsight reviews.
What if the Leafs had traded Kessel away and wound up drafting 30th overall? Or 31st, whatever the situation was.
Add to that the Leafs had an 80% chance of not getting Matthews.
We were lucky that Matthews came here, we were lucky that not only was Andersen dispensable in Anaheim, but that he's actually a very good goalie. We just hadn't seen a whole lot of the guy playing second fiddle to another good goalie from LA. Where have we heard that song and dance before? What was the outcome there?
When comparing Andersen and Bernier, at the time of acquisition, who had the better pedigree?
As it turns out, the Penguins received one of the best offensive players in the league, a player who was ripped off of a Conn Smythe in one cup win and then was a major contributor in a second cup win.
As it turns out, the Penguins received a player who has had no issues with the media and/or his teammates.
Come to think of it, there were no credible stories of him having had any issues with teammates in Toronto either, quite the contrary. Maybe we could ask Feschuck or Simmons how they view back to back stanley cup winning players?
Anyone remember those highly credible stories from the respected Toronto media that were certain Kessel was in the midst of a freefall and that his body had already begun to give out on him. Remember the hot dog story that basically stated how Kessel's career was all but finished due to his pathetic last season in Toronto. It was the end times for Phil.
Since being traded away to the Penguins, this is how Kessel has performed in the regular season.
14 Tavares | 274 | 122 | 140 | 262 |
15 Mackinnon | 265 | 98 | 160 | 258 |
16 Kessel | 282 | 97 | 161 | 258 |
17 Seguin | 273 | 110 | 145 | 255 |
18 Burns | 284 | 72 | 181 | 253 |
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And the playoffs.
1 | Crosby | 60 | 23 | 44 | 67 |
2 | Malkin | 57 | 20 | 34 | 54 |
3 | Kessel | 61 | 19 | 35 | 54 |
4 | Ovechkin | 49 | 25 | 22 | 47 |
5 | Backstrom | 45 | 13 | 34 | 47 |
6 | Couture | 40 | 16 | 29 | 45 |
7 | Kuznetsov | 49 | 18 | 26 | 44 |
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Remember, the Leafs are paying $1.2M per season for this guy to be the 16th best offensive player in the league, except it's for someone else.
Yes, we're fortunate to have Matthews, Tavares, Andersen and Kapanen on the team.
However, we have 2 of those out of sheer luck and circumstance.
Kapanen has shown us that he's a good player, but at only .68 ppg is having a year that Kessel has not had since his 2nd season post draft.