How the (Original) Phil Kessel Trade Looks Today

Back in 2009 the Toronto Maple Leafs acquired Phil Kessel from the Boston Bruins in exchange for a 2010 1st and 2nd round draft pick, and their 1st round draft pick in 2011. Unfortunately for the Leafs, they finished the 2009-2010 season in 29th and that 1st round pick became the 2nd overall pick. The Bruins selected Tyler Seguin 2nd overall and Jared Knight 32nd overall. In 2011, the Bruins selected Dougie Hamilton 9th overall.

For the first few years of Kessel's tenure in Toronto, the trade was debated. The 2nd overall pick was a high price to pay, but Phil Kessel was/is an elite talent that most teams would dream of having.

With the trade of Phil Kessel on July 1st, all 4 pieces of the original trade are no longer on Boston or Toronto's roster. Let's break down what the trade looks like today:

Tyler Seguin

Following Boston's loss in the Stanley Cup Final of the lockout-shortened 2012-2013 season, Boston shipped Tyler Seguin along with Rich Peverley and Ryan Button to the Dallas Stars for Loui Eriksson, Joe Morrow, Reilly Smith, and Matt Fraser. 

Eriksson and Morrow are still with the team, but Rielly Smith was traded to Florida for Jimmy Hayes (originally a Leafs draft pick) and the Bruins lost Matt Fraser to Edmonton via waivers.

Dougie Hamilton

The morning of this year's NHL Entry Draft, the Bruins traded Dougie Hamilton to the Calgary Flames for their 2015 1st round pick (15th overall), their 2nd round pick (45th overall), and Washington's 2nd round pick (52nd overall). They used the three picks to select Zachary Senyshyn, Jakob Forsbacka-Karlsson, and Jeremy Lauzon respectively.

Jared Knight

The Bruins traded Jared Knight to the Wild for Zach Phillips.

The Original trade now looks something like this:

To Toronto:

Kasperi Kapanen
Scott Harrington
Nick Spaling
Conditional 2016 1st Round Pick
Conditional 2016 3rd Round Pick


To Boston:

Loui Eriksson
Joe Morrow
Jimmy Hayes
Zachary Senyshyn
Jakob Forsbacka-Karlsson
Jeremy Lauzon
Zach Phillips

Did the Leafs get enough for Kessel?

This is a question I've seen answered on many blogs and news stories, here's my take:

The Leafs could have gotten more for Kessel, no doubt. But given where the Leafs and Penguins are, the trade made sense. The Leafs needed to get rid of Kessel for many reasons. For one, the Leafs are in a rebuild, you don't need a 30+ (borderline 40) goal scorer in your lineup if you want to rebuild. Secondly, it was fair to Kessel, an elite talent like him deserves a legitimate shot at trying for the Cup. Thirdly, the Leafs needed to dismantle their core, Kessel was a huge part of that, trading him changes the core completely.

I'll admit, I'm a little disappointed we won't get to see Kessel under Babcock, but it was time to move on. The most unfortunate thing is the Leafs wasted the "Kessel Era," instead of surrounding him with talent, they surrounded him with Tyler Bozak. With Crosby, there is very little doubt in my mind that Kessel will hit 40 goals next season. I wish Kessel nothing but the best in PIttsburgh.

Like the original Kessel trade, we won't know who the clear winner is for a few years. At best, the Leafs broke even with the original trade, in reality, they lost it (imagine how good Seguin, a 1st line centre, and Dougie Hamilton, a top 2 defenseman, would look in a Leafs jersey right now). For the first time in over a decade, the Leafs have a clear path they want to follow, and for now at least, they look like they're sticking to it, with a priority on getting younger and developing prospects to create a new core. I might revisit this one again next year to see where the trade is at following the 2016 NHL Entry Draft.