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.

Not Saluting the Fans: Bad Timing or a "Screw You"?

On Thursday, the Toronto Maple Leafs snapped a three-game slide by defeating the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-2. The previous two games saw the Leafs lose by a combined score of 15-4, losing 6-2 to Buffalo, and a somehow even more embarrassing 9-2 loss to the Nashville Predators. Following those losses everything came under the microscope in Leafs nation: the coach, the GM, the leadership, and the core players. The 9-2 loss was a home game, which meant more jerseys thrown on the ice. A trend this season for Leafs fans. I've already shared my opinion on jersey tossing.

Now the news following the Leafs win over the Lightning was not that they won, it was what they didn't do that made headlines: salute the fans. After every home win this season, the Leafs have been saluting the crowd. To be honest, I was at Thursday's game and it didn't even register with me that they didn't do the salute. So at first, when I realized it, I didn't take it as a snub, I just thought it was interesting that they would decide to do that after the last two embarrassments of games, but I just chalked it up to bad timing. But then I saw this Mark Masters report and I got angry.

"For us as athletes...whenever we can change something up and try to change routine, if it works for us, then that's something we're going to stick to," Captain Dion Phaneuf explains.

Then someone, who I assume is a reporter, asks Phaneuf "how does this help?" Phaneuf cannot answer and abruptly ends the interview after the reporter presses him a couple more times on the issue. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the Captain of Leafs Nation!

How does saluting the crowd affect how you play in a game? You salute the crowd after the game after you've won! It sounds to me like the players are, for lack of a better word, punishing the fans for tossing jerseys. Of course, this is all speculation.

On Thursday, the Leafs played one of their best games this season. They came out strong, and they played a solid 60 minutes. The Leafs really competed, and they showed the fans what they're capable of against a strong Tampa Bay Lightning team. And you know what? That was one of the best mid-week crowds at the ACC that I've ever been a part of! The crowd backed their team 100%.

We can't say for sure whether the Leafs decided to not salute the crowd because fans tossed their jerseys, all we're doing is speculating. But common sense dictates that if you're going to make a decision like that, you probably shouldn't implement it after your first win after a 9-2 loss.

TSN's Bob McKenzie tweeted out this morning something that sums up this whole situation perfectly:

It's REALLY dumb so many talking about TOR players not saluting fans, but not half as dumb as players picking THAT moment to alter routine.
— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) November 21, 2014

If the team really did just want to change their routine for whatever reason, fine, I don't really care about the salute that much. But if you're doing it to send a message to fans because they tossed jerseys, then all you're doing is angering an already pissed off fan base. Why should fans respect an organization where the players don't respect the fans?