Who here would trade Schenn, Kadri & Ryan for Kessel?
Well technically Schenn cost us a 1st 2nd and 3rd, and I really don't think we will pick that low the next two years, IMO we will be picking around 12-18
Well technically Schenn cost us a 1st 2nd and 3rd, and I really don't think we will pick that low the next two years, IMO we will be picking around 12-18
This is getting hilarious. I'll just post what I did in the Poll section to try and get my point across.
"It's funny when people say that Burke has completely thrown the rebuild plan out the window when Burke has just sped it up by a couple years. Would you trade the 12-18th overall and 42-48th overall plus your 2011 1st round pick to move up to the 5th overall? That's where Phil was drafted and I think that's what it would have cost to move up that high.
Like I said the only thing I might have a problem with is the contract but only slightly."
This is getting hilarious. I'll just post what I did in the Poll section to try and get my point across.
"It's funny when people say that Burke has completely thrown the rebuild plan out the window when Burke has just sped it up by a couple years. Would you trade the 12-18th overall and 42-48th overall plus your 2011 1st round pick to move up to the 5th overall? That's where Phil was drafted and I think that's what it would have cost to move up that high.
Like I said the only thing I might have a problem with is the contract but only slightly."
The problem is the Leafs are no lock for 12-18th overall pick. Injuries happen every year, and even a team like Dallas can fall from grace quickly. Hell, look at Colorado last year, go to the 2nd round of the playoffs and then picks 3rd overall! Imagine if Columbus got Colorado's first round pick last year (instead of in 2008)! If those two teams can fall that quickly what makes the leafs' pick in the 12-18th overall range a fact? Its a gamble. Look at the NBA, anyone remember the Eddy Curry trade? Look at Jay Cutler's trade, the Bears just lost Urlacher for the season. I still think the Leafs made a decent trade based on Kessel's value, but overall I think they could have done better. Protect the picks, or offer sheet Kessel (1 1st instead of 2).
With the draft picks and salary cap space the Leafs are paying for Kessel, they gave up any chance they have of landing a true franchise player. Kessel is indeed young and has tremendous talent but he's a supporting player....he's not THE go-to-guy that you build a team around. There is likely a lot of truth to his character concerns. It says a lot that the Bruins really didn't try all that hard to retain Kessel despite being more aware than anyone about his high-end talent.
This move guarantees another generation of mediocrity for the Leafs. They should have waited one more year to stock the cupboards with high-end talent that isn't going to cost much in terms of salary for a few years (a necessity in the Cap era). He said it would never happen but Burke's ego derailed the long-term textbook rebuilding process and now he's going for a shorter-term fix to participate in the playoffs ASAP.
Although draft picks are nice but they are no guarantee to even make the NHL, let alone becoming an impact player like Phil Kessel.
Brian Burke is rebuilding the right way imo. He has secured three stars to build upon with Kessel, Schenn and Kadri. I would rather have three pillars and a strong foundation rather than a bunch of draft picks, which are essentially shots in the dark.
Toronto doesnt need to get last place 5 straight years like other teams who went through rebuilding (Chicago, Pittsburgh, New York).
Quote:
With the draft picks and salary cap space the Leafs are paying for Kessel, they gave up any chance they have of landing a true franchise player. Kessel is indeed young and has tremendous talent but he's a supporting player....he's not THE go-to-guy that you build a team around. There is likely a lot of truth to his character concerns. It says a lot that the Bruins really didn't try all that hard to retain Kessel despite being more aware than anyone about his high-end talent.
This move guarantees another generation of mediocrity for the Leafs. They should have waited one more year to stock the cupboards with high-end talent that isn't going to cost much in terms of salary for a few years (a necessity in the Cap era). He said it would never happen but Burke's ego derailed the long-term textbook rebuilding process and now he's going for a shorter-term fix to participate in the playoffs ASAP.
How is he a supporting player? Maybe on the Bruins he was one with all the other talent they have but on the Leafs he will be the go to forward. He isn't even 22 and you are already calling him off as a supporting player. Bruins didn't want to retain Kessel because Kessel refused to have a new contract with the Bruins and the Bruins probably figured we probably have to let go one of our young star players eventually seeing as we cant keep them all due to the salary cap (Lucic, Kecji, Savard, Wheeler, etc...).
Not all 1st round draft picks become franchise players, I love how people have this idea every 1st rounder will turn out to be a Kessel or a Malkin. Look Scottie Upshall was a 1st rounder picked at 6th, is he franchise player? Far from it.
With the draft picks and salary cap space the Leafs are paying for Kessel, they gave up any chance they have of landing a true franchise player. Kessel is indeed young and has tremendous talent but he's a supporting player....he's not THE go-to-guy that you build a team around. There is likely a lot of truth to his character concerns. It says a lot that the Bruins really didn't try all that hard to retain Kessel despite being more aware than anyone about his high-end talent.
This move guarantees another generation of mediocrity for the Leafs. They should have waited one more year to stock the cupboards with high-end talent that isn't going to cost much in terms of salary for a few years (a necessity in the Cap era). He said it would never happen but Burke's ego derailed the long-term textbook rebuilding process and now he's going for a shorter-term fix to participate in the playoffs ASAP.
That's an interesting thought. However, the odds of one of those picks producing a franchise player is relatively low. Chances are the 3 picks would've produced 2 serviceable young NHL players. Definitely a high price, but Kessel is most likely the best player to result from these picks.
This is getting hilarious. I'll just post what I did in the Poll section to try and get my point across.
"It's funny when people say that Burke has completely thrown the rebuild plan out the window when Burke has just sped it up by a couple years. Would you trade the 12-18th overall and 42-48th overall plus your 2011 1st round pick to move up to the 5th overall? That's where Phil was drafted and I think that's what it would have cost to move up that high.
Like I said the only thing I might have a problem with is the contract but only slightly."
Would you trade your #1 pick for the next 5 years to get the first overall in 2004 or 2005? I would. How about to get Stamkos? It;s rather irrelevant where the players were drafted at this point in trying to defend or attack this deal. But whatever makes people feel good I guess.
When think about players like Tlusty and Kulemin who Burke was able to keep without including in any package for Kessel, I think it becomes a great deal for the Leafs automatically.
Tlusty was a first rounder, and has shown potential. Kulemin also has the potential to be a nice secondary scorer. Ponikarovsky is still here. Additions of Bozak and Hanson will help. Hagman and Stajan are also capable of netting 25 and 20 per season. And then you have Stempniak who is looking much improved than last year, and ofcourse Jason Blake.
Toronto's offensive crew is not high on star power, but is fairly deep and scoring wont be a problem for them at all.
Phil Kessel caps out the most successful off-season the Leafs have had since I've been a fan.
This definitely puts us in playoff position. Assuming we make it those picks make it an even trade. If they end up being top 10 picks, we just ****ed ourselved in the ass
That's an interesting thought. However, the odds of one of those picks producing a franchise player is relatively low. Chances are the 3 picks would've produced 2 serviceable young NHL players. Definitely a high price, but Kessel is most likely the best player to result from these picks.
Who says Boston uses any of those picks (depending on where they are)? Consider it heavy artillery at the trade deadline for an already impressive team. If a guy like Kovalchuk is available at the deadline, I don't see how Boston isn't an immediate frontrunner in renting his services.
At the end of the day, good deal for both teams. Leafs should be competitive enough that neither pick is a top 10, and Boston won't miss Kessel as much as they needed the cap space. Time will tell if there is a clear winner.
If you look at the trade strictly in a vacuum, then Toronto wins. Why? Because they got the only proven asset out of it. But in a salary cap world, I'm not sure you can look at moves like this in a vacuum anymore. There are just too many extraneous factors involved to strictly say that the team with the better player won the deal. Taking everything into account, the trades a draw...both teams benefit heavily from the outcome.
Boston benefits because they were able to get what I believe is a fair return for a guy that wanted big money, and didn't want it from Boston. They were staring down major cap issues for the next two years if they were forced to match an offer sheet, and now they go into this year with a talented roster and no cap issues. Additionally, they get enough salary off the books after this season (more than $20million) to be able to re-sign their key RFA's and hopefully Savard. Losing Kessel's dynamic scoring hurts, but in a cap era difficult decisions have to be made, and this was one of them. Not to mention that they have some high end guys close to NHL ready (Marchand, Sobotka, possibly Lehtonen, Hamill, and eventually Colbourne), and now have 5 picks in the first two rounds next year. But at the end of the day they lost the only proven asset in the deal, so it's a bit of a wash for them.
Toronto gets an elite goal scorer...simple as that. He's flawed in a lot of areas of his game, but he can flat out score goals, and nobody is denying that. So on the surface, Toronto wins this going away. But they gave up some decent assets to get him, so that has to be taken into account. It was a move Burke had to make, because guys like Kessel at his age are rarely available via trade, but he didn't steal him away for nothing. He gave up fair value.
But IMO what makes the trade a wash is the contract. I'm sorry, but $5.4 million for a one-dimensional scorer with no arbitration rights or other suitors willing to go that high seems like an awful lot of money. Had I known Burke was going to go that high in terms of compensation, then why not just go $600K more per year and offer sheet him? It still puts you in the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd tier of compensation (thus saving you a 2011 1st rounder), and it's only $600K more per year. I know it doesn't guarantee you that you get Kessel, but is there anyone that really believes Chiarelli was going to match a $6million salary? Regardless, they got their guy, they got him for 5 years. I'm just not sold that Kessel is a 5 and 1/2 million dollar per year player.
The passion that blinds us all (and takes our money)
