Penguins land Phil Kessel

Penguins land Phil Kessel

The Penguins have managed to pull of a huge trade by acquiring Phil Kessel from the Toronto Maple Leafs. To get him the Penguins gave Toronto a conditional 2016 1st round pick, Kasperi Kapanen, Nick Spaling, Scott Harrington and a 2016 3rd round pick. In reply Pittsburgh obtained the service of Phil Kessel, Tyler Biggs, Tim Erixon and a 2016 2nd round pick.

Penguins General Manager Jim Rutherford alluded to the Penguins imposing a 12 noon deadline on acquiring Kessel today. This was to prevent them from being unable to acquire players in free agency to fill their needs by holding out. The Penguins managed to complement their line-up alongside the Kessel trade by signing Plotnikov, as originally rumoured, to an ELC deal.

Some of the original discussion around Kessel hinged on whether the Penguins would be willing to pay his full cap hit and if they would be willing to give up one of Pouliot or Maatta to obtain his services. The fact that Rutherford was able to get a deal done without including one of them is brilliant. It was made aware in the post-trade media that Dubas, the current Assistant General Manager of the Leafs, made it clear how much the Leafs coveted  Kapanen.

The deal above is great alone but even better when you consider that the Leafs are retaining 15% of Phil Kessel's cap hit. This means that he will only cost the Penguins $6.8m instead of $8.0m for the next 7 years. This enables Pittsburgh to have a bit more room with regards to contract extensions in the future.

Courtesy of Penguins PR

The above shows how lethal Kessel is in front of goal. He is a clear 20 goals ahead of the next player and this has been achieved whilst playing on a below par Toronto team that has struggled in the above time span. Kessel is a speedy winger and will work well with both Crosby and Malkin. I think he will work better with Malkin as he (Malkin) likes to hang back and open the ice more. 

The Penguins power-play should be deadly now and not to mention how potent the Penguins will be in 3-on-3 overtime. A trio of Crosby, Malkin and Kessel will strike fear into any team. 

It is worth mentioning the other players in the deal out of fairness. Tyler Biggs has been with Toronto since being drafted by them in the 1st round in the 2011 draft. Since then he has failed to live up to the hype a 1st round pick usually attracts. Last season he ended up in the ECHL with the Orlando Solar Bears. Rutherford has said that he had potential and that a change of scenery may work. It is expected that he starts the season in Wilkes-Barre Scranton.

The other player coming to Pittsburgh is defenceman Tim Erixon. Erixon is a fairly well rated player and is a classic physical, shut-down defenceman. Erixon has heavy experience in the AHL but if required due to injuries he can do a job as an extra defenceman in the NHL as well. For his cheap contract he is worth it.

In totality, it is a shame to see the Penguins trade Kapanen so soon. I would have liked to have kept him but in doing so we would have had to trade one of Pouliot or Maatta. That would have been harder to take. Sprong is our #1 forward prospect and that is probably what made Kapanen more expendable.

Spaling did okay in his time in Pittsburgh but he isn't the type of player that you will notice has gone. His cap space has been used to get a huge upgrade and that is something you cannot argue against. I just can't wait for the next season now. Now, where can I get a Kessel shirt?