Boston Herald Article regarding trade.
WILMINGTON - Bruins players were predicting yesterday afternoon that the Phil Kessel affair would be resolved, one way or another, within a day or two.
As it turned out, it was just a few hours.
Phil Kessel celebrates a goal against Les Habitants.
Late last night the Bruins announced they had dealt the rights to their oddly reluctant free agent right winger to the Toronto Maple Leafs for a pair of first-round picks (2010 and 2011) and a second-rounder (2010).
Kessel reportedly then signed a five-year deal worth $27 million with the Maple Leafs.
With the Leafs clearly in rebuilding mode, and a longshot to make the playoffs this season, the picks should have good value.
More details of the deal will be revealed at a Garden press conference this morning, but as the 21-year-old potential superstar sniper departs after three seasons as a Bruin, many fans may fall back on the old “Bruins being cheap” refrain.
Sorry, folks, but that simply was not the case.
The Bruins hoped to have Kessel flying up and down their right side for years to come, and made the restricted free agent a sizable offer, likely worth at least $4 million a year - which would have represented a rather nice raise from last year’s $850,000.
Even in this era of ridiculous second contracts messing up salary structures across the NHL, it was a lucrative offer.
It was Kessel, according to multiple sources in and around the B’s room, who was determined to leave, and has planned this move since last season.
Why? Well, even players who know him well and confirmed that he did not want to play again for the Bruins, aren’t exactly sure. Likely it was that he didn’t like playing for Claude Julien, a tough and demanding coach who embraces the quaint idea that every player, even the stars, has to give an honest and responsible effort, nightly and at both ends of the rink.
The truth was that a youngster like Kessel should have welcomed the chance to play for Julien, who only tried to make him a better all-around player.
Or maybe he didn’t like the press and fan interest in Boston. On a personal level, Kessel has a lot of maturing to do. He remains a shy kid, uncomfortable at times with even mundane social interactions.
If he thinks changing teams will make everything better, he needs to contemplate the axiom, “The grass is not always greener on the other wide of the fence.”
Toronto longed seemed his likely destination. Kessel now has the privilege of playing in a city where hockey is more a passionate religion than mere sport; with fans presuming he’ll be an automatic 50-goal-scoring savior and anything less will be seen as failure; for a coach, Ron Wilson, who can be mean, sarcastic and nasty; and a GM, Burke, who can be as intimidating as anyone in the league.
Good luck, Phil. You may be in for an unpleasant surprise or two.
Burke, with a team that will be bigger and more feisty but still lacks scoring, had made it no secret he wanted to get Kessel.
He and Chiarelli had deep discussions about trades, dating back to midseason last year. It seemed if a trade had not occurred, Burke might have signed Kessel to an offer sheet.
Burke has stated publicly that offer sheets are a valid and reasonable tool in the CBA, one that teams have every right to use. Had it come to that, and if Chiarelli did match the offer, he would have had to dump a veteran to clear salary to pay Kessel. That was far from an ideal outcome, so Chiarelli took the best deal available - even if meant dealing Kessel to a team in the B’s division.
Kessel got a heck of a deal financially. But it seems obvious what would have been the best outcome for him: Take the offer from the B’s and stay right where he was. It’s unfortunate that won’t happen, maybe for Kessel most of all.
Boston Herald..
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