Boston should send us THANK YOU letter

[UN-Owen]

i'm sorry, thats stupid
in a few years at the end of his rookie contract seguins agent will demand at least 4 million, at least
kessel used to have a rookie contract too, but he grew up

What's stupid?

[Nickleman4]

Its so funny that people still talk about the trade, every leaf fan knows that we gave up probably too much to get Kessel, but seeing how hes been producing, I think I would do that trade all over again, hes on pace for over 45 goals, not to shabby if you ask me.

[The Duke]

I still remember when I heard about the final deal.
Was sick then.
Still sick now.
But cant do anything about it.

Oh and... Segins smaller salary would have allowed us to add a top FA to pair with him "now". The fact that his salary will bump up to 5million after his rookie contract is up is besides the point really.

[Brew666]

Meh...we overpaid but what's the point of dwelling on it? The Leafs can win the cup without those 2 players, they just have to build the best club in the league. It sucks giving a divisional rival quality pieces for the future but if we're going to do anything, you're going to have to build a quality club from your first line centre to your 6th D to your goalie. Boston isn't guaranteed anything and Ciarelli has to continue buidling around their young core [Seguin, Rask, Lucic, Marchand, Bergeron, etc] if they want to continue being a top tier team.

We can talk about the what if situations but they're mute b/c we don't know how things would've panned out without those trades. For all we know, Rask could've been given the reins here before he was ready and failed and maybe we don't sign the Monster or give Reimer a chance. Maybe Burke doesn't do the Phaneuf/Aulie trade b/c he's focusing on the future. The fact is, we have a better team w/ Burke in control than we have had in a long time. To be honest, I would've preferred a traditional rebuild through the draft but Burke has made this team much better and I can't deny that.

As for salary cap, I don't find it that much of a concern. The FA class usually has one, maybe 2 players in it worth going for, and they usually get more than they deserve and that contract has the potential of becoming the albatross on your team. Plus Kessel's deal is great value. We have a rocket richard threat on our team for 5.4/year, that's good mgmt IMO.

Not saying we're better off how things panned out but it's not as bad as some might make you believe.

[leafsfan89]

^^ agreed

Its ridiculous how people twist that trade... it was never Seguin for Kessel. It was never a 2nd overall pick for Kessel. It was a first rounder and couple of other picks (2nd in 2010, and 1st in 2011) for Kessel. Even if burke said the goal was always to make the playoffs i think the leafs were believing they will be competitive enough to give boston a mid-round pick. If they knew they were going to be "tanking" deliberately or not then I highly doubt burke was going to make that trade. It just so happened that leafs squad was no where near what people hoped it to be with the addition of kessel so boston got a very good return and an early return on that trade. I'm more than happy with Kessel on the leafs, his numbers have been improving every year. Leafs knew what they were getting in Kessel and that was a solid 30 goal scorer with the potential for more. And that's what hes shown. I really hope he can notch 40 this year, that will be the first time in 10 years we've had a 40 goal scorer.

[winwinz]

[LLJ]

^^
Timing?

He's scored a goal in each of the past 2 games. He's been getting assists at a steady rate.

Might not hit 40 goals though.

[leafsfan89]

lol did u not watch the game on saturday against the sens? Or just now even against the oil?

[Crowned]

Boston should send us a THANK YOU letter.

...just throwing that out there.

[frizzer1]

I think you can assume that Kessel has helped the leafs win some games they would otherwise have lost.Even if he only led them to a bottom two finish.
So is it beyond the realm of imagination that had they not traded for kessel they may have finished last rather than second last and thus drafted first overall? Not that hall is necessarily better than seguin but the first overall pick would have made the kessel trade look even worse than it does now.
And the second first rounder may have also been a higher pick,no?
My opinion is that a bottom feeding team should never and I mean never trade 2 first round draft picks ( not to mention the second pick thrown in).
The "never" does not include bona fide superstars like sydney crosby but
that kind of player would not have been available anyway.
Only a stupid,egotistical,incompetent GM would make a trade like that.

[j127]

Comparing rookie seasons:
Kessel: 11 G, 18 A, -12, 70 games played
Seguin: 11 G, 11 A, -4, 74 games played

Comparing sophomore seasons:
Kessel: 19 G, 18 A, -6, 82 games played
Seguin: 20 G, 27 A, +29, 58 games played so far

I remember when we first traded for Kessel, so many Leafs fans were laughing that Boston would not be able to replace the goals and they would fall out of the playoffs without Kessel. Well Boston did drop in the standings, but won the Cup a couple of seasons later, LOL. And we've still been on the outside looking in since that time. Well, since 03-04.

[Parataxis]

they ripped us off all over. Smart move! trade your draft picks when you're rebuilding!

Burke should have been fired the week after he made that godawful trade. Even now, he was rumoured to have considered trading away our future for Nash. I was so thankful when the deadline passed without him giving up Gardiner

[WorldBossFTW]

Did you guys forget the Kaberle Deal? We pretty much got Colborne,a 1st(which I dont who that is) and Liles (Traded the second to COL for him)