Six Years Later, Bruins and Leafs have little to show for the Phil Kessel trade
At the time, it was a blockbuster deal that sent one of the NHL’s most prolific young goal-scorers to its richest franchise in exchange for a haul of draft picks that could reciprocate a building block or two. Six seasons later, neither the Boston Bruins nor the Toronto Maple Leafs have much to show for the Phil Kessel trade.
Kessel, who scored 36 goals at age 21 in his final season in black and gold, is back on the trade block. He has seven years and $56 million remaining on his contract, and despite averaging 30 goals per season, he’s offered little else to a team that has made the playoffs just once since his arrival.
The Bruins landed a pair of first-round picks and a second round selection in the deal, picks that were especially valuable because of how bad Toronto was in the immediate aftermath of the trade. 2010 second overall pick Tyler Seguin and 2011 seventh overall pick Dougie Hamilton were ordained as future stars, and Jared Knight, the 32nd pick in the 2010 draft, was a solid prospect as well.
Seguin is thriving in Dallas, having been traded by the Bruins in 2013 at the age of 22. Knight has yet to make an NHL impact and was traded to Minnesota in March. Hamilton was traded in June, days after his 22nd birthday, following a breakdown in contract talks with Boston.
Boston’s ultimate haul for the Kessel deal: Loui Eriksson, Reilly Smith, Joe Morrow, Matt Fraser, Zack Phillips, and 2015 draft choices Zachary Senyshyn, Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson, and Jeremy Lauzon.
The Bruins won the Stanley Cup in 2011 with a team built around defense and toughness, two things Kessel was slighted for lacking. The decision to trade him rather than pay him looks wise in the wake of that Cup run and Kessel’s inability to inspire any sort of turnaround in Toronto.
At the same time, the Bruins have failed to capitalize on the bountiful return of the trade six years ago, instead opting to repeat the process all over again and hope the Hamilton trade nets a player that can be a part of the team’s core beyond the age of 22.
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