Opinion: Who Cares What They Got For Kessel?

Over the last day, everyone and their brother has been analyzing, picking apart, and criticizing what the Toronto Maple Leafs got for Phil Kessel. The real question is, who cares what they got for Kessel, he’s gone!

Gone is a culture cancer. A player who was called uncoachable. A player not respected by his peers, and a player who despite an undeniable ability to put the puck in the net, the Toronto Maple Leafs are far better without.

Let’s be honest, the market wasn’t as hot for Kessel as Leaf-land wanted to think. If it was, Toronto would have offloaded Kessel at the draft, like they intended to.

What the Leafs did get is a pair of first round picks. Sure one was a small swap for their second rounder, which is likely to be an early second rounder next year, but the other, Kasperi Kapanen, instantly refills an empty Leafs prospects cupboard. Not to mention, they got a serviceable roster player in Nick Spaling, and a defenseman, well known by Mark Hunter from his days with the London Knights, in Scott Harrington, who will likely step immediately into the Leafs’ 5-6 position at age 22.

He’s the important part. It’s a rebuild. A real one. Not a Brian Burke one. That means stocking up on prospects, ridding contracts, and ridding culture killers. With that in mind, mission accomplished in the Phil Kessel trade.

Now, the Leafs go from having almost nothing in the youth department, to a team with only 3 players 30 or older on the roster, in Dion Phaneuf, Stephane Robidas, and Joffrey Lupul.

As for the youth, Toronto now features Mitch Marner, William Nylander, Connor Brown, Kapenen, Frederik Gauthier, and Brendan Leipsic up front. Not including Nazem Kadri, who falls into the under 25 category, and the ever improving 26-year-old James Van Reimsdyck.

On the back end, the Leafs have added Harrington, to a young group including new acquisition Martin Marincin, along with Morgan Reilly, and Jake Gardiner. The Leafs also picked promising defender Travis Dermott in the second round of this year’s draft, and they still have Stuart Percy, although his stock is falling.

Kessel is done, the team is moving in a new direction, and the cupboard is no longer empty.