Kessel to The Leafs

Go take a look at Capgeek.com. Some salary has to be moved out.

Staggering. I don't know what's worse, his contract or the price they paid to get him. He won't even be ready to play until November. I bet there are alot of puzzled Leaf fans right now trying to figure out what Burke's direction is.

The damage control on Hockeybuzz is gonna give me a pretty cool firday night at home

SO Burke gave Kessel the same contract as Getzlaf. I hope he doesn't expect the same impact.

Is it ironic or just foreshadowing that on the same day this happens, TSN releases their 2010 draft rankings. I guess its not ironic yet, but it sure would piss me the Diddle off if I were a Leaf fan. I'm kind of angry as a Sens fan because this just made the Bruins a much better team in the future. Burke is either a genius or a mother Diddling idiot...either way:

CCgotITcovered wrote:Is it ironic or just foreshadowing that on the same day this happens, TSN releases their 2010 draft rankings. I guess its not ironic yet, but it sure would piss me the Diddle off if I were a Leaf fan. I'm kind of angry as a Sens fan because this just made the Bruins a much better team in the future. Burke is either a genius or a mother Diddling idiot...either way:

Cast my vote for idiot. As if the two 1sts and a 2nd wasn't enough, he overpaid by a million per I'd say.

And as N4L pointed out earlier, he's got no centreman to play with. Kessel will be weeping for Mark Savard by Christmas.

hemlock wrote:

CCgotITcovered wrote:Is it ironic or just foreshadowing that on the same day this happens, TSN releases their 2010 draft rankings. I guess its not ironic yet, but it sure would piss me the Diddle off if I were a Leaf fan. I'm kind of angry as a Sens fan because this just made the Bruins a much better team in the future. Burke is either a genius or a mother Diddling idiot...either way:

Cast my vote for idiot. As if the two 1sts and a 2nd wasn't enough, he overpaid by a million per I'd say.

And as N4L pointed out earlier, he's got no centreman to play with. Kessel will be weeping for Mark Savard by Christmas.

Yeah I was thinking about that when I heard about it on the drive home. I don't see how Toronto could continue to be such a clusterfuck through so many regime changes. What a disaster.

IF Kessel can stay healthy, I don't think it's that bad of a deal. It's surprising that Boston could get so much when they didn't have a great bargaining position. On straight percentages, one of the two 1st round picks would be a good NHL player, and who knows about the second pick. And those players likely wouldn't have an impact until 2012 at the earliest. Kessel will be in his 4th season as a Leaf by then.

Still, Burke overpaid, but at least he overpaid for something he desperately needed. We'll see in a few years if he was right or not.

dennycrane wrote:IF Kessel can stay healthy, I don't think it's that bad of a deal. It's surprising that Boston could get so much when they didn't have a great bargaining position. On straight percentages, one of the two 1st round picks would be a good NHL player, and who knows about the second pick. And those players likely wouldn't have an impact until 2012 at the earliest. Kessel will be in his 4th season as a Leaf by then.

Still, Burke overpaid, but at least he overpaid for something he desperately needed. We'll see in a few years if he was right or not.

And would have eaten 22 million for 4 years without postseason

I haven't read the thread yet but its possible asq or someone else has already said that: this move certainly hasn't turned the Leafs into a contender, has only pushed them a little closer to the playoff bubble, and may have cost them Hall, Fowler, Kabanov, McFarland, etc.

This could end up being the boneheaded move of all boneheaded moves. Someone said it (I think SD) when this was first rumoured: So much for a slow and steady rebuild in TO

Why did he do it? I can understand the need for a top-tiered winger, but Kessel's injured and not coming back until November, not to mention that injuries seem to be a concern around Kessel. Why not wait until the UFA period next year? Surely there's not the most intense pressure on Burke to make them a contender in one off-season. These things take time and patience - and draft picks. Lots of them, 1sts, 2nds - whatever you can get your hands on. It's rare to see a 'middle of the pack' team give a 1st up - especially their own. Why not wait? So odd.

He's an arrogant douchebag?? Thats my guess.

CCgotITcovered wrote:I haven't read the thread yet but its possible asq or someone else has already said that: this move certainly hasn't turned the Leafs into a contender, has only pushed them a little closer to the playoff bubble, and may have cost them Hall, Fowler, Kabanov, McFarland, etc.

This could end up being the boneheaded move of all boneheaded moves. Someone said it (I think SD) when this was first rumoured: So much for a slow and steady rebuild in TO

Actually, I've been more supportive of their attempts to get Kessel, but I agree they overpaid.

So, KEssel, Kadri and BOzak for the next 3 years is probably the most LEafs fans can hope for. If one of them is a bust, there could be an apocalypse in Toronto.

Just gave the thread a quick skim.

I agree with your take on Bozak and Kovalev. Its true---I'm guilty, myself---but what exactly drives your support of Kessel? As a player, do you really believe he is enough of an impact player to completely dismiss even the possibility of landing a generational talent like T.Hall? I mean, from my pov, we're talking about trading away the chance at Joe Sakic. This guy will be mentioned with the Crosby's and the Ovechkin's in a matter of years and Imo will be the runaway favorite for the 1st overall.

Is Kessel worth that?

CCgotITcovered wrote:Just gave the thread a quick skim.

I agree with your take on Bozak and Kovalev. Its true---I'm guilty, myself---but what exactly drives your support of Kessel? As a player, do you really believe he is enough of an impact player to completely dismiss even the possibility of landing a generational talent like T.Hall? I mean, from my pov, we're talking about trading away the chance at Joe Sakic. This guy will be mentioned with the Crosby's and the Ovechkin's in a matter of years and Imo will be the runaway favorite for the 1st overall.

Is Kessel worth that?

I don't think those picks would be enough to land Hall.

CCgotITcovered wrote:Just gave the thread a quick skim.

I agree with your take on Bozak and Kovalev. Its true---I'm guilty, myself---but what exactly drives your support of Kessel? As a player, do you really believe he is enough of an impact player to completely dismiss even the possibility of landing a generational talent like T.Hall? I mean, from my pov, we're talking about trading away the chance at Joe Sakic. This guy will be mentioned with the Crosby's and the Ovechkin's in a matter of years and Imo will be the runaway favorite for the 1st overall.

Is Kessel worth that?

Why do we think the Leafs would even have been in the running for Hall? They've been 7th worst in the league the past two seasons and added some good talent in the off-season. Now, with Kessel, I'll be surprised if that pick is worse than 10th over-all. Keep in mind Kessel was discussed as being first over-all in his draft as well. He's a good, young player.

I don't like giving up 2 1sts for him, because I think they need to add another guy to their long-term offence. But, I wouldn't have blinked at trading a 2010 first and second for him were I Burke.

marakh wrote:So, KEssel, Kadri and BOzak for the next 3 years is probably the most LEafs fans can hope for. If one of them is a bust, there could be an apocalypse in Toronto.

Kulemin, Grabovski, Stempniak, Hagman, Stajan, Ponikarovsky, Blake and Stalberg round out the scoring.

It's not a top-flight offence, but Kessel and Kadri as a combination is something you can definitely work with.