Don't Let the Door Hit You On the Way Out

The Boston Bruins, it seems, were determined to give Phil Kessel a swift kick in the drawers on his way out of The Hub.

He didn't want to play in Boston. He demanded a trade. He didn't train hard enough. He wouldn't backcheck. He hadn't forgiven the team for benching him during the 2008 playoffs. Claude Julien was mean to him. He was greedy. He was untruthful in denying ever asking for an exit visa out of town.

These were some of the grenades launched at Kessel over the weekend from Boston management after the trade that sent him from the Bruins to the Maple Leafs for two first round picks and a second.

Clearly, this was a trade Boston GM Peter Chiarelli didn't want to make but was forced into making by circumstance and the unrelenting pressure of Leafs GM Brian Burke. Burke's public acknowledgment that he had an offer sheet waiting for Kessel put a chill on the Kessel market that Chiarelli couldn't thaw. Teams like Minnesota and Nashville had interest in the speedy winger but weren't about to give up prospects and picks and then not be guaranteed to get the player.

So, after the trade, Chiarelli had to present the Bruins case in as positive a light as possible after initially refusing to make any comment at all on the day of the deal. His No. 1 priority was to make a strong argument that this trade wasn't about the Bruins being cheap and not wanting to pay Kessel, an accusation that was lobbed at the team for years.

Kessel, says Chiarelli, demanded a trade and wouldn't negotiate a contract, so that was that. Indications are that was indeed the situation, and Kessel's statement that he "never once" demanded a trade was really just semantics. Whether his agent made the demand or whether his unwillingness to talk contract was a passive aggressive strategy, it really doesn't matter now.

Clearly, Julien's coaching style was part of the issue, and so the most fascinating part of Kessel's career as a Leaf when it begins in two months or so will be how he and Ron Wilson are able to forge a working relationship. Wilson's a demanding coach, and he can be caustic and pointed in his public and private remarks when he feels it is warranted. San Jose officials make no bones about the fact they believe Wilson's riding of Patrick Marleau retarded Marleau's development.

Understand this. While Wilson and Burke are friends from years back, Burke now has more personal prestige invested in Kessel being successful than in Wilson, a coach Burke didn't hire. The Leaf GM will hope Wilson and Kessel get along very well, but it's a great deal more difficult to find top six forwards than head coaches.

Moreover, the three of them - Burke, Wilson and Kessel - may all be involved on the American entry in this winter's Olympics in Vancouver. They better all be able to work together.

Comments

[Dalton]

Saw Kessel chowing on yet another double cheeseburger yesterday. Third one of the day, I believe.
Dalton Kingston

[Alex M]

those Boston types are making it seem like they had the second coming of Wellwood over there...

[Ian]

Boston does this every time when they jettison star players .. .the chatter about Anson Carter and Jason Allison (laugh now but in the dead puck era they were star players) were criticized similarly as was Dollar Bill Guerin when he left town.. Boston media are bigger homers and fans than anywhere in the league. Even when Big Joe left they were criticizing him left right and centre. Its just typical Boston treatment of a player who decided he didn't want to spent his life worshiping their fair city.

[other mark]

This will be interesting. Kessel could be the answer. But I always worry about a guy who 'demands a trade' from a successful team (and, despite their unexpected exit from the playoffs last year, by anyone's yardstick Boston had a successful year). I hope he's not a 21 year old head case. I don't think Wilson would make a good baby sitter.

[John A]

Glad to see the Leafs get the upper hand on Boston for a change. It seems like we have been getting their cast offs for years for good draft picks, but this one may be Boston's undoing. Heck, I would want to be traded too if I were a top 5 draft pick, a star player getting benched in the playoffs, thrown around the lineup, then shopped aggressively at the trade deadline, watching David Kreci get signed before you and knowing there were not enough taters left in the pot for my own dinner. Hope Kessel has an amazing career in TO and the Leafs finish no worse than middle of the pack this year and next.

[Peter]

it sounds like sour grapes to me. they couldn't re-sign him now they try to bad mouth him. he had a pretty good year least season so i don;t think there's anything wrong with his game. we'll see how he works with coach Wilson. but he better live up to the expectation otherwise he will be eaten alive in TO.

[Steve Howe]

Burkie sure has the tongues fluttering in Hogtown. This gamble has the potential to be a very good deal for the Leafs. However, I wouldn't make the next batch of kool-aid too strong because of one 21 year old kid (with baggage). He is but one piece in a puzzle still missing many. But props out to Burkie. He's almost as good as he says he is.

[Paul W]

Boston cheap ??..of course they are! Kessel plays with any other team in the league and a deal gets done..except Boston of course.
funny how those chills between player and Management occur when the player is your top goal-scorer and left almost to last to get resigned.

[sam]

Komisarek, Kessel, Burke, Wilson .. is the team now the Toronto USA Training Camp?

[awineguy]

36 Goal Scorers who backcheck are like Super Models who cook, it's a nice bonus but it's not really why you want them.

Kessel chafed under Julien's style, as many young offensive talents would but Kessel's work ethic shouldn't be in question after his comeback from cancer. Boston painted themselves into a corner by first openly shopping Kessel on draft day and then giving Derek Morris $3.3 million a year which effectively eliminated any chance of resigning Kessel.

Say what you will about Brian Burke, and his plan may not succeed, but he knows what he wants and he goes out and gets it, be it tough D-Men, the top available goaltending prospect or a 21 year old 36 goal scorer.

Can anyone question that the Maple Leafs today are not greatly improved over one year ago ?

[J Yeh]

Kessel may have baggage, but at least his package is one stone lighter than most.

[blurr1974]

If they felt this poorly about him initially, why all the talk of matching an offer sheet?

There are certainly concerns to Kessel panning out, as there are with any first round pick, but 21 year old NHLers with 30+ goal seasons don't appear on the market all too readily.

I'm glad Burke swung for the fences, and am not too concerned with the Wilson/Kessel relationship. Even less so on the Kessel/media relationship. The Leafs have the tools in place (Bozak and/or Kadri) to ensure Phil adds a few more 30+ goal seasons to his resume.

[KE24]

My sense after seeing the press conference is that Kessel's enthusiasm is genuine but at the same time, naive. This is like Christmas Day for him so he's very optimistic and so he should be. As time goes by and say, we're in the middle of January in the midst of a 5 game winless streak and he's pointless in 4 of those games....I want to see the same gleeful resolve I saw this weekend. That of course will be a little more difficult infront of 15 mikes and 12 cameras after practice. When that happens then I think we and Phil will know if he understands the market he's in and what he can expect for the next 5 years.

[T-Bot]

Burkie sure makes life interesting. I hope that one day all the hype will actually come true.

ps. Thanks for switching back to print, Damien. Now I don't have to read your lips anymore.

[Travis]

People worry too much about what we have to give up to get this deal done. 3 future picks that are going to be nowhere near the top 10 in the next two drafts shouldn't have people stressing as much as they are.

We also have all this year to make a trade and next season's free agent market to find a suitable top-line player for Kessel to grow with, like Kovalchuk.

Leaf fans should be happy they're going to see an improved team on the ice next year. A couple draft picks won't be the difference between winning a cup and going back to the lottery.

[Geoff C]

'spin' this however you want, you're talking about a trade where the leafs gave up way too much for an unproven player at 21 yrs of age and you are discussing insignifcant, stupid rhetoric of how going from one FORMERLY poorly managed team (suffering from the Harry Sinden era but now committed to putting a winning team on ice) to another CURRENT poorly managed team (suffering from MLSE lack of desire to put out a winning team on the ice) matters in the analysis of this deal.

[Robert Bates]

Bobcat Bob comments:
What a great deal for Boston. 3 high picks for an injury-prone head case with a terrible work ethic. As for Brian Burke-signs a bunch of leadfooted goons who will take multiple penalties all year ( not realizing that the Leafs have the worst penalty killing record in the league 2 years running).
Burke is an over-rated gasbag who has already doomed the Leafs to an even greater failure than last year. As to Kessel playing with other leaf forwards ( what forwards all the leafs have is semi-good American hockey league forwards.

[RM in Oakville]

Everyone it seems is making a big deal over what we had to give up to obtain Kessel. Consider: Kessel was a 1st round pick so one of the first rounders we gave up is a saw-off. So we gave up a 1st and a 2nd. Assuming the Leafs get better, those two remaining picks figure to be much lower than they were this year. And there's no guarantee they'll amount to anything. Plus, if 2010-11 figure to be great draft years, nothing stopping the Leafs from trying to acquire high draft picks from someone else. Lastly, don't forget the Leafs acquired a couple of promising NCAA players that cost them nothing but money, a commodity MLSE has in abundance.

[JOHN D]

Damien,

The kid is traded to TO just three days ago and already you have him causing a possible power struggle between the coach and the GM. UNBELIEVABLE.

[Earle Pike]

Two first rounders, not really as I see it. Kessell is only 21 and essentially could be considered a "top pick" still. In other words, he can be looked at as the Leafs "2010 first round pick".So really they are giving up one second roundernext year and one first rounder in 2011. The Leafs have improved over last year and will not have the top ten draft positions next year or in 2011. So a second rounder and a "middle of the pack" first rounder in 2011 isn't that big a deal really.

[Ami Angelwings]

Geoff C:

"'spin' this however you want, you're talking about a trade where the leafs gave up way too much for an unproven player at 21 yrs of age"

As opposed to the VERY proven FUTURE players we MIGHT have picked in the next couple years of which.. wait.. what do we know about them? their positions? maybe their skillsets! um no.. wait how about.. their names! no we dunno that either... are they russian? Canadian?

it's kinda hilarious you categorize Kessel has "unproven" when we at least know THREE YEARS about him, and zero (in fact negative 1 and 2) about WHOEVER we might have picked in the future (what position are the picks at btw? and what type of draft will the 2010 and 2011 will be?) Whether or not 2 1s and a 2 are too much to give up for 1 player is another question all together, but I'm just addressing you saying "unproven" cuz.. draft picks we haven't chosen yet are MORE proven are they? I wonder, if you had a lottery ticket, or even TEN (or 100) lottery tickets for the next draw, and I offered you my lottery ticket from last week that won $150,000 for SURE for your 10 (or 100) tickets, would you take it? I'm just curious, are you the type of guy who will sell off their car to bet in Vegas cuz well, your car might be worth 20k, but YOU COULD WIN MILLIOSN in Vegas? Like.. I'd prefer a bird in the hand personally... (but then if you disagree, I'm very willing to give you 200$ worth of 6/49 tickets for 150,000 dollars, or even 500 dollars, just let me know xD)

[John Richardson]

Draft schmaft as Cliff Fletcher once said.
I'm not totally convinced about Kessel but giving up two first rounders for a 21 year old who scored 36 goals last year is a whole lot better than giving them up for an over-the-hill veteran.
As most hockey people know, giving up a pick past the tenth one doesn't mean a helluva lot.

[Ryan]

Really Coxy?

A Drama that only you could manifest... I know that you are well informed on how Player-Agent dealings work, so based on the two stories given to the media, what is more likely?
-A cry baby superstar who didn't like the mean coach & wanted money?
or...
-A player who felt that he wasn't used enough on his team that was stacked?

Kessel probably told his agent that he wasn't happy with his role on th Bruins, and then his agent played hardball with Bostom Management. Agents tend to blow things up a bit in order to make their players happy by giving them what they want. If the agent can make the player happy, the agent isn't fired. If his agent didn't get Kessel out of there and moved to another team like TORONTO who is in NEED of a top six forward, Kessel would be stuck playing 2nd PowerPlay & 2nd Line logging 15 Minutes a game. Star Players want ICE TIME, not money.

It had nothing to do with Money, it was more about what role he was going to play on a team. Kessel was a Superstar in the US development Program, a Superstar in College, and then in Boston he was a depth player. It only makes sense that he wasn't happy. Try telling Sidney Crosby to only play 14-16 mins a game and play on the 2nd PP unit, and be a 2nd or 3rd line Center. then we'll see what a "real classy" player does in a tough situation.

[Geoff C]

Ami Angelwings:

"it's kinda hilarious you categorize Kessel has "unproven" when we at least know THREE YEARS about him, and zero (in fact negative 1 and 2) about WHOEVER we might have picked in the future (what position are the picks at btw? and what type of draft will the 2010 and 2011 will be?) Whether or not 2 1s and a 2 are too much to give up for 1 player is another question all together, but I'm just addressing you saying "unproven" cuz.. draft picks we haven't chosen yet are MORE proven are they? I wonder, if you had a lottery ticket, or even TEN (or 100) lottery tickets for the next draw, and I offered you my lottery ticket from last week that won $150,000 for SURE for your 10 (or 100) tickets, would you take it? I'm just curious, are you the type of guy who will sell off their car to bet in Vegas cuz well, your car might be worth 20k, but YOU COULD WIN MILLIOSN in Vegas? Like.. I'd prefer a bird in the hand personally... (but then if you disagree, I'm very willing to give you 200$ worth of 6/49 tickets for 150,000 dollars, or even 500 dollars, just let me know xD)"

Clearly you are plagued by having too much time on your hands and/or being a devote leaf fan that gets suckered into believing they will make the playoffs year in and year out (just as MLSE wants you to) and get blinded by the fact that you contradict yourself in your own response. On the point of the unproven comparison of Kessell vs unselected draft picks, you are right to a degree, it is a a gamble to give up 3 yrs of a player showing some promise for unknown draft picks in years of 2010 & 2011 which are touted to be much deeper draft years for talent then 2009. it comes down to gambling now (which the leafs are doing) versus later (which Boston is doing) BOS now has 5 picks out of 60 in the first 2 rounds for 2010, better then the 0 of 60 the leafs will have a much better proability that BOS future is better off then the Leafs. It isn't about fortune finding, its about positioning yourself for the future which obviously you don't get being the 'typical' leaf fan that lives for now.

no need to sell the car or buy lottery ticket here when you have a plan for the future...

...but good luck with your octalrectalnitis surgery (when you get your eye nerve untwined from your a** nerve) and no longer have a crappy outlook on life!

[Conn Smythe]

Of course Boston is going to launch some 'grenades' at Kessel. What did you expect them to say? That he was a very good player and we made a mistake by not keeping him?

Dalton - even if Kessel had 7 cheeseburgers a day, he's still a better hockey player than you.

Geoff C - really, Kessel is 'unproven'? I don't think he's a superstar, but a 21 yr old who scores 36 goals looks to me like he has some upside.

Robert Bates - the fact that you are quoting 'Knobcat' Bob speaks volumes about your knowledge of hockey.