Kessel: Two first rounds picks, too much?

[Brent]

Kessel: Two first rounds picks, too much?

Two 1st round draft picks and a second round pick... is what it took to land Kessel from the Bruins.

Myself, I would have forced the cards into the air and let them fall as they may via offer sheet. If the Bruins matched then so be it, if not then Kessel for a 1st,2nd,3rd via RFA compensation was fair in my opinion.

The following type of players is what I fear the Leafs may miss out on:

Mike Green (29th 2004)
Kopitar (11th 2005)
Statsny (44th 2005)
Giroux (22nd 2006)
Varlamov (23rd 2006)
Lucic (50th 2006)
Etc. (10th-60th)

Two of these calibre players on an entry level deal for three years, then the first SPC contract after that, and taking the 5.4mil for a free agent next year, would have been my choice...

Of course, landing a player like Mike Green 29th overall or Paul Statsny 44th overall is not the norm and waiting four years for a player like that to develop isn't necessarily what the Leafs need either....

So... myself, I'm going to stop trying to weigh this trade now and just look forward to what Burke does next and enjoy the rest of the preseason.

Go Leafs!

[Brent]

Burkie makes a good point that his free agent acquisitions were part of his reasoning as to why he paid a high price for Kessel.

I can appreciate that and see the logic because the development of the players gained will be much more accelerated and potential can be evaluated now and over the next couple years, not 3,4,5 years.

In:
Kessel RFA 21 yrs old
Gustavsson FA
Slaney FA
Hanson FA
Bozak FA

Out:
1st
1st
2nd