Breaking Down the Pieces in the Phil Kessel Trade

The return on the Phil Kessel trade today made it pretty clear Leafs management felt Kessel returning to Toronto in the Fall was simply not an option.

The value will be widely panned as underwhelming, but Leafs management has decided to pull the trigger, load up on more prospects & picks, and open up $6.75 million in cap space by offloading 85% of Kessel’s contract for the next seven years ($1.2 million retained for duration of the deal).

It’s a convoluted nine-piece deal, so here are the final details.

To Toronto:

Kasperi Kapanen: An 18 year old right-handed winger and the best piece in the deal from the Leafs perspective (the 1st will be late to very late, Harrington is a grade below in…