Bruins Will Miss Kessel

The Phil Kessel saga is finally over. After only 3 years with the Boston Bruins, the Phil Kessel era is over. The Bruins finalized a trade with the Conference rival Toronto Maple Leafs in which the Leafs give up a first and second round draft choice in the 2010 draft, and a first rounder in 2011. By all accounts it seems that the Bruins wanted to keep their speedy 2006 first round draft choice. However, as is almost always the case when an agent and big dollars are involved, Kessel bolted and signed with the leafs. Recent reports indicate he signed a 5 year 27 million dollar contract with the Leafs.
In the short term, the Bruins will definitely miss the speedy Kessel. Besides being only 21 years old and missing 12 games due to injury, Kessel led the Bruins with 36 goals last season; 9 more than runner-up Michael Ryder. The Bruins lost their game-breaker, Kessel's blazing speed and accurate shot made him the most dangerous of all the Bruins. Kessel was a mainstay on the Bruin power play and added something the Bruins sorely lack; speed. While the Bruins have some decent skaters in Patrice Bergeron, Chuck Kobasew, and the returning Marco Sturm, none of them posses Kessel's offensive arsenal. Kessel was a perfect fit with the Bruins. With punishing hitters such as Zdeno Chara and Milan Lucic, the offensive mastery of Marc Savard and David Krejci, and with Kessel being the ever present danger in the opposing zone, the Bruins could have made another serious run at the Stanley Cup again this year. Even though the Bruins pounded the Habs in to submission in last season's first round playoff series 4 games to none, the speedy Carolina Hurricanes exposed the Bruins lack of team speed in winning a thrilling series 4 games to 3. With Kessel gone, they will not be any faster, although the return of Sturm will help. Although the future draft picks will help, this transaction will not help them this season. Norris Trophy winner Zdeno Chara and Vezina Trophy winner Tim Thomas had career seasons last season, and the Bruins will need an encore from their aging veterans in order to have the same success this season.
For the Leafs, Kessel, who will be out of the line up until November with a shoulder injury, will add another dimension to the Leafs offence. Time will tell whether Brian Burke paid the right price in acquiring Kessel. As a hockey move, Kessel will definitely be playing on a weaker team and in a city where the pressure to play is matched only in Montreal and New York. Kessel and his agent obviously went for the big bucks, and it remains to be seen if Kessel can improve on his success from Beantown. Can he lead the Leafs in to the playoffs??... Despite the Leafs numerous acquisitions this season...unlikely.