Why Phil Kessel May Be Worth a Taylor Hall or Tyler Seguin to the Maple Leafs

I don't know, about any of you but I am sick and tired of hearing from people how the Leafs' trade for Phil Kessel was a terrible move.

I am currently attending Concordia University in Montreal, which means that most of the people I meet outside of the university are Habs fans; there are a lot of Senators fans as well.

One of my friends at my residence who is a diehard Senators fan from Ottawa consistently remembers to tell me every time we get near the subject that the Kessel trade is "the worst trade in NHL history," and I know that he is not the only one who thinks that way.

This is why I've decided to put some of the facts together that will hopefully put the whole deal into perspective for a lot of people.

Most people now when they look at the trade just look at what the Leafs gave up to get Kessel and do not look at everything else that went on as well. Yes, the Leafs gave up a potential lottery pick plus another first and second round pick to get Phil Kessel, but you cannot just look at that one single aspect.

When the Boston Bruins traded Kessel, they knew that they were giving up a young player who could one day prove to be one of the most dominant players in the entire league, and Brian Burke was also thinking the same thing. I remember people who were happy when they heard that the Leafs managed to get Phil Kessel, and I was one of them. I knew that it was a big price to pay, but I was happy nonetheless.

People started to bag on Kessel very early on, calling him a bust because he was not living up to the expectations of Leaf nation. We all know that there is something about players who come to Toronto and play mediocre, but when they leave their game excels.

After much painstaking research, I came to a conclusion that will baffle you all. Who would have ever thought that maybe the reason Kessel did not play as well as people expected him to because there was no one to play with! I know, I know—it's shocking. We were all under the impression that the Leafs were an amazing team, so with Kessel we should have automatically started to win every game.

I know that most people out there are not so naive as to think Kessel alone could change this franchise. We all know that it would take a lot more than that. When Burke made this trade, I think he knew that he was probably not getting a franchise player, but a player that he had seen with his very own eyes could play and dominate at the NHL level.

Also, it should have been expected that Kessel not perform as well for the Leafs as he did in Boston considering the outlook of the teams.

In Boston Kessel could always sneak under the radar because he was not the only impact player that they had. The Bruins had Marc Savard, Zdeno Chara, David Krejci, Milan Lucic, and Patrice Bergeron who teams had to keep an eye on, which would make it easier for Kessel at times.

To leave a situation like that and come to a team where he would be pretty much the only player that other teams were watching is not an easy situation. It is not easy for someone to change their style of play into something completely different, and it seems almost unfair to ask that of Kessel right away.

Now if we look at the potential top-two pick that the Leafs sent to Boston for Kessel, everyone keeps saying, what if the Bruins manage to draft Tyler Seguin or Taylor Hall? They would automatically be unstoppable, right? Wrong. There is really no way for us to predict how big of an impact one of these two players would have right away.

I have no doubt that they will both be great NHL players one day, but people keep focusing on the now instead of the future. Most high-drafted players are not able to step into the lineup right away and have a huge impact. It all depends on the role they are assigned for the team and their linemates, as well as the major difference in the physical aspect of the game compared to junior.

If we look at all the top-five picks from each NHL draft since the lockout, I can only really think of five players who were able to make a big impact on their teams the season following their draft. These players are Alexander Ovechkin, Sidney Crosby, Jordan Staal (defensive impact is very key), Patrick Kane, and Matt Duchene.

Of course, this is only my opinion, so it is open to consideration. You may also include Evgeni Malkin if you wish, considering a lack of a transfer agreement was the only thing keeping him from coming to the NHL right away.

Still, if you look at it, half of these players were considered elite talents from the get-go, and the chances of any rookie having the same impact that Ovechkin, Crosby, and Malkin had during their rookie seasons is extremely unlikely. Even for a rookie to play as well as Kane did during his rookie season is rare.

People are making it sound like Tyler Seguin and Taylor Hall are automatically going to be amazing at the NHL level, but in reality I believe that it will take them a little time to find their form, just like it did Steven Stamkos two years ago and John Tavares this year.

I don't really know too much about the top prospects for the 2011 entry draft, but so far the front runner is Swedish defenseman Adam Larsson. Overall the draft class looks pretty even, but who knows—a lot can change in one year.

I don't think that the Leafs' first round pick next year will be anywhere near as high as this year's. They show a lot of promise for next season, and most people think that they have a shot at competing for a playoff position. If the team is able to continue playing well and growing together as a team, I think that they could be in the running for a playoff position next year.

People always look at the faults before they ever look at the positives. Brian Burke has done so much to help this team. He completely re-shaped our team by acquiring Dion Phaneuf and Jean-Sebastien Giguere, whilst getting rid of all the roster filler.

It was because of Burke that we were able to get Jonas Gustavsson (who is only getting better the more he plays), Tyler Bozak (a player who almost any team would love to acquire), Fredrik Sjostrom (one of the best young penalty killers in the league), Christian Hanson and Luca Caputti (who both have the potential to be good power forwards as well as defensive players), and last but not least, Phil Kessel, who has finally started to hit his stride with the Leafs.

One last thing: People were making it seem like Kessel was a bust very early on in the season without even giving him time to adjust. He may be in his fourth NHL season, but in case some people don't realize, he is the third youngest player on the team! He hasn't even hit his prime yet, and he can only get better.

I have complete faith in Brian Burke. He has been true to his word and has made this team a solid young team that can be good for years to come. Just watch—one day people may be thankful that Burke acquired Kessel, no matter what they had to give up at the time.