Ranking Priciest NHL Big 3s After Maple Leafs Trade Phil Kessel to Penguins

One of the biggest moves on the first day of the NHL's annual free-agent frenzy was not a signing but a trade.

When the Pittsburgh Penguins announced Wednesday that they had acquired Phil Kessel from the Toronto Maple Leafs, they did a lot of things. They added the top-flight winger the team had long been lacking. They gave Kessel the top-end centre he'd never had in Toronto.

They also committed to a cap hit of more than $20 million for their top three forwards, becoming the sixth NHL team to spend so much money on so few forwards. Who are the other teams to allocate their resources in such a manner, and how does the Penguins' trio compare to other NHL Big Threes?

Read on to find out. 

6. Washington Capitals

Jim McIsaac/Getty Images

Total Cost: $20.74 million

Players: Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom and Brooks Laich

Combined goals and points in 2014-15: 78 goals, 179 points

Summary: This is more a top duo than a true top three, as Laich is at this point an overpaid depth forward for Washington. Still, with Ovechkin's massive deal and Backstrom's not-insubstantial one, Washington has more money committed to its three most expensive forwards than 80 percent of the NHL.

Still, aside from the nuisance of the Laich deal, there probably won't be too much complaining. Ovechkin scored 53 goals for Washington last season, and Backstrom is at a reasonable price point for a No. 1 centre. 

5. Minnesota Wild

Jamie Sabau/Getty Images

Total Cost: $20.79 million

Players: Zach Parise, Mikko Koivu and Thomas Vanek

Combined goals and points in 2014-15: 68 goals, 162 points

Summary: This is a surprisingly costly trio given that Parise was the only one to top 60 points, and he just barely did it. The Wild are also a somewhat surprising team to employ such a pricey group, given their reputation as a four-line team. It's telling that two of the three were external hires brought in through free agency. 

Minnesota is overpaying a little here, but with both Vanek and Koivu nearing the ends of their deals, that's not a long-term worry. 

4. Carolina Hurricanes

Gregg Forwerck/Getty Images

Total Cost: $20.98 million

Players: Eric Staal, Jordan Staal and Jeff Skinner

Combined goals and points in 2014-15: 47 goals, 109 points

Summary: 2014-15 was a tough season for Carolina's best forwards. Jordan Staal was hurt and missed nearly half the season as a result, depriving the Hurricanes of the one-two punch down the middle they'd obviously planned on. Eric Staal led the team in scoring with a modest 54 points. Skinner struggled mightily, collapsing to just 31 points after scoring 33 goals the previous year.

3. Anaheim Ducks

Elise Amendola/Associated Press

Total Cost: $21.88 million

Players: Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry and Ryan Kesler

Combined goals and points in 2014-15: 78 goals, 172 points

Summary: The addition of Kesler, who came over in a trade with the Vancouver Canucks last summer, helped give Anaheim a dangerous second line and was a key ingredient in the team's run to the Western Conference Final. Still, the heart of this trio is the top-line duo of Getzlaf and Perry, which has carried the Ducks offence for years, and they are arguably the key pieces of the NHL's single-best forward line. 

There's very little question that the Ducks consider the money expended on this trio to be dollars well-spent. 

2. Pittsburgh Penguins

Justin K. Aller/Getty Images

Total Cost: $25.0 million (not including Toronto's share of the Kessel contract)

Players: Evgeni Malkin, Sidney Crosby and Phil Kessel

Combined goals and points in 2014-15: 81 goals, 215 points

Summary: There are fears that the Penguins are too top-heavy to win, that they've spent too much money on their best players with the addition of Kessel. The level of expected production is off-the-charts good, however. Of the six teams on this list the Penguins are the only ones who had their trio combine for more than 180 points last year. At 215 points, it blew its way past that total. 

Depth will still be a challenge, but there shouldn't be a team in the NHL able to shut down Pittsburgh's top six if they get good health. 

1. Chicago Blackhawks

John Russell/Getty Images

Total Cost: $26.90 million

Players: Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and Patrick Sharp

Combined goals and points in 2014-15: 71 goals, 173 points

Summary: Don't expect this trio to last. Sharp has been the subject of trade rumours for months now and is a strong candidate to be dealt. Even if and when he is, however, the presence of Marian Hossa means the Blackhawks will still have the priciest top-three forward group in the NHL.

So far, it's working out OK for them. After the team's first Stanley Cup win, there was concern that new contracts to Toews and Kane would sink the team. Chicago did take a step back but has won two Stanley Cups since. New, even more expensive deals for Toews and Kane will make things tougher, but the Blackhawks have been nothing if not resilient in recent years. 

Salary information courtesy of NHL Numbers. Statistics courtesy of NHL.com. 

Jonathan Willis covers the NHL for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter for more of his work.