Trading Today for Tomorrow

Over the past few weeks, two popular Boston sports stars have been traded from the Hub of sports.

Richard Seymour was shipped off to the Black Hole in Oakland for a first round pick in 2011.  With only a few days with his new team, Seymour shined with 2 sacks and 6 tackles versus San Diego.  He still has plenty in the tank at age 29.

On the other hand, the Patriots missed him against Buffalo. It seems the Bills ran where Richard used to be. With Jerod Mayo being lost from 6-8 weeks, Seymour’s presence and veteran leadership will be sorely missed.

The Patriots will make due in the present to build for the future. Seymour was not going to play here in 2010, so you might as well get something in return. Oakland will probably be a .500 team at best in 2011, so the Patriots will pick in the top 10-15 or make a trade as Belichick has done before.

The Patriots are not as good today as they were 3 weeks ago.

Are the Bruins as good as they were earlier this week?

Young sniper, Phil Kessel, was shipped to the Toronto Maple Leafs for a first and second round pick in 2010 plus a 2011 first round pick. Picks are great for the future, but they won’t score the 36 goals that went north of the border to your division rival.  

Who will pick up the scoring slack for the Bruins this year?

Marc Savard? David Krejci? Patrice Bergeron? Milan Lucic? Veteran Mark Recchi?

The answer is all of them. Everyone on the squad will have to raise their game in the absence of Kessel’s goal scoring ability.

With the salary cap, the Bruins were not going to pay Kessel the 5 year 27 million dollar deal he got from the Leafs. They didn’t want to commit to someone considered a soft player. Kessel scored more goals than grit, but that’s what they expected when they drafted 5^th overall in the 2006 draft.

The Bruins have picked well over the last 5 years or so. The days of drafting clunkers like Rob Cimetta and Shayne Stevenson are hopefully far behind them. The Bruins farm system can be considered one of the best in the NHL.

Krejci, Lucic, and Bergeron are all graduates from Providence Baby B’s. It’s time to plant the soil, water, and harvest another fresh crop of talent to replace Phil Kessel.

Phil will be missed not only for his goal scoring but also the courage he showed battling cancer.  Good luck in Toronto because you and the Leafs will need it. They will be competitive but not for a few years.

It’s a business……

The Bruins and Patriots will both go on without important cogs in their engines.

In Bill We Trust will make it work in New England, he always seems he does.

Peter Chiarelli, Cam Neely, Don Sweeny, and Claude Julien will plug the holes and make the Bruins a cup contender again. The bitter taste of the playoff loss to Carolina is still fresh in their mouths.

It may take a little time to make up for Kessel’s departure, but just like the Patriots they will go on.

Joe Gill is a featured blogger for Boston Sports Then and Now and Trufan.com