Monday, September 8, 2008

Kessel almost moved to Toronto this summer

According to a source Phil Kessel was almost traded, along with PJ Axelsson, to the Toronto Maple Leafs for Matt Stajan, a 2nd rounder and prospect Dmitri Vorobiev this summer.

The deal was nixed when Bruins' GM Peter Chiarelli pulled off his offer because of the uncertainty of Vorobiev coming to the NHL. The two sides were not able to come to an agreement on the prospects.

It is a well-known fact that Julien and Kessel have had issues in the past, but it’s way too early to give up on Kessel. Kessel was even benched for a few games during last playoff vs the Habs in favor of grinder Vladimir Sobotka.

Kessel, 20, had a tough year in 2007-08, notching only 37 points in 82 games after a 29 points rookie season. Kessel is still a strong candidate to be traded this season if he gets off to a slow start.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Interesting. I guess Cliff doesn't think Matty would make a good captain.

Anonymous said...

2nd rounder in 2011 maybe?
...I'd have thought Kessel alone would need a better return than that

Anonymous said...

Does cliffy know it's good to have pics when rebuilding?

Anonymous said...

blah i like stajan better,

Anonymous said...

Personally, I'd love for Toronto to try and get this done. Kessel has a bright future in the NHL and can dominate during shootouts. Would they take a package of Stajan, White & Earl? We could even leave Axelsson out of the equation..

Anonymous said...

Read the latest from Eklund , O'Sullivan for Van Ryn, Bell and two picks. No way LA goes for that