Along with the deal for Kessel, giving up three high draft picks that ended up being Tyler Seguin, Dougie Hamilton and Jared Knight. The Leafs should have their name etched somewhere on the Cup if the Bruins win it again, as they certainly have helped Boston a great deal.sean1976 said:
Scott,Ockeghem said:
Well the jury is still out on this trade. I myself am a Kessel fan. He certainly trounced Seguin in terms of numbers during that playoff series. In fact I'm not sure Seguin had a goal. As far as Hamilton and Knight go, only time will tell. Right now though Kessel's just hitting his prime and is a a pretty great player.Scott Merryfield said:
Seguin is still developing (he's only 21), and is already a more complete player than Kessel, IMO. With his talent, he's going to be an All-Star for many years. Hamilton looks like he will be a top pairing defenseman soon, too. The only question mark is Knight -- it remains to be seen whether he will make it in the NHL.sean1976 said:
Another player whom I'm really interested in seeing develop is Krug. Thus far, he has looked very promising.
Well at the time there was a real push to make the playoffs .. we had been rebuilding for so long that Burke pulled the trigger. It's far too early to comment on Hamilton IMO, but I think the trade benefited both teams. I don't think we'll be able to fairly judge for about 4 or 5 more years really. If Kessel ends up helping the leafs win the cup for the first time since '67, regardless of how the draft picks turn out, Toronto will definitely consider the trade a win.Scott Merryfield said:
I would have been surprised to see him fired, but there have to be some changes soon with the roster. There are too many high profile players to fit within the salary cap. They are negotiating a new deal for Malkin, which will likely be $9-10M per year for a long term. I would expect Kunitz, Letang and Dupuis to want big contracts soon, and I am not sure when Neal's contract is up. When you throw in Crosby's big contract and what they are overpaying Fleury, that is just too many mouths to feed in this salary cap era.Ockeghem said:
Yeah, hockey could not ask for a better matchup than these 2 teams, after the bitter lockout. Whoever wins, it's no fluke since both teams have won the Cup during a full season recently.Ockeghem said:Walter,I watched the entire game. This could end up being an epic series, and one for the ages. I think it's great that these two teams have never met in the Finals before for the Stanley Cup.
I am reminded too that Boston lost games one and two in Vancouver en route to winning the Stanley Cup two years ago. Still, I'd love for the Bruins to take game two, of course.
You wimps are saying that game ended late? And you call yourselves hockey fans...Walter C said:
Oh I see...we're playing prison rules!Walter C said:The one time that I did stay up late, the Kings playoff dreams ended.
