There is no doubt that Phil Kessel is a dynamic player. how much will he do to help the Toronto Maple Leafs and how long will it take? James Mirtle explains that the Leafs will have much higher expectations after making this trade. Contending for last place will not be good enough anymore.
Does Trade Make Leafs Contenders?
Toronto isn’t really in a position anymore to finish at the bottom of the league, not with Ron Wilson as coach and all of the free agent additions on the back end (not to mention how terrible the bottom of their conference is), so the only way they were going to land a young sniper to lead the offence was via a trade or through free agency. Both options are more expensive than tanking your way there.
The Leafs have made a huge jump here and who thinks that Brian Burke is done? He may have his team that will start the season but if we know anything about Brian Burke, he is not patient. He will do whatever it takes to make the Leafs better and that plan is starting to come together.
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