Fluto Shinzawa of the Boston Globe had a nice piece on the Bruins Blog that paints a clear picture of why this trade went down. It’s interesting to here Peter Chiarelli speak about the process and just how unwilling Kessel was to negotiate.
Kessel Wanted Out of Boston
“Let me be perfectly clear,” Chiarelli said. “This trade is really about two things. One, it’s about a player who did not want to play in Boston. Two, it’s about the threat or the perceived threat of an offer sheet.”
That is pretty strong statement on it’s own but Chiarelli had more to say…“There wasn’t a team, but for one, that was willing to make a firm offer and willing to pay the player the amount of money he was requesting,” Chiarelli said.
Chiarelli deserves a lot of credit for getting as much as he did in this trade. It was clear that Kessel didn’t want to play in Boston and it was clear that no team other than the Leafs could be the destination. It works out for all parties involved, Kessel is a Leaf, the Leafs get their man and the Bruins score a couple of first round draft picks.
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