It took nine full months but we now know the final details of the trade that sent Phil Kessel from the Toronto Maple Leafs to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The Penguins blanked the New York Islanders 5-0 Saturday afternoon and clinched a playoff berth in the process. This also means the Maple Leafs will receive Pittsburgh’s 2016 first-round pick.
The Leafs sent Kessel, Tyler Biggs, Tim Erixon and a conditional second-round pick to the Penguins on July 1 for Kasperi Kapanen, Scott Harrington, Nick Spaling, a conditional first-round pick in 2016 plus a 2016 third-round selection.
The conditions on the picks were as follows: If Pittsburgh qualified for the 2016 post-season, Toronto would receive the Penguins’ 2016 first-round draft pick and the Penguins would get Toronto’s 2016 second-round selection. The second-round pick Pittsburgh receives is the one Toronto originally acquired from Pittsburgh last February in a trade involving Daniel Winnik – so they get their original second-round pick back.
If Pittsburgh had not qualified for the playoffs this season, Toronto would have instead received the Penguins’ 2017 first-round pick and Pittsburgh would have gotten Toronto’s 2017 second-round selection in return.
Ironically, Kessel scored one of Pittsburgh’s five goals in Saturday’s game. The 28-year-old is on a serious hot streak as the regular season winds down. Kessel has five goals, five assists in his last five games playing on a line with Nick Bonino and Carl Hagelin. On the season, Kessel has 26 goals through 78 games, which is one more goal than he had with the Leafs in 82 games last season.
Here is a look at all the Leafs’ 2016 draft picks as it sits right now:
Round 1 (TOR, PIT), Round 2 (TOR, WSH), Round 3 (TOR, NJD), Round 4 (TOR, COL), Round 5 (TOR), Round 6 (TOR, STL), Round 7 (TOR). Meanwhile, the Penguins have a pair of second rounders (PIT, ANA) plus picks in the fourth, fifth and sixth rounds.
