The Penguins have acquired star winger Phil Kessel from the Maple Leafs for two prospects, right winger Kasperi Kapanen and defenseman Scott Harrington, and a draft pick.
The pick hasn't yet been disclosed, and there's also no immediate word on cash changing hands. But the glaring aspect of this trade at first glance is that Jim Rutherford was able to get his No. 1 target from Toronto without giving up either of the two defensemen the Maple Leafs truly coveted, Olli Maatta or Derrick Pouliot. Kapanen looks like a promising talent up front, so that's a serious loss for an organization that has almost none of that in the younger age bracket. Harrington has potential, as well, though most in the front office expressed over the past year that he'd fallen behind Brian Dumoulin.
Kessel, 27, has been one of the most highly productive wingers in the NHL for half a decade now, with 247 goals and 520 points in 668 games. He was a 30-goal scorer in his past five full NHL seasons up until this past one, when he had 25 in 82 games, as well as a minus-34 rating for the last-place Maple Leafs. He's also been strikingly durable, not having missed a game in six years.
Update 1:15 p.m. from Josh: It would appear that Rutherford forced the Maple Leafs to cave a bit. This isn't much different from what the Penguins offered at the draft. And really, this has the potential to be a marvelous deal for the Penguins. Scouts are very divided on Kapanen. Harrington will be a solid NHL player, but he's no Olli Maatta. And Kessel never played with a talented center in Toronto. That won't be a problem any longer. The Penguins did give up a first-round pick in this deal, but they aren't worried about the future. They want to win now.
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