Saad > kessel
Rychel > bennett
Savard > dumoulin

Right on rw. Totally unrealistic trade to CBJ. CBJ gets weaker at every position. And Sqm....Scuds and Kunitz....can't wish away bad contracts. If by miracle they were traded closer to trade deadline, the Pens would be paying them 5m this year up to when they were traded.

Saad isn't better than Kessel and no one knows how how the two D-men's careers will play out, but like usual you are certainly entitled to being wrong.



Don't know if you noticed, but Kunitz is still on the team. It was a good try though.

Lol you copied my trade idea with saad for Kessel but you just messed it up hahaha

sqm918-
"Saad isn't better than Kessel and no one knows how how the two D-men's careers will play out, but like usual you are certainly entitled to being wrong."

OK i was gonna let it slip sqm918 but I feel compelled now:

Statistically Kessel is better than Saad yes. Can't argue with this. The stats are straight from NHL.com. You, have to take all the other factors into consideration and that will show you why Saad, even though hasn't scored as much as Kessel has, is the better "asset. (Worth more than Kessel = Better)
Saad is cheaper, younger, bigger, better defensively, more playoff experience, well liked by all (coach, players, fans etc), better conditioning and hasn't even hit his 23rd birthday yet.
Kessel is more expensive, older, smaller (faster though), worse defensively, less playoff experience, not well liked by many (coaches, players, fans etc), having documented bad conditioning and is entering the final 1-2 years of his prime. Not to mention that T,O had to worsen their deal in order trade Kessel away by retaining his salary and take on players they didn't need/want. Chicago traded Saad away because they wouldn't be able to resign him and the threat of an offer sheet was real and since the compenation for a player of ~6M isn't that great he was worth more to get good players back in return. Sooooooo..........

Stats: Kessel>Saad
All other factors considered: Saad>Kessel

With out being biased, Bennett and Rychel are still very similar. Both are former 1st rounders and both have yet to make a real impact at the NHL level so far. So this one can be considered at the very least evenly minded. Based on what I've seen, read and heard I would much rather take my chances with Rychel and here's why. Rychel is 20 while Bennett is 23. The best years of a players career usually are between ages 20-28. Simple math here, if both guys become good players than Rychel has longer to be his statistical best at. Bennett has been given some quality time playing with great players in order to show case his ability and hasn't done enough to prove anything yet. Rychel has only played 5 games in his young career and it wasn't even with superstar talents and he still managed a respectable 3 points. Small data field i know but promising none the less. If i'm a betting man I'd go with Rychel. Sooooooo.....

Stats: Bennett>Rychel
All other factors considered: Rychel>Bennett

Finally this one isn't even hard. Every single category shows Savard being a better player than Dumoulin who is only 1 year younger, has not even played more than 8 games in a season in the NHL yet while Savard who is as I said is only 1 year older, has all this accomplished: http://www.hockey-reference.com/players/s/savarda01.html He's literally better in every category except height. I don't think 2 inches will make that big a difference. (Insert penis joke here) Soooooo.......

Every category: Savard>Dumoulin.

So yeah everyone's entitled to having an opinion whether their right or wrong but saying "he's entitled to being wrong" (even if it was maybe just a tongue in cheek comment by you) considering the overwhelming factors against your opinion is simply ignorant.

There is no way that you could say Saad is a better player than Kessel. More expensive? Kessel is only 800k more with the retained salary. Kessel is an 80 point player with TYLER BOZAK as his centre and Saad's career high is 52 points while playing with TOEWS AND HOSSA. While Kessel was in the same stage as Saad, Kessel had 60 points and 36 goals in 70 games (on pace for 42 goals) and Saad had a measly 52 points and 23 goals with TOEWS AND HOSSA. End of discussion

I guess you must have not read the part where I explicitly said:

"Stats: Kessel>Saad"

But since you sound like the person who only looks at stats as a measure of deciding a player's value, then you clearly didn't read the rest of the analysis.

Jon. Not end of a discussion but let's look at some facts.. Saad last season 23 goals and 52 points. While he did play a lot with TOEWS & HOSSA, KANE also played with TOEWS and HOSSA. Also Saad did not play on every power play, 23 goals is nice but not I still can't fathom why CBJ offered him 6m a year.
Let;s look at Kessell. Last year 25 goals, 60 points. Kessell I swear was on EVERY power play with the Leafs. I know Bozak is bit a of whipping boy, but one of the forwards on his line had to be in the defensive zone retrieving the puck......and Bozak was that guy. Kessell lead forwards in plus/minus (minus) in the NHL last year. You mention, "same stage" comparing Kessell and Saad. When teams make a trade they project future value. Just looking at the stats last year.....and watching Kessell's play, he is on the decline. The trade to Pittsburg of Kessell, was basically a salary dump by the Leafs. Even Mike Babcock didn't think he could turn Kessell around. As a result Jon, I see you're a Leaf fan, you should be thanking Jimmy Rutherford.

Thanks Marco. You wrote what I was thinking, except way more vividly. Unfortunately I think Sqm918 has created a monster. Now it appears that Kessell is going to traded in every Pens blogs. As if Scuderi and Kunitz wasn't enough. Sqm918 Sorry I included Kunitz in my reply.....Scuduri and Kunitz to Arizona....force of habit

Thanks palhal, but in his defence he didn't make "bad" trade. Kessel is still a good player while Bennett and Dumoulin are not bad players/prospects in their own right. I just think when taking into consideration all factors, if I were GM, I wouldn't make that trade if I were Columbus.

Wait how is Kessel on the decline? By the beginning of the 15-16 season he is only going to be 28, and he hasn't been injured since what...he got shoulder surgery in what year? 2009 I think?(Correct me if i'm wrong)

Pal makes a lot of good points on here, and has some great hockey sense, but I think his Toronto fandom makes him a little overly critical of Kessel. Kessel is the second best goal scorer in the league right now, and I can pretty much guarantee his production is only going to go up playing with Sid or Geno instead of Bozak/Kadri.

"Wait how is Kessel on the decline? By the beginning of the 15-16 season he is only going to be 28, and he hasn't been injured since what...he got shoulder surgery in what year? 2009 I think?(Correct me if i'm wrong)"

Yeah I wouldn't of used the word decline either. He still is technically in his prime and technically a player could decline from any one year of his career to the next. However, Look at the 10 best players over the last 10 years for example and see when they started to decline in offensive numbers. Late 20's, not all but just about all of them. More and more the league is becoming a young man's game. I think palhal's point was derived from mine earlier that Kessel has 1 or 2 more "prime" years left before you start seeing a decline in his play. Not 50 goalscorer to 10 goalscorer in one off season but rather an overall less effective player. (Speed, drive, creativity etc)

"Pal makes a lot of good points on here, and has some great hockey sense, but I think his Toronto fandom makes him a little overly critical of Kessel. Kessel is the second best goal scorer in the league right now, and I can pretty much guarantee his production is only going to go up playing with Sid or Geno instead of Bozak/Kadri."

How is he the second best goal scorer in the league right now? I won't even delve into how the hell Stamkos or Ovechkin would be third on your list of best goal scorers in the league behind Kessel?

Mr Marco and others. Mr PallHal factually mentioned that Kessell scored 25 goals last year. This record does not put in the top two scorers, although he may rebound from his career low. Probably he will score more this year with Crosby or Malkin as her center.
Last year and for the past few years, Kessell has played almost exclusively with JVR and Bozak. Until the draft picks and Kapanen moves are evaluated in the next few years, the trade is currently Kessel for Spaling. Mr PalHal makes the case that he is satisfied with trade, as is Leaf management.
Jumping a step ahead, maybe illogically, Mr. PalHal may be suggesting Saad for Spaling is not a good trade. Just my imagination running wild as I make the trip to university tomorrow.

Easy.... He has the second most goals of any player in the last 6 years (behind Ovi). You could make the argument that Stamkos is better, and he did miss pretty much a whole season to that broken leg, so I wouldn't argue that. But that still makes him the third best goal scorer in the league....