Yesterday, the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Pittsburgh Penguins made a splashy trade today that caught my eye and others around the hockey world. The Maple Leafs parted ways with winger Phil Kessel today. Not shocked due to all the rumors about him, but what caught my eye was the Penguins acquiring his services via trade. The Penguins gave up 2 draft picks and 3 players to land Kessel. The players Toronto received in the deal were center Nick Spaling, forward Kasperi Kapanen, and defenseman Scott Harrington. Penguins won this deal and stole Kessel from Toronto without giving up too much. Spaling is 26 years old and registered 27 points in 82 games for the Pens this past season. Harrington is one of Pittsburgh’s top defensive prospects in their organization and is only 22. Why Toronto wanted him, because GM Mark Hunter is familiar with him. Kapanen was the 22nd overall pick in the 2014 NHL Draft and is son of former NHLer Sami Kapanen. Good deal for both teams though, because Toronto is in rebuild mode and the Penguins are in the mode of adding a key player to try and help them win the Stanley Cup again.
