Pittsburgh Penguins Acquire Phil Kessel, Form NHL's Most Potent Offensive Trio

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After dangling him in trade talks for the past few years, the Toronto Maple Leafs have finally traded Phil Kessel. The 27-year-old winger is headed to the Pittsburgh Penguins, where he’ll team up with Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin to form the NHL‘s most potent offensive trio.

The complete trade included six players and three draft picks, so thanks to TSN’s James Mirtle for what may be the most helpful tweet in the history of Twitter.

It’s the first day of free agency, but this trade made the Penguins the biggest winners of the day. Kessel was the biggest difference-maker available through trade or free agency, and Pittsburgh now controls his rights through the 2021-22 season.

Playing in all 82 games last season, Kessel was the Maple Leafs’ leading scorer with 25 goals to go along with 36 assists. Goal scorers are obviously always a valuable commodity and with 217 goals over the past seven seasons, Kessel is one of the league’s most consistent scoring threats.

Considering Kessel’s skill set, it makes sense to figure that he’ll play alongside Sidney Crosby on the Penguins’ top line. With Crosby, Malkin, Kessel, and not much other high-end talent in the forward group, the roster is extremely top heavy, but it’s hard to complain when the three best players are some of the best in the world.

Seth Lassen is a writer for RantSports. ‘Like’ him on Facebook and follow him on Twitter @Seth_Lassen.

 

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