Music: {allcanada} Penguins acquire Kessel from Maple Leafs

Wednesday, July 1, 2015

{allcanada} Penguins acquire Kessel from Maple Leafs

The Pittsburgh Penguins acquired forward Phil Kessel from the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday in a trade involving six players and draft picks, the teams announced.

Kessel along with forward Tyler Biggs, defenseman Tim Erixon and a 2016 second-round draft pick, went to Pittsburgh for defenseman Scott Harrington, forwards Kasperi Kapanen and Nick Spaling and first and third round picks in 2016. Toronto will also retain $1.25 million per year of Kessel's salary.

Kessel, who had 25 goals in 82 games last season, is signed for seven more seasons with an $8 million salary-cap charge, according to war-on-ice.com.

The Penguins were in the market for a top-six wing that could play with either Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin. Kessel is a five-time 30-goal scorer who has 227 goals in 668 games, including 181 goals with Toronto in the past six seasons while playing primarily with Tyler Bozak as his center.

Erixon split time between three teams last season, playing in 42 games for the Maple Leafs, Columbus Blue Jackets and Chicago Blackhawks. He had two goals and seven points and has two goals and 14 points in 93 regular season games in four seasons.

Biggs, the No. 22 pick in the 2011 NHL Draft, had seven goals and 39 penalty minutes in 57 games with the Maple Leafs' America Hockey League affiliate, the Toronto Marlies, last season.

Kapanen, 18, was the Penguins' first-round pick (No. 22) in the 2014 NHL Draft. Harrington, 22, was Pittsburgh's second-round pick (No. 54) in 2011.

Harrington played in 10 games last season and had no points and a minus-10 rating. He had 12 points in 48 games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League. He also appeared in eight games in the Calder Cup Playoffs and had an assist.

Kapanen had five points in seven games in the Calder Cup Playoffs with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton last season. He also had two points in four regular-season games after coming to North America following the completion of his season in Finland.

Spaling, 26, played in 82 games for the Penguins last season and had nine goals and 27 points. He had two points in the Penguins' first round loss in the Stanley Cup Playoffs to the New York Rangers in five games.