Star winger is the first piece to go, but not the last

“This is really about a recognition on our part that what we’ve been doing here and the group that we had assembled here wasn’t getting the job done and wasn’t good enough,” Shanahan, who also signed free-agent defenceman Matt Hunwick and forwards P.A. Parenteau, Mark Arcobello and Daniel Winnik, said in a news conference. “We are here to build a team that is capable of winning a Stanley Cup and there are no shortcuts to go around doing that.”

It was far from a perfect trade for the Leafs, who probably would have wanted to get Derrick Pouliot and preferred not to retain any salary. But in moving Kessel, the message was that the rebuild is for real. Kessel is the first piece to go. But he is far from the last.

In acquiring a 27-year-old forward who has scored the fourth-most goals over the last six years, the Penguins sent the opposite message.

While the roster became a little younger by losing defenceman Paul Martin, who signed with San Jose for four years and US$19.4-million, Pittsburgh is thinking about today — not tomorrow — with this trade. Kessel gives a team that has sputtered recently in the playoffs an offensive boost that neither Chris Kunitz nor Patric Hornquist could provide. And despite only playing in just one playoff round with the Leafs, Kessel has produced 13 goals and 21 points in 22 post-season games.

“He doesn’t have to be ‘ The Guy’ here,” Penguins GM Jim Rutherford, who had tried to trade for Saad, said in a news conference. “When you look at his goal-scoring ability and his speed, that was really the ideal player we were looking for.”

Like all deals, opinions are subject to change.