All hail Jim Rutherford. That's what I and many Penguins' fans and many media members were saying today when he traded for one of the best wingers on the market in Phil Kessel. The Pittsburgh Penguins acquired Phil Kessel, Tyler Biggs, Tim Erixon, and a 2nd round pick in next years draft for Kasperi Kapanen, Scott Harrington, Nick Spaling and a 1st and 3rd round pick in next year's draft. That is a hockey trade folks and one you rarely see on the opening day of free agency.

The Pittsburgh Penguins absolutely fleeced Toronto in this trade and there's no other way to put it. The fact that the Penguins didn't have to give up one of their top two defensive prospects in Olli Maatta and Derrick Pouliot and got the Leafs to retain 1.25 million of Kessel's salary is absurd. Kessel's salary for the remaining of his contract will be 6.75, which is a much better cap hit then his original one which is eight million. The Leafs failed really bad in this trade as he was their biggest tradable player and yet didn't get nearly enough in return for him. This is likely the first of many moves for the Leafs this offseason as they try to rebuild their team.

Now what do the Penguins get in Phil Kessel? They get one of the best goal scorers in hockey and this will be Crosby's best linemate he's had since he played with Marian Hossa in 2008. Kessel has five 30 goal seasons in the NHL and you can be sure he will have another one this season and possibly get over 40. I wouldn't be surprised if he was a big candidate for the Rocket Richard trophy, which is given out to the player who scores the most goals during the season. He's also probably going to play on the power play for the Penguins and he would be great along the half wall for them. A power play of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang, Phil Kessel, and Patric Hornqvist just isn't fair to the rest of the league. 

This is the first in many steps for the Penguins to be coming back to be a Stanley Cup Contender. They still can make some moves to get better if they shuffle their roster a little bit too. There isn't a single thing to not like about this trade if you're a Penguins fan. 98 days can't come soon enough.