Damien Cox of the Toronto Star is reporting via his Twiiter page that Peter Chiarelli and the Boston Bruins have reached an agreement to send Phil Kessel to Toronto in exchange for two first round picks and a second round pick. According to Cox, Kessel signed a 5 year deal with the Maple Leafs worth a reported $27 million. Darren Dreger of TSN is reporting that the Bruins would get a 1st and 2nd round pick in 2010 and another 1st rounder in 2011.
This means that those reports that were adamantly denied by the Kessel camp claiming he was seeking a contract worth upwards of $5 million per year were dead on. Kessel is a talented offensive player, but in the salary cap era, you just can't keep everyone. The Bruins obviously felt that there were other players that meant more to the future success of this hockey team.
This is a trade that we won't be able to fully evaluate for years. Those three picks could turn into three Phil Kessels...or three Johnathan Aitkens.