Report: Leafs willing to give more in an attempt to trade Kessel.

Earlier this week reports surfaced that the Maple Leafs were having difficulty trading Phil Kessel because their asking price was simply too high, and it appears the Leafs may have been listening. According to a recent report from Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, the Leafs are now prepared to sweeten the deal for teams in the market for Kessel, by taking on a bad contract in the trade making the long term cap hit of Kessel more manageable for the teams involved.

Toronto’s let it be known it will take salary back for Phil Kessel, but there is a limit. It’s got to be less (in term and value) than Kessel’s. The Maple Leafs are more interested in prospects and draft picks, but recognize that alone won’t get a deal done. Since the idea is to help create cap flexibility, it doesn’t make sense to receive a similar contract in return.

It appears now that to acquire Kessel teams will have to give up some quality draft picks, but will also be able to unload an unfavourable contract, something that could be extremely appealing to teams against the cap.