Brendan Shanahan hopes trading Phil Kessel will send a message to the remaining members of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The Maple Leafs' president shed some light on the thought process behind sending Kessel to the Pittsburgh Penguins in a multi-player deal, saying it was a deal made with the future of the franchise in mind.

"This will be a shock to a lot of the players and a message to our group," Shanahan told reporters Wednesday.

Shanahan thanked Kessel for his six seasons with Toronto and emphasized the move had nothing to do with singling out the prolific scorer.

"We didn't see that this group was going to get a whole lot better," he said. "We've got to build this thing the right way."

The return for Kessel includes Kasperi Kapanen - a 2014 first-round pick that Maple Leafs assistant general manager Kyle Dubas is very excited about.

"If Kapanen wasn't in the deal we probably wouldn't be standing here," Dubas said.