Proposal: Acquire Phil Kessel if Compliance Buyouts Occur

[Richard88]

This would be an option for Colorado as well, if they would choose to not CBO Johnson.

 

[BlueBaron]

Just what we need!

Another small, soft, highly skilled forward!

You care about the size of a buy out? That is a special kind of intensity dude.

No thanks, this team needs the antithesis of Phil Kessel.

Plus we ran him out of town rather well, I doubt he's interested in returning.

You mean we should trade for players we can buy out that will carry a big cap hit? That is thinking outside the box!

OP. Its a good idea and they could give us something to do it, It could be brilliant. Sadly there is no good reason for buy-outs so this probably isn't an option but if it is I say we'd do it.

 

[rent free]

You care about the size of a buy out? That is a special kind of intensity dude.



You mean we should trade for players we can buy out that will carry a big cap hit? That is thinking outside the box!

OP. Its a good idea and they could give us something to do it, It could be brilliant. Sadly there is no good reason for buy-outs so this probably isn't an option but if it is I say we'd do it.

wdym there is no good reason for buyouts? the cap isn't increasing and teams need to better comply with a flat cap due to increasing player salaries. there is absolutely a good reason for buyouts.

 

[qqaz]

Kessel has had a down year in Arizona. It's true. It hasn't gone as planned. But I would bet my car that Chayka isn't about to give him up for nothing, let alone pay to dump him.

First off, remember that Kessel was happy to go to Arizona. He could have used his no-trade, like he did with Minny, but he allowed the move. That means he saw a fit with the Yotes. The Coyotes are not likely to throw away a star player, even a declining one, when he actually wants to be there. It's hard to get players who want to be there.

Second, the team has always been starved for goals. Even if he is declining, Kessel is still an offensive player. That's their #1 need. The previous 2 seasons he had 82 and 92 points. He's 32, so maybe he never gets a point per game season again. But Arizoan can't throw away a guy with that kind of talent when starved for scoring.

Third, Chayka hitched his wagon to Kessel. They finally have ownership willing to spend, and this is the guy they opened the checkbook for. There's no turning back after just one year. They hyped Phil up like crazy, and gave him an 'A' on his sweater before he hit the ice. You can't 180 on a player you comitted to that quickly.

Kessel is going nowhere. He has more value to Arizoan than anyone else. Certainly more than he does to us as a buy-out cap-dump.

 

[BlueBaron]

wdym there is no good reason for buyouts? the cap isn't increasing and teams need to better comply with a flat cap due to increasing player salaries. there is absolutely a good reason for buyouts.

I agree but that wasn't the question.

 

[rent free]

I agree but that wasn't the question.

wdym by "Sadly there is no good reason for buy-outs" then?

 

[BlueBaron]

wdym by "Sadly there is no good reason for buy-outs" then?

Instead of typing "wdym" over and over to go with your sidestepping why not just admit you didn't read the OP before posting. I'm just teasing you and you seem to be taking this awfully seriously.

 

[Funk21]

I don't view Kessel as a buyout candidate right now. The last 2 seasons he had 82 and 92 pts. It shouldn't be a big surprise that the year that he moved to a team that has lacked serious talent for the past 10 years, he has a down year. The highest scorer on the team had 45 pts.

So what if he had a down year, if Zona and Kessel are okay with the idea it helps reduce Kessel’s cap hit in Zona too as the contract he likely receives is in the 4-5 million dollar range. That means an additional 1.8-2.8 million in cap space. Zona is pretty tight up against it and that breathing room could certainly help. Not to mention the actual dollar savings too.

The obvious question is what is the real dollar savings and cap space worth to them? That I don’t know.

 

[deletethis]

League mandated austerity could be the excuse for the Phoenix GM needs to cut bait on Kessel. I think it's fantasy that Kessel is going to return to his former level of production. It's not like he didn't have a full opportunity this past season to produce with nice young talent next to him.

You know how a certain kind of elite veteran talent learn a style of game that is both productive yet protects their body? IMO, Kessel has been doing this since about 2010 to great success. Like those vets pushing 40 who have been successful in their late 30's but eventually hit the wall, I think that is happening to Kessel now at 32.

 

[qqaz]

League mandated austerity could be the excuse for the Phoenix GM needs to cut bait on Kessel. I think it's fantasy that Kessel is going to return to his former level of production. It's not like he didn't have a full opportunity this past season to produce with nice young talent next to him.

You know how a certain kind of elite veteran talent learn a style of game that is both productive yet protects their body? IMO, Kessel has been doing this since about 2010 to great success. Like those vets pushing 40 who have been successful in their late 30's but eventually hit the wall, I think that is happening to Kessel now at 32.

Arizona probably knew that Phil wouldn't hit 92 points with Derek Stepan as his C instead of Malkin. Kessel is, even at his worst this season, is still getting .54 points per game. And it's easy to think he'll bounce back a bit from this. 6.8 million for 2 more years is not a disaster.

Joe Pavelski, Kevin Hayes, Anders Lee, JVR, Paul Stastny, Alex Radulov, Kyle Turris, Derek Stepan, Matts Zucarello. There's a bunch of guys around 30 getting about .5 points per game, making between 6 and 7 million. It happens. They're not all buy-out candidates.

You can imagine Kessel as a cap-dump if you want. But it makes no sense to me. His very recent track record suggests he'll bounce back. His ironman streak suggests he isn't breaking down physically, like you suggest. And Arizona would have no internal replacement for him if they dumped him.

Other than this thread, I haven't seen any indication anywhere that Arizona wants to get rid of Kessel. Let alone paying Toronto to make it happen.