Is Kessel making a late surge before the draft?

[Jackets16]

boredmale - id prefer okposo for one. the thing is, if you have kessel, nash, and zherdev. 2 of those guys will be on the same line together. and all 3 dominate the puck. just wouldnt work well, imo

 

[boredmale]

boredmale - id prefer okposo for one. the thing is, if you have kessel, nash, and zherdev. 2 of those guys will be on the same line together. and all 3 dominate the puck. just wouldnt work well, imo

I definantly see how the style clash might be an issue for your team(especially with Zherdev there). I take it the other person you would take over Kessel would be Mueller to fill out your top 6.

 

[Jaded-Fan]

Well, this is in a way some news. The Pens hardly sound ambivilent about the top forwards. They have one pegged as the best of the bunch. That, despite the rest of the speculation in this article, says to me that they would only move up, not down:

Unless they make a trade, the Penguins will pick second in the June 24 draft - the fourth year in a row they have had either the No. 1 or 2 pick.

"Yeah, I'd have some interest, sure," Shero said Thursday of a possible trade. "We know who we have rated second, I just want to be sure that when these things start coming at us, we're in a position to react. That we've already thought of those scenarios and know what we want to do. We want to be as prepared as possible and ready to go

http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/14827693.htm

 

[SOLR]

I don't know about a late surge, but when teams look at Kessel and the dust settles, what is left? A dynamic forward with elite ability that can't be taught, including great speed and a bullet for a shot. I think that comforts more teams than turns away. His offensive upside is simply greater than anyone in the draft, and in this era of NHL hockey that has to be attractive.

Agree 100% and I still think the blues could surprise and pick him

 

[AgentNaslund*]

still yappin about Americans anserw to Sid the kid?

Kessel is not going past number 2. THe New NHL favors guys like him. HEs gonna be awesome in the NHL. Look at edmonton, look at Carolina. how the hell can you pass on aguy that can skate like the wind. I will no dbout take him over Staal, or Toews, or who ever.

 

[Spetzky]

It wouldnt be an official phil kessel thread without this schmuck showing up.

. He probably doesn't know that Phil Kessels unimpressive season was due
to playing second line minutes, fatigue, and pressure. I would think that his low shot percentage
is a by-product of his shoot first mentaility, and his amount of assists is attributed to players
picking up rebounds on the chances he makes.

 

[Jackets16]

I definantly see how the style clash might be an issue for your team(especially with Zherdev there). I take it the other person you would take over Kessel would be Mueller to fill out your top 6.

yes, i just took that as given

 

[boredmale]

yes, i just took that as given

well rumor has it Columbus might take Brassard at 6th

 

[Slats432]

Those who overlook hype and the media and leave their thoughts to what they see on the ice have never had Kessel below 3.

Glad I have never changed my opinion. If I was picking, Kessel is the first forward I would pick.

 

[Jackets16]

well rumor has it Columbus might take Brassard at 6th

no, i meant as a given he would be one of the choices there, along with brassard and whoever else fell.

and ill personally escort our gm out of the country if he takes brassard

 

[Rise from the Ashes]

Whoever picks Kessel is a smart smart man and a lucky one too. All this falling is because of the hype and they needed some way to be critical to him, so they pointed out he isnt a good team player and he doesnt have great character, the bottom line is to play hockey, score goals and make the fans have fun. Hence the name Phil The Thrill.

 

[Rick Middleton]

still yappin about Americans anserw to Sid the kid?

Sorry, I don't mean to flame, but that's a terrible comparison. Are you insinuating that Kessel is going to be as good as Crosby?

 

[Hank19]

Sorry, I don't mean to flame, but that's a terrible comparison. Are you insinuating that Kessel is going to be as good as Crosby?

He didn't say this, half the media did until this season.
Before he went off to college many, many 'experts' were saying that Kessel was the American version of Crosby.
But almost everyone has changed their tune because of how Sid did in the bigs and how Phil did in the NCAA.

I still think he's going to be great. And the Pens shouldn't pass up on him. I heard one GM say once that you should never draft for need, but to pick up assets. He said that it's absurd to draft a defensman only because your team is weak on the blueline. Most of these kids don't make it in the league for another 4-5 years so who knows what your blueline will look by then.

If the Pens pick him they'll have an abundance of young, dynamic talent at centre. The worst that would happen is the Pens end up dealing one of them for an allstar dman, winger, or whoever. Draft to fill the cupboard with assets not to fill immediate holes.

 

[Chief]

Is anyone else getting that impression but me? At HF and in various places outside of HF I get the impression that Kessel is making a comeback.

In the immortal words of LL Cool J, "Don't call it a comeback!"

Kessel might have dropped a few spots on some draft rankings but I feel confident in saying that if a team selected Kessel #1 overall, I don't think any of the other NHL teams would blink an eye. They might not take him first overall themselves but they would understand why another team would.

As recently as two seasons ago Kessel dominated offensively like none of the other top prospects have. He's already shown more of what I would call superstar potential than any of the other top prospects (although Backstrom and to a lesser extent Brassard aren't far off). Other players at the top of the various draft rankings have shown more complete games or greater potential for a physical style of play but none have been as explosive as Kessel has been in the recent past.

In our final rankings, we've got Kessel at #3 overall at Young Guns Hockey.

We have two mock drafts prepped, one of which we will post on our site (depending on who wins the Cup) and we've got Kessel going to the Pens at #2 in both.

 

[Bookman]

Seems to me Kessel's only sin has been not living up to the hype of being the American Crosby he generated after the 2005 WJC.

Call it a double standard, but even the Hockey News called his 2006 WJC "so-so."

Kessell had 11 points in 7 games.

How did some of the other top prospects do in the same tournament?

Toews: 6 games 2 assists

Mueller: 7 games 2 goals 4 assists

Tlusty: 4 games 0 points

Yet Kessel is the one called out.

Whatever.

 

[PhoPhan]

The thing that bothers me about Kessel is that he doesn't seem to improve his teammates, the way Crosby did and the way guys like Toews and Backstrom seem to do. He's really fast, has a great shot, and has a few nice moves, but he might have the biggest bust potential of the top 5 or 6 guys.

 

[Chief]

Bookman: You can throw Frolik into that mix as well. There's plenty of people out there who will knock Kessel even though he keeps producing but then you'll hear them sing Frolik's praises while his offensive production has been lacking for a year now. Putting up points does matter!

 

[Chief]

The thing that bothers me about Kessel is that he doesn't seem to improve his teammates, the way Crosby did and the way guys like Toews and Backstrom seem to do. He's really fast, has a great shot, and has a few nice moves, but he might have the biggest bust potential of the top 5 or 6 guys.

I've often hated the "boom or bust" tag but I would agree that Kessel has the most boom or bust potential of the guys you see as concensus top 5 prospects. Still, I think Kessel played a more selfless game this past season at Minnesota and I don't think he gets nearly enough credit for that.

 

[Rabid Ranger]

The thing that bothers me about Kessel is that he doesn't seem to improve his teammates, the way Crosby did and the way guys like Toews and Backstrom seem to do. He's really fast, has a great shot, and has a few nice moves, but he might have the biggest bust potential of the top 5 or 6 guys.

You don't think he made the likes of Ben Gordon & Blake Wheeler better players when switched to his line?

 

[J17 Vs Proclamation]

Bookman: You can throw Frolik into that mix as well. There's plenty of people out there who will knock Kessel even though he keeps producing but then you'll hear them sing Frolik's praises while his offensive production has been lacking for a year now. Putting up points does matter!

I agree that Kessel has been unfairly knocked and that he is still the best forward prospect in the draft. Though Frolik has been knocked alot. Him and Frolik have been the two most unpopular and criticised prospects in this draft.

 

[Danny30]

The thing that bothers me about Kessel is that he doesn't seem to improve his teammates, the way Crosby did and the way guys like Toews and Backstrom seem to do. He's really fast, has a great shot, and has a few nice moves, but he might have the biggest bust potential of the top 5 or 6 guys.

Ben Gordon (Kessel's linemate):

2004-2005: 24 0 9 9 (without Kessel)
2005-2006: 37 12 17 29 (with Kessel)

 

[Big McLargehuge]

An improvement, yes...but not comparable to the likes of, say, Dany Roussin. 54 points in 71 games the season before Crosby and 117 points in 66 games in Crosby's rookie year. Crosby carried that waste of a jersey to being a second round pick as a re-entry.



Not really fair to compare Sid to anyone in the draft...but yeah...I'll go along with the sentiment he doesn't make his teammates all that better.

 

[Rick Middleton]

He didn't say this, half the media did until this season.

OK, my bad. Obviously I should pay more attention to the hype. Or less. Depends on your point of view.

 

[Rabid Ranger]

An improvement, yes...but not comparable to the likes of, say, Dany Roussin. 54 points in 71 games the season before Crosby and 117 points in 66 games in Crosby's rookie year. Crosby carried that waste of a jersey to being a second round pick as a re-entry.



Not really fair to compare Sid to anyone in the draft...but yeah...I'll go along with the sentiment he doesn't make his teammates all that better.

How can you go along with a falsehood? Ask any Gopher fan and he or she will tell you that Kessel made not only his linemates better but his team better. For cryin out loud, he was the trigger man on their dominant power play!

 

[J17 Vs Proclamation]

An improvement, yes...but not comparable to the likes of, say, Dany Roussin. 54 points in 71 games the season before Crosby and 117 points in 66 games in Crosby's rookie year. Crosby carried that waste of a jersey to being a second round pick as a re-entry.



Not really fair to compare Sid to anyone in the draft...but yeah...I'll go along with the sentiment he doesn't make his teammates all that better.

Kessel has shown he can carry his linemates to an extent. Also remember Roussin actually continued his scoring pace when Crosby was at the WJ. Roussin just isn't supposed to be a very good Pro player.