News Article: Kessel on his way out of Pittsburgh?

[Daisy Jane]

Why does everyone have to be a 2 way player to be a NHLer? Im confused. The objective of the sport is to outscore your opponents. Most of the players you guys idolize were actually trash in 1 area of the rink. Kessel lights the lamp in a game that normally ends, 3-2, so goals are at a premium.

BUt you take a team of Zach Hymans, I'll take a team of Kessels, and I'll beat you 100/100 times.

no where in that post did he said he wanted a team of Zach Hyman.
if you think you'll win with an entire team that has no semblance of defensive play then quite frankly, you're not winning a championship. which is the entire goal

 

[Joey Hoser]

Why does everyone have to be a 2 way player to be a NHLer? Im confused. The objective of the sport is to outscore your opponents. Most of the players you guys idolize were actually trash in 1 area of the rink. Kessel lights the lamp in a game that normally ends, 3-2, so goals are at a premium.

Who said they had to be? All I said was Kessel isn't one. Clearly works for him.

BUt you take a team of Zach Hymans, I'll take a team of Kessels, and I'll beat you 100/100 times.

Who cares? That has nothing to do with what I said.

 

[hotpaws]

Why does everyone have to be a 2 way player to be a NHLer? Im confused. The objective of the sport is to outscore your opponents. Most of the players you guys idolize were actually trash in 1 area of the rink. Kessel lights the lamp in a game that normally ends, 3-2, so goals are at a premium.

BUt you take a team of Zach Hymans, I'll take a team of Kessels, and I'll beat you 100/100 times.

sure Team Kessel beats Team Hyman but that's only because Hyman is nothing more than a hard working energy slug

but Team Kopitar or Team Bergeron wipes the floor with Team Kessel and sends the chubby little f*** crying home

 

[TeamBester]

Good thing we have TeamMatthews

 

[LeafingTheWay]

sure Team Kessel beats Team Hyman but that's only because Hyman is nothing more than a hard working energy slug

but Team Kopitar or Team Bergeron wipes the floor with Team Kessel and sends the chubby little **** crying home

I think the point to be made here is that with the way our forwards played in the playoffs, you could add Kopitar or Bergeron to this team and the team still wouldn't be good enough defensively. Fixing the current forward group defensively is more of an internal thing to be done (sticking to the system) rather than looking outside for help.

Also, Team Kessel beats any winger on our team (at 6.8 mill/yr for 4 yrs) yet we don't want him because 1) we have enough 'good' wingers or 2) our other forwards aren't good enough defensively so adding a 92 pt winger at 6.8 mill for 4 yrs is an issue ... Maybe we should address the current forwards that are making our forward-group not good defensively? I think we've improved vastly defensively already just by losing JVR/Bozak/declined-version-of-Komarov up-front. Our core Fs Matthews/Marner/Nylander/Kadri along with hard-working skills Fs Hyman/Brown/Johnsson/Kapanen still need to improve though from what we saw late last season and playoffs.

 

[ottomaddox]

You can't plan to win the lottery but you CAN plan to use your draft picks, which they did on Andersen (you have two choices...select a draft pick or trade for an asset but either way, the return on your acquired asset counts), which closes the "best player" gap considerably. I like Phil a lot but Andersen is likely more important to our outcomes than Phil would be.

This is ridiculous. You now make it sound like TOR planned all along to move PIT's 1st for Andersen.

Here is the trade:

To PIT: Kessel (1.25 million retained) Biggs, Erixon, a 2nd in 2016.

To TOR: Kapanen, Spaling, Harrington, a 1st and a 3rd in 2016.

How can you say that TOR won that trade?!

 

[Willchel Marlynder]

Love Kessel. Glad he got out of this toxic environment and won back to back Cups. That's two more than the Leafs have in 50+ years . Saying that I don't want him. That money used on him should be going towards a top 4 defense man. If Nylander, Marners, and Matthews all take a step forward next season than having each on a different line should be good enough to have three balanced lines.

 

[ShaneFalco]

ya man, you know Kessel and his 2 rings. He doesnt know about compete....The elite NHLer whos 8th in scoring, constantly scoring (which is the objective of the sport) but hes hated on constantly by people who know nothing, absolutely nothing, about the sport.

edit: reading some of your posts lmao. ya...

What are you 12?

Kessel is known (by people who know nothing about hockey) as having all the skill in the world but lazy. Kinda like JVR
But I’ll defer to your expertise

 

[bluumax]

What are you 12?

Kessel is known (by people who know nothing about hockey) as having all the skill in the world but lazy. Kinda like JVR
But I’ll defer to your expertise

He might be 12 but he's not wrong.

Phil does compete, on the ice he does work his ass off, he doesn't commit to defensive plays and thats what people focus on instead of the fact he's a top 10 scorer in the league. Ever thought that the reason he makes explosive offensive plays is because he doesn't waste energy on defensive plays? because maybe, just maybe his job isnt to block shots and win a selke..... its to score and make plays?

And no he's not "kinda like JVR" at all, Phil should've had a Conn Smythe trophy in 16 because he makes plays, he doesn't linger round the net waiting for a rebound or tap-in, he doesn't score nothing goals then disappear when the big games roll round, thats compete.

I was happy when we traded Phil, he wasn't a fit for us at all, but it sure as hell wasn't because of what he brought on the ice.

 

[ShaneFalco]

Phil does compete, on the ice he does work his ass off,

Yeah agree to disagree. 'Works his ass off' and 'Phil Kessel' have never been used in the same sentence

Why are we even talking about this guy?

 

[Iapyi]

The last thing this team needs is Kisselr on the team again. The only reason he has some worth in Pittsburgh is because of the leadership of Crosby. Our team lacks true leadership right now and bringing in a proven problem player is only going to hurt us. I think the Pens will have the same problem moving him that we did as there will not be a lot of suitors for him.

 

[leaffaninvancouver]

sure Team Kessel beats Team Hyman but that's only because Hyman is nothing more than a hard working energy slug

but Team Kopitar or Team Bergeron wipes the floor with Team Kessel and sends the chubby little **** crying home

Does it? Kessel is faster, has a better shot, better passing and better offensive awareness. Bergeron is of course much better defensively but this game would likely turn into track meet back and forth.

These five on five scenario's always seem to favour the more defensively sound player but that doesn't make sense. Kessel is easier to score on but he's also great at the counter attack. Two Kessel's catching you on a 2-1 is equally ridiculous.

 

[Zizzzzy]

BUt you take a team of Zach Hymans, I'll take a team of Kessels, and I'll beat you 100/100 times.

Vegas is 1-0 in the stanley cup finals and have been showing all year that a team of hard working players can come out on top of all the skill in the NHL.

 

[kyle n00bas]

BUt you take a team of Zach Hymans, I'll take a team of Kessels, and I'll beat you 100/100 times.

That this is apparently a controversial statement is hilarious to me

 

[Legion34]

My favourite part of this whole thing is how the knock on Kessel this year was that he played through injuries to get to the playoffs. That is the spin of the media which happens the day after he doesn’t talk.

Matthews and nylander here aregetting lambasted by the media for “self preservation” and not playing through injury.

Welll which is it???

 

[blueberrie]

Does it? Kessel is faster, has a better shot, better passing and better offensive awareness. Bergeron is of course much better defensively but this game would likely turn into track meet back and forth.

These five on five scenario's always seem to favour the more defensively sound player but that doesn't make sense. Kessel is easier to score on but he's also great at the counter attack. Two Kessel's catching you on a 2-1 is equally ridiculous.

Kessel playing center or defense would get eaten alive.

 

[ITM]

This is ridiculous. You now make it sound like TOR planned all along to move PIT's 1st for Andersen.

Here is the trade:

To PIT: Kessel (1.25 million retained) Biggs, Erixon, a 2nd in 2016.

To TOR: Kapanen, Spaling, Harrington, a 1st and a 3rd in 2016.

How can you say that TOR won that trade?!

If Kessel doesn't win two Cups on a loaded Pittsburgh club, his post-championship value isn't the measure by which the trade is judged a loss (in terms of assets exchanged) for Toronto. If Toronto doesn't use the 1st to acquire Fredrik Anderson the same apprehension applies. There's still Kapanen and what he will become to additionally determine the value of the deal. And like all good assessments of trades, time is determining this trade's overall worth.

But this wasn't a trade solely measured by what was gained in assets. That much is clear from explanations provided by the club around the time of the deal and certainly in discussions following. Kessel was moved because management determined Kessel was secondary to the direction the franchise needed to move in order to establish a preferred culture that he simply didn't fit at the time.

Kessel wasn't going to be the difference here because we were never a team assembled to maximize his talents in a timely fashion. That was Pittsburgh. If Pittsburgh moves him, then his value was measured by the two Cups won during his tenure. But...We may be experiencing dividends, asset-wise and culturally for a very long time after Kessel's played for a few more clubs.

 

[AllDay28]

Vegas is 1-0 in the stanley cup finals and have been showing all year that a team of hard working players can come out on top of all the skill in the NHL.

watch the soundcloud vid of the ast-gm whos now on the Leafs, Gilman, speak of the Vegas draft as a "Asset Harvest"..

 

[ottomaddox]

If Kessel doesn't win two Cups on a loaded Pittsburgh club, his post-championship value isn't the measure by which the trade is judged a loss (in terms of assets exchanged) for Toronto. If Toronto doesn't use the 1st to acquire Fredrik Anderson the same apprehension applies. There's still Kapanen and what he will become to additionally determine the value of the deal. And like all good assessments of trades, time is determining this trade's overall worth.

But this wasn't a trade solely measured by what was gained in assets. That much is clear from explanations provided by the club around the time of the deal and certainly in discussions following. Kessel was moved because management determined Kessel was secondary to the direction the franchise needed to move in order to establish a preferred culture that he simply didn't fit at the time.

Kessel wasn't going to be the difference here because we were never a team assembled to maximize his talents in a timely fashion. That was Pittsburgh. If Pittsburgh moves him, then his value was measured by the two Cups won during his tenure. But...We may be experiencing dividends, asset-wise and culturally for a very long time after Kessel's played for a few more clubs.

I don't agree with your first paragraph. Kessel had a lot of value before he was a cup champion.

Kessel was the best player in that deal. At the time he was better than: Biggs, Erixon, Harrington, Kapanen, and Spaling. He was a valuable playoff performer for Boston and for Toronto. He will no doubt have a better career than all those people in the deal. Apparently Kunitz was supposed to go to TOR in that deal, but wouldn't waive his NTC. Kessel will have a better career than him too.

Now TOR certainly had their reasons for moving Kessel, but they lost that trade. Nice that their fortunes turned for the better, but it had nothing to do with that very trade.

 

[Stephen]

I don't agree with your first paragraph. Kessel had a lot of value before he was a cup champion.

Kessel was the best player in that deal. At the time he was better than: Biggs, Erixon, Harrington, Kapanen, and Spaling. He was a valuable playoff performer for Boston and for Toronto. He will no doubt have a better career than all those people in the deal. Apparently Kunitz was supposed to go to TOR in that deal, but wouldn't waive his NTC. Kessel will have a better career than him too.

Now TOR certainly had their reasons for moving Kessel, but they lost that trade. Nice that their fortunes turned for the better, but it had nothing to do with that very trade.

Kessel had declining value at the time of the trade and it was necessary for the Leafs to move on as soon as possible: 1) Several high profile team meltdowns over the previous seasons 2) Kessel was approaching 30, had sharply declining numbers and appeared to be out of shape, ornery, with an uncertain future 3) New massive contract had just come into effect.

The fact that Kessel won 2x Stanley Cups in subsequent years and had great regular season success statistically in Pittsburgh is fantastic for him, but the conditions that allowed him to rejuvenate his career there would not have been possible here. Who's to say if his production doesn't further stagnate in Toronto during 2016 and 2017? His presence would have taken the Leafs out of the Matthews lottery but his trade value may have continued to go down the toilet.

Getting Kapanen and the picks to get us Andersen is quite the turnaround for us, not to mention the cap space saved.

 

[The_Chosen_One]

If Kessel can be acquired without surrendering an insane amount of assets, I'd go for it. However, a 92 point superstar is probably going to attract suitors that'll offer a lot more than the Leafs especially as his presence will likely translate to cup contention.

 

[Legion34]

So apparently the word is that Kessel wanted to play with Malkin. IF the media is to be believed..

I can’t wait for the same people who have savaged Babcock for years for playing Matthews and Hyman together still find a way to make Phil the bad guy.

Back to back Kessel cups then an expansion team making it to the finals. Poor 2010 tankers must be reeling

 

[Tavares to Marner]

Id LOVEEE kessel back

 

[LeafFever]

This is ridiculous. You now make it sound like TOR planned all along to move PIT's 1st for Andersen.

Here is the trade:

To PIT: Kessel (1.25 million retained) Biggs, Erixon, a 2nd in 2016.

To TOR: Kapanen, Spaling, Harrington, a 1st and a 3rd in 2016.

How can you say that TOR won that trade?!

Because the Leafs turned that 1st into Andersen and won the lottery and got a franchise C. the goal was torebuild. It could not have worked-out better.

 

[ottomaddox]

Because the Leafs turned that 1st into Andersen and won the lottery and got a franchise C. the goal was torebuild. It could not have worked-out better.

The leafs were fortunate.