canadianguy77
Registered User
- Apr 20, 2006
- 20,760
- 10,602
I don't know how well Kessel and Sid would've worked together. Geno and Kessel maybe. Sid and Seguin would be dynamite though.
I don't know how well Kessel and Sid would've worked together. Geno and Kessel maybe. Sid and Seguin would be dynamite though.
No one should be taking Kessel over Toews, even a team that needs a winger more than a center...
No one should be taking Kessel over Toews, even a team that needs a winger more than a center...
Not even the 2014-15 Pittsburgh Penguins as currently constituted? (ignoring the salary cap)
This year's Penguins team need Kessel a lot more than they need Toews, particularly since having Toews would likely mean Geno being played on the wing, where he's not at his best.
My problem with Kessel is more that he's generally horrible defensively and just doesn't have the determination and "motivation to win" that players on contending teams tend to have. I don't disagree with the rest of your points though.
Anyway, when you have the second pick, you take the best player available. Jordan Staal isn't/wasn't that player. I can understand need-based picks in the late 1st round on, but in the 1st half of the 1st round, you are hoping to draft an impact player, and every single team in the NHL right now can use an impact player at any given position except maybe goalie.
This year's Penguins team need Kessel a lot more than they need Toews, particularly since having Toews would likely mean Geno being played on the wing, where he's not at his best.
With Kessel, it's an easier fit where Geno can slot into his natural center position, and the only player who gets bumped is Sutter down to 3C.
Kunitz - Crosby - Hornqvist
Dupuis - Malkin - Kessel
Or
Kunitz - Crosby - Kessel
Dupuis - Malkin - Hornqvist
...has players playing in their natural positions and disrupts positional familiarity less than
Kunitz - Crosby - Hornqvist
Dupuis - Toews - Malkin
Or Kunitz - Crosby - Hornqvist
Toews - Malkin - Dupuis
...would.
There's also the minor issue of Kessel being a righty. Having that 35+ goal threat on the opposite side of the ice from where Sid and Geno like to set up would be glorious.