I think Murray had a bigger impact. Pittsburgh has lacked a true starting goalie for years. Fluery was probably the biggest reason why pittsburgh hasn't won more cups
Does Kessel get extra credit as a "missing puzzle piece" ?
- Thread starter Creativero
- Start date
I think that the weight and attitude aspect was more of a Toronto media driven event than anything. He's been a very durable player and showed that he can step it up in the playoffs with the Bruins and with the Leafs. Penguins struck gold with this trade.
Dying Alive
Phil = 2x Champ
The attitude thing for Phil has absolutely not been an issue here. The guys in the locker room love him, the coaching staff & front office praise him, and he seems to have a decent (if somewhat reticent) relationship with the media.
The media tried to make a big deal out of him and Malkin arguing on the bench, but that stuff happens all the time. Crosby & Hornqvist bicker on the bench like an old married couple and I don't think anyone would ever questing their attitudes toward the game or their teammates. Karlsson has been snapping at his teammates left and right during this PIT/OTT series and nobody thinks he has an attitude problem. It's a non-issue.
The media tried to make a big deal out of him and Malkin arguing on the bench, but that stuff happens all the time. Crosby & Hornqvist bicker on the bench like an old married couple and I don't think anyone would ever questing their attitudes toward the game or their teammates. Karlsson has been snapping at his teammates left and right during this PIT/OTT series and nobody thinks he has an attitude problem. It's a non-issue.
Rutherford is still a shock to me; HFB was going nuts the day he was announced as GM. Thought it would be a terrible fit, but it's panned out well.
NickyFotiu
NYR 2024 Cup Champs!
- Sep 29, 2011
- 14,717
- 6,389
You are probably right although as a Rangers fan I remember your coach benching him and others on his line after they were not even giving a 50% effort in a game. I wanted Kessel as a Ranger but remembering that game made me a bit scared of trading for him.
Iapyi
Registered User
Shouldn't sting for the leafs as much as it should sting for teams that wouldn't pay up to acquire him. If we didn't trade him, we wouldn't have the team we have today, likely including drafting Matthews. Andersen, Kapanen, Rychel (+2nd/polak trade)is a pretty good return, especially when you consider his value was on the low end at the time of the trade. He'd look incredible on many contending teams right now.
Winners: Leafs, Penguins
Losers: contending teams that passed on him
Honour Over Glory
Fire Sully
- Jan 30, 2012
- 77,316
- 42,448
They didn't pass on him.
Kessel picked where he wanted to go and Kessel picked right. Are people forgetting the guy had a NTC and vetoed other teams but chose the Pens?
Kessel picked where he wanted to go and Kessel picked right. Are people forgetting the guy had a NTC and vetoed other teams but chose the Pens?
SabreOil
Registered User
- Jul 23, 2013
- 972
- 86
tony d
New poll series coming from me on June 3
I think so. Like Shanahan with Detroit in 1997, a great team but needed that extra guy to get them over the top.
Chicago, l.a, minnesota, Montreal, Philadelphia, Boston, nyr, pittsburgh
These were the teams reportedly on kessels list.
I don't remember him vetoing any trades.. there was never a rumour of the leafs approaching him and asking him to accept a trade to a team not on his list, and him vetoing it.
Also Kessel himself said he'd accept a trade, as he likes Toronto but doesn't want to play somewhere he isn't wanted.
He had a list of 8 but there wasn't any indication of him wanting to "pick his spot". Pretty sure I read that there wasn't a big interest in him, the Pittsburgh deal was the only offer. I'd have to dig to verify this, maybe other leaf fans recall.
Here is a Simmonds podcast where there wasn't much interest in Kessel besides the pens. I'm not going yo watch it but I'm sure it'll just verify what I thought I heard at the time of the trade. Pens being the only team seriously interested.
http://www.tsn.ca/radio/toronto-1050/simmons-not-much-interest-in-kessel-besides-pens-1.323676
Yes. It's extremely nice having Phil when Sid or Geno is injured, in particular. When they're all healthy, they are a tough trio to stop. Especially in the playoffs. Murray did have a huge influence too. As well as the unexpected effectiveness of all the WBS callups in the last two years. Lots of factors. I think Phil was huge.
I hate Dan Bylsma as a coach, but MAF would have made Scotty Bowman look bad for a couple years.
Not to say MAF would have played that poorly with Scotty Bowman.... but you get my point I hope.
I hate Dan Bylsma as a coach, but MAF would have made Scotty Bowman look bad for a couple years.
Not to say MAF would have played that poorly with Scotty Bowman.... but you get my point I hope.
Last year having three lines that could produce helped them out tremendously.
I don't know about extra credit, but regular credit is deserved. With that being said, it is Crosby and Malkin who made the situation possible. Kessel works great as an additional weapon to help a team win.
I don't know about extra credit, but regular credit is deserved. With that being said, it is Crosby and Malkin who made the situation possible. Kessel works great as an additional weapon to help a team win.
No. Pittsburgh's biggest issue between 2010 and 2015 was that they didn't have the depth outside of Crosby and Malkin. Kessel is obviously a big piece of that, but it goes a lot deeper then that. Guys like Sheary, Rust, Bonino (although they did have Staal for a while), Hagelin and Horqvist are all key pieces. Then there's the system. Bylsma was a terrible coach - as Buffalo fans can now attest to (they mostly doubted us when we said this 2 years ago).
So yes acquiring Kessel was a huge part of our recent success - but just him alone wouldn't have been enough (just like our other depth likely wouldn't have been enough without Kessel).
Toronto could have moved him to: Montreal, Boston, LA, Chicago, NYR, Philly, Pittsburgh and I believe Minny. All other than Pittsburgh had cap issues that prevented that from happening. Other teams were interested, however Kessel refused to waive the NTC to go to any of them.
TSN said at one point that other teams not on his list were extremely interested in him, but that Kessel wasn't interested in changing his list at the time. I don't think it ever got to the point were Toronto actually asked him to waive, due to them already knowing that he wasn't interested at that point in time.
