Proposal: Kessel for Saad

[Coach Travis]

Purely hypothetical but lets say Jarmo Kekäläinen calls up JR tomorrow and offers him Saad for Kessel straight up. Would you want JR to do it?

Click to read more...

 

[Ogrezilla]

Nope.

 

[Dick Sledge]

https://youtu.be/0cgbZqR2AGI

 

[TNT87]

Pass.

 

[xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

 

[KrisLetAngry]

This is interesting.

I will decline this trade

 

[HuskerTornado]

Results of this pre-HBK would have swung one way, now they will swing the other. Crazy how just one lineup tweak can change everything.

 

[PensPlz]

If Sprong were ready to be a legit top 6 right now then I would think about it long and hard.

 

[NeedleInTheHay]

The age difference is the only thing that would get me to consider it, but still I'd have to pass.

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

Yep, I would.

 

[WayneSid9987]

If Sprong were ready to be a legit top 6 right now then I would think about it long and hard.

This.

ATM, No unless it's Saad+ which it wouldn't be.

 

[mgd525]

This is simple, No.

 

[#66]

What kind of cap hits are we talking about this year?

 

[BHD]

I would definitely have to stop to think about it. Saad would replace Kunitz on LW and Sprong could fill Kessel's spot.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

I wouldn't do it, I mean some will cite age as the reason, but Kessel is what this team needs right now and he's got a proven track record of being a top line winger and he's now disproved a lot of people about his playoff performance and his supposed lack of drive.

Also, why would Kessel waive to go there? He's on a Cup winning team, a real contender, now he should waive to go to a pretender? Also, the ramifications on the rest of the roster wouldn't be good.

Yep, I would.

But is he Hansen good, that's the real question.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

I would definitely have to stop to think about it. Saad would replace Kunitz on LW and Sprong could fill Kessel's spot.

If anything, the team would need to add Saad to the team in addition to Kessel.

Jackets also want to build around their younger players, Saad is one of them, so why the hell would they even do this? There's absolutely no logical reason for the Jackets GM to call and ask this. They are trying to move their older players with bigger contracts.

There's no way.

 

[ImporterExporter]

HOG nailed it. It makes absolutely zero sense from any angle for starters.

And I still wouldn't do it. Kessel nearly won the Conn Smythe and was incredibly important down the stretch and playoffs for us. Now that we have found a line that was very dynamic why mess with it? Saad is a very good player and younger, but Kessel, under Sullivan has a legit chance at being a 30-30 player and obviously proved he will show up in crunch time.

 

[TheProspector]

Kessel is literally one of the best playoff performers in NHL history.

The **** this guy gets..

 

[ColePens]

After what Kessel did in the postseason, absolutely 100% no. I understand why it would be at least thought of, and I understand why it'd be a discussion... but Kessel was that good in the postseason for us. I don't know why we would change anything.

Plus... Toronto is eating some of his salary.

 

[Pens17]

I would definitely have to stop to think about it. Saad would replace Kunitz on LW and Sprong could fill Kessel's spot.

Until Sprong recovers from MAJOR shoulder surgery and demonstrates the capacity to perform effectively on the NHL level, the Luca Caputi and Eric Tangradi projection models are difficult to dismiss. Luca is currently an assistant coach with the Guelph Storm and Eric a winger on the Grand Rapids Griffins.

Replacing Phil is obviously difficult and possibly insurmountable in the near term.

 

[ImporterExporter]

After what Kessel did in the postseason, absolutely 100% no. I understand why it would be at least thought of, and I understand why it'd be a discussion... but Kessel was that good in the postseason for us. I don't know why we would change anything.

Plus... Toronto is eating some of his salary.

Many people gloss over this. The Leafs are literally paying us a million plus to not have Phil on their team. And he already had a big hand in delivering us a Cup win.

If he stays healthy and Sullivan can keep the team motivated and playing the way it did in the 2nd half last year, there is no reason to think Kessel can't/won't score around 30 goals and show up big in the postseason. And guys having that ability are absolutely worth what we are paying him.

 

[Empoleon8771]

No. I really wish people would get over the Saad thing, he's not coming to Pittsburgh. The only way I'd trade Kessel is if Sprong plays well enough to make Kessel expendable, but Sprong is out for like 5 months due to shoulder surgery and there's no guarantee that he even becomes a full time NHLer.

 

[ColePens]

I actually don't think there is any way I would trade Kessel, even if Sprong comes up and lights it up... which isn't realistic in any way for this season. There is just no actual possible scenario where I would move Kessel. He fits our team identity(speed), is a playoff beast, gives us the secondary scoring we've needed for years, and realistically his cap hit is more than fair for the Pens.

 

[Shady Machine]

I think people are brushing this off too easily, but I'd probably also say no. Saad is 23 vs Kessel who is 28. You are getting all prime years at 6MM with Saad vs 3-4 more prime years left for Kessel at 6.8MM. Kessel is the better player now and as we saw can be a game changer on his own. However, Saad would be a damn near perfect compliment to Crosby-Hornqvist making IMO the most dominant line in the league.

The Pens won the Cup because they had 3 game changers on separate lines so I'd say no to this deal, but let's not pretend a lot of us wouldn't have said yes in January.

 

[TheProspector]

Saad is a great player. Saad actually has similar 5v5 primary point/60 to Kessel: -- 1.69 for Saad, 1.66 for Kessel. They had nearly identical 5v5 scoring. Saad is a little better defensively 5v5, and Kessel's a little better on the PP.

This is actually pretty close, especially due to the age differential. It'd be more about the respective team fits, and when each team feels their competitive window is. It's tough to think Kessel would be a better fit in Columbus, and Saad a better fit in Pittsburgh. But the value is probably about right.