I think he's still a year away. The best thing that could happen to him would be return for a second year at the U of Minnesota, let him have a monster year, maybe win the national championship. Then bring him up next year.
He had a productive first year in the NCAA, but he wasn't the unstoppable force that many expected him to be. At the WJC, he piled up the points against Norway, and was a force on the PP, but at full strength, I was underwhelmed. (To me, the defining moment of his tournament was in the third period against Canada, when he tried his little deke on Ryan Parent and was pushed off the puck. It kind of summed up his tournament perfectly: the things that worked for him the year before weren't working this year, at lease at even strength). When his team needed him, he was in hiding.
A lot of what we saying about Kessel now is what we said about David Legwand eight years. We raved about the same things - the skill, the speed, the shot. Kessel obviously had more hype entering his draft season than Legwand, who emerged out of near-obscurity to go No. 2 in a strong draft.
Kessel has world class skills. He could be a dynamic point producer. But he needs to go back to college to work on the proverbial tool box to match his skill set. He'll look very out of place at the NHL level. He's better off in college than in the AHL. Another year at the NCAA would do wonders, especially with the team Minnesota could be icing.
But you put it in better words.
