Hyack57
Registered User
I agree with this. A very good offensive player. Not a captain or a leader type. Sort of like how Mikael Samuelsson and Radim Vrbata are for us in the sense they are offensive guys who give you chances to score and compliment the possession players very nicely. But you don't build around them.
Blackhawkswincup
RIP Fugu
Q would not tolerate his lack of D effort and lazy/soft play
These comparisons to Kane are laughable
- Kane is much better defender and puts in honest effort most nights unlike Kessel
- Kane is willing to go into corners to fight for puck unlike Kessel
- Kane is willing to take hit to make something happen unlike Kessel
- Kane is a shifty player who controls flow of offense ,, Kessel is not
Vanek and Semin are more comparable to Kessel
He really isn't a top tier goalscorer though. Those guys score 50 goals, Kessel is a definite step below those guys.
AmericanDream
Thank you Elon!
screw Q...he would tolerate the 40 plus lamp lighters he would produce...
AmericanDream
Thank you Elon!
Top tier goalscorers like Ovechkin and Stamkos, the next level below those guys has the guys who score 38 goals. Kessel is definitely a step down from those guys even if they don't score 50 every season. Kessel has never scored 40, he isn't on the top tier, clearly a step below.
Ozz
Registered User
I'm also a fan. I don't know why he gets the hate he does, aside from looking like a dougboy and everyone being infatuated with saying "He's awkward!".
LetsGoIslanders
Registered User
There are certain early 1st round draft picks you don't build a team around. It's extremely rare as these guys have been relied upon from pee-wee to major junior, high school, USHL, and their U-XX teams in Europe. They tend to develop leadership abilities as they grow up. They have to. They have the talent to take their team to championship games as they grow up, and they take the responsibility. Crosby, Staal, Toews, Tavares, etc. I'd even place Ovechkin in that category.
Phil Kessel is one of the rare exceptions. The guy is a flake. He has all the talent and no leadership abilities. He gets criticized for his lack of conditioning, and he does nothing about it. A leader would take it personally, Phil doesn't care.
Phil would do well in a place where he can play second fiddle. With his contract he isn't going anywhere without a buyout and with Kessel the Leafs are going nowhere fast.
Phil Kessel is one of the rare exceptions. The guy is a flake. He has all the talent and no leadership abilities. He gets criticized for his lack of conditioning, and he does nothing about it. A leader would take it personally, Phil doesn't care.
Phil would do well in a place where he can play second fiddle. With his contract he isn't going anywhere without a buyout and with Kessel the Leafs are going nowhere fast.
James Duthie
Kadri is 3 Hunna
BloatedGuppy
Registered User
Spectacular offensive talent. Wizard with the puck. Can dance competent defenders right out of their skates when he's going.
Lazy defensively. Soft. Seems to shy off contact and disappear as the intensity and physicality of a contest increases. Appears sullen when things don't break his way, and his conditioning is woeful.
Good complimentary player on a team that can compensate for his shortcomings. Calamity as the key player upon which everything centers.
Lazy defensively. Soft. Seems to shy off contact and disappear as the intensity and physicality of a contest increases. Appears sullen when things don't break his way, and his conditioning is woeful.
Good complimentary player on a team that can compensate for his shortcomings. Calamity as the key player upon which everything centers.
General Zodd
Registered User
Kessel is a fantastic player. Such great speed and obviously has a tremendous release.
He would receive less heat if he wasn't forced into be the #1 guy. Ottawa went through something similar with Spezza, amazing talented player capable of dominating games but lacks a complete game and needed someone else (Alfie) to take the reigns and lead by example. Put him in that #1 role and he'll always be a little disappointing, but if he has someone else to shoulder the load then he would be perfect as a scoring threat who can focus on what he does best.
He would receive less heat if he wasn't forced into be the #1 guy. Ottawa went through something similar with Spezza, amazing talented player capable of dominating games but lacks a complete game and needed someone else (Alfie) to take the reigns and lead by example. Put him in that #1 role and he'll always be a little disappointing, but if he has someone else to shoulder the load then he would be perfect as a scoring threat who can focus on what he does best.
I'm sure the Leafs wish that they had gotten him for free...
...but alas, it didn't happen.
Bouboumaster
Registered User
- Jul 4, 2014
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Great, great player.
But I wouldn't trade for him from a Habs POV, because his contract is so ****ing heavy
But I wouldn't trade for him from a Habs POV, because his contract is so ****ing heavy
- Oct 30, 2006
- 2,626
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What ought to scare teams most about Kessel is that the guy has likely peaked and he's probably on the downward slope of his career. The problem for Kessel is that soft, lazy one - dimensional guys like him typically don't fade well. They burnout like a lightbulb.
Three years from now Kessel is likely to be the latest version of Gomez, without Gomez 's ability to adapt to a third line role. Whoever is stuck with him then...they will be screwed.
Three years from now Kessel is likely to be the latest version of Gomez, without Gomez 's ability to adapt to a third line role. Whoever is stuck with him then...they will be screwed.
I honestly need to watch him more without the puck to render an informed opinion. I suspect he is soft, but don't want to assume.
Came here say this about Vanek being a good comp. Both were this way as Gophers. Frustrating because they constantly leave you wanting more. Soft, selfish players who happen to have world class offensive ability.
Phil though would be a great fit with the Sharks, Ducks, Preds among others. As others have said he could be an amazing 2nd line wing on a contender with stout defense.
Top-tier offensive player.
Bottom-tier at pretty much every other thing that comes to mind.
How you view him depends on what you value in a player. Everyone knows exactly what Kessel is. The only thing that sparks debate is how we subjectively weigh his pros and cons against each other.
Bottom-tier at pretty much every other thing that comes to mind.
How you view him depends on what you value in a player. Everyone knows exactly what Kessel is. The only thing that sparks debate is how we subjectively weigh his pros and cons against each other.
Ace Card Bedard
Back in Black, Red, and White
- Feb 11, 2012
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sanityplease
Registered User
- Jun 21, 2011
- 1,096
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Pro: He was born to be an offensive, scoring winger. I can't think of another athlete who is so successful, based on natural physical ability. The league is full of guys who have busted their ***** (keep on doing through their pro career), working on their game & in the gym, who don't hold a candle to Phil's scoring ability & speed.
Cons: I don't think he could really do anything else if he wasn't born with his physical ability. Don't expect him to lead or be a good locker room guy, he plays for himself & probably won't change (don't expect him to start finishing checks or supporting in his own zone). Don't think he has much upstairs, that's why he comes off being awkward & strange. Worry that when he loses his step within a few years he'll be done quickly, ala, Heatley & Richards.
Phil plays his way & puts up serious #'s doing it.
Cons: I don't think he could really do anything else if he wasn't born with his physical ability. Don't expect him to lead or be a good locker room guy, he plays for himself & probably won't change (don't expect him to start finishing checks or supporting in his own zone). Don't think he has much upstairs, that's why he comes off being awkward & strange. Worry that when he loses his step within a few years he'll be done quickly, ala, Heatley & Richards.
Phil plays his way & puts up serious #'s doing it.
Ducks in a row
Go Ducks Quack Quack
Playing for the Toronto Maple Leafs a Canadian team that hasn't won a Stanley Cup in almost 50 years and has had failures after failures to make the playoffs in a salary cap league being poorly constructed team that lacks enough good defensive players with a crazy media and he was traded for pair of 1st round picks that turned out to be 2nd overall (Tyler Seguin) and a 9th overall (Dougie Hamilton) has put this introvert American player in the absolute worst possible situation he could be in. Despite this he has had multiple elite offensive seasons and even with that being said and that he has fought and beat cancer he get little respect from so many people. I would love to see him traded to a better team and not have to deal with this toxic environment.
