Phil Kessel performance lately.

[Montreal Impact FC]

some of have wanted it since our 2nd cup. Only 8 teams he can be traded to. I expect Vegas is our best bet. We need him to wake up and produce 5 on 5.

Maybe the habs are interested?

no way in hell. we dont need the type of player who drags everyone vibes down when things dont go well. been there done that. lol

 

[Montreal Impact FC]

thanks for the feedback people I got a way better picture of the whole situation. cheers and good luck until we meet again.

a habs fans who owns Malkin and Kessel on my hockey pool. lol. *_*

 

[Fatty McLardy]

no way in hell. we dont need the type of player who drags everyone vibes down when things dont go well. been there done that. lol

surprised you'd say that since Kessel would easily be your best forward....

 

[Montreal Impact FC]

surprised you'd say that since Kessel would easily be your best forward....

here in montreal we need players with guts and caracter otherwise they fold.. too much pressure here my friend it would be worst than toronto. lol. specialy since he isnt exactly the most charismatic guy out there.. I rather have a Domi and a Drouin .. I mean yeah talent wise Kessel is but even then Kotkaniemi will be superior overall real soon. Kessel for me is an elite support player but dont put any pressure on him tough. we dont have that player yet to take the pressure off him and give valuable assets for him on top of that (us a rebuiling team already). its not that he "couldnt" be useful its just a bad fit. IMHO.

gotta remember he is with Malkin And Crosby right now.. imagine here.

to put things in perspective Drouin is getting critics here even tough he is a hometown boy loaded with talent.. Kessel would be demolished by the media as soon has he get one of those careless streaks.

 

[ChaosAgent]

Kessel has not been good this season but he was a huge part of two Cups so I can't hate him really.

Also he's still over a PPG, so he's been fine that way. The issue is he (and Malkin) have been atrocious at even strength.

If you've been atrocious at even strength you aren't good. Even strength is 75% of the game.

Malkin has historically been very good at even strength (and he's a legend) so he can get a pass here. But the sheer magnitude of Kessel's negatives and positives have always sat on the knife-edge of him becoming downright bad. We're there. We need to move on. If we continue to lose before the TDL, I'd even shop him right now.

 

[ChaosAgent]

surprised you'd say that since Kessel would easily be your best forward....

Yes, he would have scored more points than other members of that team historically.

But if Kessel is your best forward, then you're not a good team given that he's terrible at many elements of this hockey thing. Such as anything in the vicinity of a board. Montreal is a good team. Therefore they have forwards better than Kessel.

 

[molon labe]

My issue with Phil has always been his place on PP1, and his complete and utter lack of a forecheck. I mean, I like that we have a guy who doesn't go all-out in regular season games, but he doesn't go at all sometimes.

He should REALLY be placed on PP2 though. Utterly pointless to run the puck through the worst puck handling forward we have when you have Geno, Sid, Letang, and Hornqvist out there. Watching him bobble the play 1-4 times per night is just cringe worthy. Guentzel would be far more effective and on PP2 you could have Phil or Schultz be our second-ditch efforts. Guentzel is also far superior at making contact with the puck on hard passes. Every opposing team knows to hone in on Phil the moment he touches the puck. Not a coincidence that Sid is left all alone since nobody would dare go 1 on 1 with him when they're already down a man. Phil's forecheck speaks for itself though.

As others have pointed out: if he isn't getting you that every-other-game breakaway or wrister, he isn't giving you much at all. It's not like Geno where opposing teams have to choose how to deploy their D - pretty sure I've seen fourth lines face Phil this year; and they did so with ease.

 

[Nakawick]

Kessel is too f***ing fussy

 

[Pancakes]

If you've been atrocious at even strength you aren't good. Even strength is 75% of the game.

Malkin has historically been very good at even strength (and he's a legend) so he can get a pass here. But the sheer magnitude of Kessel's negatives and positives have always sat on the knife-edge of him becoming downright bad. We're there. We need to move on. If we continue to lose before the TDL, I'd even shop him right now.

I don't wanna rush into a Kessel trade because he's our most valuable asset. I'd rather wait until the off season and get proper value.

I don't even know what I'd move him for at this point though. We've been struggling lately with scoring as it is, and even though most of his production comes on the PP at least he does score.

 

[EightyOne]

He hasn't stolen many games this year but is still basically one pace for 85pts.

????team sucks????

 

[Turin]

He’s playing like a bitch

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

Kessel is what he's always been, IMO. He's not going to be the type to carry a team when everyone else is crap.

I think his current poor play is standing out because the entire team kind of looks like ass right now. Kessel's at his best as an elite complimentary and support player, not the type who can take over when Geno is hurt and Sid isn't scoring.

 

[Burn]

The Pens have 2 players in Kessel and Malkin that really need players taylor made to fit their games.

I'm really liking McCanns and Teddys games. I think they're active and two way enough to get some chemistry going with Kessel.

With Malkin I think you need wingers that can transport pucks up ice and get up and down the wing. Ive always wanted Frolik... Pretty much a game like Hags but with more hand skills. Zuccerello could work too. Not that he's fast but he works hard and digs.

With the deadline coming. I'm really hoping GMJR will keep that first rounder.

 

[NMK11]

Definitely a part of the problem this year, not driving possession at all and just looks lazy way too much. However, I think I still give him one more year on this team. Last year wasn't great, but not terrible, and this year he is still putting up points on the stat sheet for whatever that's worth. The question is this an overall trend, or him looking poor because the team is playing poor. I'm not sure I'm willing to gamble that it's the former just yet.

 

[Icarium]

He should REALLY be placed on PP2 though. Utterly pointless to run the puck through the worst puck handling forward we have when you have Geno, Sid, Letang, and Hornqvist out there. Watching him bobble the play 1-4 times per night is just cringe worthy. Guentzel would be far more effective and on PP2 you could have Phil or Schultz be our second-ditch efforts. Guentzel is also far superior at making contact with the puck on hard passes. Every opposing team knows to hone in on Phil the moment he touches the puck. Not a coincidence that Sid is left all alone since nobody would dare go 1 on 1 with him when they're already down a man.

Everyone has been terrible on the PP1 unit for quite some time now, Crosby included. He just plays closer to the net, so his mistakes don't result in an odd-man rush the other way as often as Kessel's, Letang's or Malkin's. Kessel was an integral part of a PP1 that set a Pens record for efficiency last season, the notion that he doesn't deserve to play on it is laughable. If we don't use him on PP1 we might as well trade him.

But yes, he has been pretty bad lately. Geno being out and Bjugstad not being able to buy a goal isn't helping either, since he has arrived Phil has set him up for at least half a dozen glorious chances and he hasn't converted a single one of them.

 

[Coach Travis]

Kessel's problem is he's our 11th worst forward.

 

[Will Hunting]

Our PP sucks, it feels like it gives up more goals than it delivers. Kessel is a huge part of that. And you know he sucks overall when even on the powerplay, he has negative impact. He just refuses to shoot now. This stretch is obviously a downswing for him, he is not THIS BAD. But he is not a fit and he is not what this team needs going forward IMO. Also, he is not gonna be worth his salary going forward. Just a very specific questionable player who is in a slump now that is making him look worse than he is. I think, if this season goes very wrong, which is certainly possible, he is gone in the summer.

 

[Andy99]

Here’s someone’s vote to trade Phil for Ryan Ellis...

Pittsburgh Penguins Need to Trade Phil Kessel

 

[Will Hunting]

Here’s someone’s vote to trade Phil for Ryan Ellis...

Pittsburgh Penguins Need to Trade Phil Kessel

If only.. But it´s not gonna happen. Maybe in the offseason. Maybe. And for that to happen, we would have to miss the playoffs or be eliminated in R1 in a bad fashion. If he continues to suck like this and if the Penguins fail miserably, then I would be confident that he is gone in the summer. Maybe it´s the best thing that can happen to us, to open the eyes. But it´s hard to root for that. Kessel is a liability but it´s not easy to expect his trade. Also, we are not gonna get Ellis for him.

 

[RSPens]

Not sure if its been said, but my best guess is that Phil has some sort of arm or hand injury because he seems to be afraid to shoot the puck lately. Either that or he is trying desperately to help Bjugstad get a goal in a Pens sweater, so he is passing too much. Either way if Phil isn't shooting the puck then he's not helping the team.

 

[Will Hunting]

Not sure if its been said, but my best guess is that Phil has some sort of arm or hand injury because he seems to be afraid to shoot the puck lately. Either that or he is trying desperately to help Bjugstad get a goal in a Pens sweater, so he is passing too much. Either way if Phil isn't shooting the puck then he's not helping the team.

Bjugstad is not on the first PP unit, so there´s that. He just refuses to shoot, no matter what.

 

[Pancakes]

I will say that yeah Kessel is stinking of late but as mentioned he is still on pace for a ton of points. We have him at a very reasonable cap hit. Far cheaper than replacing that production via UFA would be.

I am more and more leaning towards saying trade him to try and improve our depth issues but I'm not 100% sold on that being a deal that will actually improve us. And I'm not especially confident that JR will not trade him for absolute crap.

 

[MrBrightside]

There's nothing wrong with Kessel that isn't always wrong with Kessel. He's a guy whose value is 100% wrapped up in his scoring and playmaking, things that can be streaky, and he's in a bad streak right now. When Bryan Rust goes 25 games without a goal he's still useful because he does other things, but Kessel is a complete nothing when not scoring.

 

[ChaosAgent]

Here’s someone’s vote to trade Phil for Ryan Ellis...

Pittsburgh Penguins Need to Trade Phil Kessel

Shane Darrow, if you're lurking this - and let's be honest there's a pretty significant chance you are - I tip my cap to you.



By the way, the second comment reflects the level of delusion our fanbase has of Kessel: "I’d like to apply for a job with Hockey Writers on the grounds that I can write clickbait articles suggesting teams trade their 2nd best player too. There are 30 other teams to cover"

Crosby, Malkin, Guentzel, Letang. That's 4. Dumoulin, Murray, Schultz and even Rust arguable. I'll throw Hornqvist in there as well for his netfront abilities. So he's somewhere between 5th and 10th best player on our team.

 

[Icarium]

Crosby, Malkin, Guentzel, Letang. That's 4. Dumoulin, Murray, Schultz and even Rust arguable. I'll throw Hornqvist in there as well for his netfront abilities. So he's somewhere between 5th and 10th best player on our team.

Schultz? Hornqvist whose slump is much worse than Kessel's? Rust? Come on. You are underrating Kessel almost as much as the comment you have cited overrates him.