Big Friggin Dummy
Registered User
- Feb 22, 2019
- 24,528
- 23,151
Big wall of text, sorry. 
The most common thing I see when people discuss Phil is that they want to keep him because they like him and he scores points. Nobody hates Phil Kessel. He's immensely likable as a guy; he's the antithesis of a pro athlete. He's doofy, awkward, and just seems like a normal dude off the ice. Nobody wants him dealt because they don't like him. Everyone loves Phil, even those of us that want him moved. But, like Fleury, it isn't about how much you like a guy--it's about putting this team in the best position to succeed now and moving forward. I know the MAF situation was a unique one, but the point is the same. You can't just hang on to a guy when it doesn't make sense to anymore simply because he's a fan favorite and likable.
Phil's another aging guy on a team with a huge portion of its cap allocated to aging guys. The big three cannot, and should not, ever be traded; Sid, Geno and Letang. Kessel's struggling, which is not the focus of these discussions, though it doesn't help. Streaky scorers like Kessel struggle from time to time, especially when you take into account just how much of an impact his mental state has on his game, but this is a preview of things to come and things are only going to get worse. Kessel isn't a guy you can look to trade once it's made apparent he's over the hill and declining rapidly, and I do think he will decline rapidly. Sure, he's still going to be relatively effective on the power play since he basically just plants roots and sits still anyway, but you really want to pay $7 million a year for an aging guy simply for his power play presence? Especially when we have Jake chomping at the bit to get top PP unit time.
I realize we're trying to win now and make the most of the Sid and Geno era, but I don't think moving on from Kessel ruins that. I really don't. I'm not even sure Kessel gives us a better chance to win on a shift by shift basis right now. You land a guy like Skinner and you've got a guy who can put up a similar number of points, way more of which appear at ES, and he's half a decade younger to boot. You land a guy like Dzingel and it's the same story--a more noticeable drop off in points but a guy who is going to be around for a long time and fits the same role and is miles better at ES. I think too much is made of Kessel's point totals and not enough is made of the fact that he's horrendous without the puck on his stick, and a complete defensive liability. The guy has essentially neutered Evgeni Malkin's effectiveness at ES for a calendar year more or less. It's hard to not think about how much better a spot we'd be in if we had a functioning second line at ES. Sid's line has carried this team all season, and our third line has gotten into a really nice groove recently in terms of pressure and possession. Our second line, with or without Geno, has been a dumpster all year. We got back to back Cups out of the Phil Kessel era, but it has pretty close to having run its course. The issue is, you can't wait for Kessel's play to completely fall off a cliff or you're left with a big contract that's going to be really difficult to move, if not impossible. "Hey, you want a $7 million dollar aging winger with frustration issues, that's bad defensively and doesn't score much at ES?"
The bottom line is that we need to start worrying about getting younger around Sid and Geno. Kessel's the guy to go, because he's a huge chunk of change at nearly $7 million a year, he's struggled for pretty much a calendar year, he's making Geno's line absolutely miserable at ES (Kessel's a -20, Geno's a -25, and I know +/- isn't the end all, be all stat, but those are not insignificant numbers), and he seemingly refuses or is unable to play anywhere in the lineup but Geno's wing. I'd look to move Hornqvist next, but I don't think he's in the same boat as Kessel when it comes to urgency to make a decision regarding their future here. This team will see a big drop off in terms of how much of a contender they are in a handful of years, but I think if we build properly and keep the supporting cast several years younger than Sid and Geno, we'll be just fine. We won't be a top tier team, but hanging on to these guys for too long is how you become a bottom feeder real quick.
The most common thing I see when people discuss Phil is that they want to keep him because they like him and he scores points. Nobody hates Phil Kessel. He's immensely likable as a guy; he's the antithesis of a pro athlete. He's doofy, awkward, and just seems like a normal dude off the ice. Nobody wants him dealt because they don't like him.
Everyone loves Phil, even those of us that want him moved. But, like Fleury, it isn't about how much you like a guy--it's about putting this team in the best position to succeed now and moving forward. I know the MAF situation was a unique one, but the point is the same. You can't just hang on to a guy when it doesn't make sense to anymore simply because he's a fan favorite and likable.Phil's another aging guy on a team with a huge portion of its cap allocated to aging guys. The big three cannot, and should not, ever be traded; Sid, Geno and Letang. Kessel's struggling, which is not the focus of these discussions, though it doesn't help. Streaky scorers like Kessel struggle from time to time, especially when you take into account just how much of an impact his mental state has on his game, but this is a preview of things to come and things are only going to get worse. Kessel isn't a guy you can look to trade once it's made apparent he's over the hill and declining rapidly, and I do think he will decline rapidly. Sure, he's still going to be relatively effective on the power play since he basically just plants roots and sits still anyway, but you really want to pay $7 million a year for an aging guy simply for his power play presence? Especially when we have Jake chomping at the bit to get top PP unit time.
I realize we're trying to win now and make the most of the Sid and Geno era, but I don't think moving on from Kessel ruins that. I really don't. I'm not even sure Kessel gives us a better chance to win on a shift by shift basis right now. You land a guy like Skinner and you've got a guy who can put up a similar number of points, way more of which appear at ES, and he's half a decade younger to boot. You land a guy like Dzingel and it's the same story--a more noticeable drop off in points but a guy who is going to be around for a long time and fits the same role and is miles better at ES. I think too much is made of Kessel's point totals and not enough is made of the fact that he's horrendous without the puck on his stick, and a complete defensive liability. The guy has essentially neutered Evgeni Malkin's effectiveness at ES for a calendar year more or less. It's hard to not think about how much better a spot we'd be in if we had a functioning second line at ES. Sid's line has carried this team all season, and our third line has gotten into a really nice groove recently in terms of pressure and possession. Our second line, with or without Geno, has been a dumpster all year. We got back to back Cups out of the Phil Kessel era, but it has pretty close to having run its course. The issue is, you can't wait for Kessel's play to completely fall off a cliff or you're left with a big contract that's going to be really difficult to move, if not impossible. "Hey, you want a $7 million dollar aging winger with frustration issues, that's bad defensively and doesn't score much at ES?"
The bottom line is that we need to start worrying about getting younger around Sid and Geno. Kessel's the guy to go, because he's a huge chunk of change at nearly $7 million a year, he's struggled for pretty much a calendar year, he's making Geno's line absolutely miserable at ES (Kessel's a -20, Geno's a -25, and I know +/- isn't the end all, be all stat, but those are not insignificant numbers), and he seemingly refuses or is unable to play anywhere in the lineup but Geno's wing. I'd look to move Hornqvist next, but I don't think he's in the same boat as Kessel when it comes to urgency to make a decision regarding their future here. This team will see a big drop off in terms of how much of a contender they are in a handful of years, but I think if we build properly and keep the supporting cast several years younger than Sid and Geno, we'll be just fine. We won't be a top tier team, but hanging on to these guys for too long is how you become a bottom feeder real quick.
