Drop the Sopel
Registered User
And be close to matching the Sedins as well. Bonino is doing really well but last season was a cluster for just about everyone on the Canucks roster.
But that poor even strength production wasn't a one off for Kesler. His 5 on 5 production last year was identical to the previous time he played a full season in '11-12. The guy just wasn't very productive at even strength over the last 3 years and I think it was apparent when you looked at his offensive repertoire, or lack thereof. Carry puck through neutral zone, head down with speed, shoot from anywhere... He became too predictable, akin to a poor man's Ovechkin that relied on his shot too much. Beating goalies from outside 25 feet in today's game is very difficult, but that didn't stop Kesler from trying - over and over and over.
Another encouraging aspect when you look at that swap is the PK. It's actually been better without Keeler on it this season. The team seems to have the depth of penalty killing personnel where they're not missing a beat - Bonino being a part of that.
So if your PK isn't effected, and you're creating more offense from that 2C slot with Bonino in Kesler's absence, how big of a loss are we looking at over the next 2-3 years? The additional $3.1mil of cap space sure doesn't hurt either...