The Truth about Phil Kessel

[KCC]

Let me just start by saying that I am not a fan of Kessel but I do have respect for how good he is. Ok so the past couple of months there have been large amounts of Phil Kessel proposols.Each one of them contain multiple responses such as "hes overpaid" "his conditioning is horrible" "hes bad defensively" "65 point winger". All of which are incorrect.
He does not have bad condioning, he tales a medication to treat for his cancer that he was diagnosed with in 2006. The side effects of his medication cause him to get fatter but not weigh more. Yes I understand he may not be making an effort to get slimmer but, to be that fast and rarely miss a game and for people to say he has bad conditioning is just insanely stupid. To be called 65 point winger is just stupid

You dont base a player by his worst season. Because the I guess Ovi is a 32 goal scorer and Kane is a 66 point winger, you could do that for everybody and the you compare him to your players best season is just the stupidest thing people on here do. I know he is bad defensively but if the Leafs got him a good center like Staal or Thornton one that could take pressure off Kessel he wouldnt nor would the Leafs be in this position. Kane is just as bad defensively as Kessel but he has the best defensive in the league and has either Hossa,Toews or Richards with him to back him up. There are so many good forwards that arent great defensively. Look at Ovi until Trotz came and guided him he was terrible defensively. Once Babcock works with Kessel he will have the same turnaround as Ovi.

I know its a lot to read but I just want people to stop underrating Kessels abilities. Hes one of the top players in the league and I bet you at least 20GMs are interested in acquiring him,the fans may not want him but they dont run the team. And the price that will be announced will certainly be more than what people are trying to propose. He is definitely worth a top prospect, top 10 draft pick and a good roster player.

I know im going to get ripped apart for this but for His value to acquire him its going to cost Lindholm + 5th overall + Semin + Liles if Carolina tbh. His value is definitely a lot more than 45th overall + Ferland + Poirer maybe if they add Bennett than it cpuld be close but no way

Edit: Thanks oheyithemsky for the advice

The only thing that is true is what I made bold. He's lazy as heck when it comes to the defensive side of the puck.

 

[sessiroth]

Is this also the same logical sense that Kessel is the same player as Patrick Kane that gets around during comparisons?

Why trade Kessel? I mean, Kane isn't going anywhere and is the player that Chicago wants on their team.

If kessel was in Chicago and kane was a maple leaf, kessel wouldn't be going anywhere and the leafs would be shopping kane. If called the difference from being on a contender vs a rebuilding team.

And if you think kane alone makes a team a contender ill laugh in your face. If the leafs had the support kanes gets in chicago for kessel, we wouldnt be shopping him.

99% of these posts or either mathematically wrong or just stupid.

Makes me feel like 90% of the hockey fans on this particular forum site either don't know anything about hockey or just like to troll to get a reaction.

 

[Christ]

I tried to read that wall, but I couldn't.

Regardless, Kessel is underrated on these boards immensely, that will instantly change if he is traded.

Put him on a good team with a reliable center and he will draw comparisons to P Kane.

 

[Pocket Hercules]

Now add in the other 18. And then find the sum and average it over 82.

Than you add his previous years pts total as a Maple Leaf. I know even you as a blatant Leaf troll can't possibly disregard that more consistent piece of statistical data.

 

[cowboy82nd]

Phil Kessel is a Toronto Maple Leaf and that alone is grounds for getting smeared left and right by people who only watch him play when their favorite team is playing the Leafs. They take the negative comments by people with agendas and regurgitate them over and over like it's a fact.

Phil Kessel is an elite goalscorer. And he's worth every penny of that $8m non-cap circumventing contract.

I agree, Toronto should keep him.

 

[Subbanned]

Barely a source. Maybe in the fastest skater test.

I'd actually like to see some numbers in the areas that they actually test in before I'll believe that statement.

Ok, continue to ignore the only evidence out there in support of your narrative that has no support at all.

Willful ignorance, classic Leafs hater.

 

[Passchendaele]

Kessel is like that kid on a peewee team who feels he should play his way, no matter what the coaching staff thinks because he is more skilled than his teammates.

 

[Thebolt*]

Kessel is like that kid on a peewee team who feels he should play his way, no matter what the coaching staff thinks because he is more skilled than his teammates.

When you were in school did you ever pay attention to a supply teacher its the same thing with Horacek, why adjust to his system when he wont be your coach next year.

 

[TOGuy14]

Now add in the other 18. And then find the sum and average it over 82.

What the hell kind of math is this?

You said Kessel is a 55-60 point player over his last 100 games. He scored more than that in just the last 82 alone.

The Leafs do not release fitness tests .

Steve Spott who was our ass't coach at the time said he was amazed Kessel could skate so fast being 20lbs over weight . This caused a bit of an up roar and then Cox ( who most of the leaf homers despise before he became an employee ) made his tweet . No one corroborated his tweet and everyone pretty much realizes it was just damage control over Spott's comment .

Damien Cox is a Leafs troll btw. He absolutely hates them and would never ever do damage control for them.

 

[Giterdun21]

I actually feel bad for Phil. He should have never been put in a position that he's been put in in Toronto. Leadership, Accountability, PR Moxie, etc...just not things that are his strengths. Some guys are just better served to show up to the rink every day, score a bunch of goals, and then go home. I don't know why we force dudes like Phil Kessel (guys that are clearly not comfortable representing their teams to the media hordes) to give interviews every day.

Totally agree, and I don't hold it against him. He's just a quiet dude who wants to play hockey, nothing wrong with that.

 

[LeafsNation149]

Good thread, Kessel is so underrated around here people think that if their team acquires him for even a 7th round pick, that their whole locker room atmosphere will turn to **** and that they wasted a perfectly good pick on Kessel.

Reality, every team would love to have Kessel, despite his contract.

He carries everyone he plays with.

In 2011 he scored 64 points playing with JOEY CRABB and Bozak. A 4th liner and at the time, a 3rd liner and he still manages to score 64 points.

Other than his last 30 games of 2015 he was amazing

 

[KrisLetAngry]

Pros

Top scoring player in the game.
Line with him threat to score.Scores and play makes
Limited time in playoffs however seems to play harder.
Takes fitness seriously fast skater.

Cons
What is backchecking?
Will eat teamates cookies

 

[Giterdun21]

And Rick Nash 66pts/season
Corey Perry 68pts/season
Tyler Seguin 65pts/season
Max Pacioretty 58pts/season
Jamie Benn 69pts/season
Jeff Carter 60pts/season
Marian Gaborik 70pts/season
Vladimir Tarasenko 62pts/season

So around what the best in position average out at. Only Patrick Kane and Steven Stamkos really stand out from that crowd. And to contextualize those numbers, I gotta add that in his 1st two seasons he played with Joey Crabb and a fresh-out-of-college Tyler Bozak as his linemates. If we're talking offensive numbers, Phil Kessel is simply amongst the best today.

The fact Joey Crabb played on our first lane is just disgusting.

 

[LeafsNation149]

http://hfboards.mandatory.com/showthread.php?t=1767983&highlight=kessel+hot

Compare HFBoards opinions on Kessel from the start of the season, to now. Pretty sad tbh

 

[Giterdun21]

Good thread, Kessel is so underrated around here people think that if their team acquires him for even a 7th round pick, that their whole locker room atmosphere will turn to **** and that they wasted a perfectly good pick on Kessel.

Reality, every team would love to have Kessel, despite his contract.

He carries everyone he plays with.

In 2011 he scored 64 points playing with JOEY CRABB and Bozak. A 4th liner and at the time, a 3rd liner and he still manages to score 64 points.

Other than his last 30 games of 2015 he was amazing

Joey Crabb isn't really even an NHL caliber player in my opinion.

 

[The Thin White Duke]

Joey Crabb isn't really even an NHL caliber player in my opinion.

And if Crabb and Bozak made up 2/3 of our top line, imagine how bad lines 2-4 were. Kessel was the sole offensive threat on those teams, there's no one else to bother sending your shutdown unit against.

 

[ghostingtaro]

If kessel was in Chicago and kane was a maple leaf, kessel wouldn't be going anywhere and the leafs would be shopping kane. If called the difference from being on a contender vs a rebuilding team.

And if you think kane alone makes a team a contender ill laugh in your face. If the leafs had the support kanes gets in chicago for kessel, we wouldnt be shopping him.

99% of these posts or either mathematically wrong or just stupid.

Makes me feel like 90% of the hockey fans on this particular forum site either don't know anything about hockey or just like to troll to get a reaction.

Here we go with the what ifs. So you are telling me if Crosby fed Kessel, he would win the Art Ross every year and blow the competition out the water? You have legit #1 centers and wingers playing together on different teams for years but you don't see that happening. What makes Kessel so special? No doubt he has talent but even hockey minds from his past have negative opinions about him.

I don't think you understand the difference between being questioned about hockey life no matter where you go and being questioned because you punched a cabbie.

Better yet, keep Kessel.

 

[ProstheticConscience]

Pros

Top scoring player in the game.
Line with him threat to score.Scores and play makes
Limited time in playoffs however seems to play harder.
Takes fitness seriously fast skater.

Cons
What is backchecking?
Will eat teamates cookies

Con: has a contract like Liberia's national debt and is very difficult to fit in to most teams' salary structures.

 

[KrisLetAngry]

Con: has a contract like Liberia's national debt and is very difficult to fit in to most teams' salary structures.

That is a con. However I bet with the right value the Leafs would take a cap dump for a couple years.

Kessel at 8 million is very solid.
Kane just for 10.5

 

[Rebuilt]

Con: has a contract like Liberia's national debt and is very difficult to fit in to most teams' salary structures.

And he relies on his SPEED to create chances which is the very first thing a player loses slowly after age 30.

Why do you think Leaf fans -and I mean only Leaf fans- make trade proposals ad infinitum trying to unload the guy . And they claim its cuz they are 'rebuilding' .....even after they hire Mike Babcock they STILL insist they are 'rebuilding'.

What kind of suckers do they take the other GMs for ?

 

[ProstheticConscience]

That is a con. However I bet with the right value the Leafs would take a cap dump for a couple years.

Kessel at 8 million is very solid.
Kane just for 10.5

Yeah, but Hawks fans aren't littering the trade board with demands that other teams cough up all their 1st round picks for the last few years and send no salary back for him.

 

[Jerkini]

Kessel is like that kid on a peewee team who feels he should play his way, no matter what the coaching staff thinks because he is more skilled than his teammates.

In all seriousness, Kessel was probably the guy that won his peewee team tournaments.

 

[Bomber0104]

In all seriousness, Kessel was probably the guy that won his peewee team tournaments.

When was the last time a team with Phil Kessel on it won anything?

Genuinely interested...

 

[Sun God Nika]

imagine his yearly point totals if he didn't play against Ottawa 5 times a season.

 

[Bomber0104]

When you were in school did you ever pay attention to a supply teacher its the same thing with Horacek, why adjust to his system when he wont be your coach next year.

Sorry, I can't help but comment.

For someone who is a both a Lightning fan and not a fan of Kessel, this is a very strange cause for you to take up at the present time....

Kessel has a summer home in Florida. Did you know that?