Hey Mate don't complicate things with stats & facts...

- DoctorNHL

Duly noted

Well when he plays against teams that give him little space and bares down on him physically, (against the Boston Bruins) he usually disappears and does nothing.

Factor in that most games you will play in the playoffs are like that and require grit and determination to score more than speed and quickness...... You see the conclusion I'm getting at
- Sheppy99

There aren't 7 Bruin teams in the playoffs...

Well when he plays against teams that give him little space and bares down on him physically, (against the Boston Bruins) he usually disappears and does nothing.

Factor in that most games you will play in the playoffs are like that and require grit and determination to score more than speed and quickness...... You see the conclusion I'm getting at
- Sheppy99

So how did he manage to be a PPG playoff performer years ago when he was not nearly as good as he is today?

JINX!!!
- lumlums

beat me to it

Kessels playoff record

GP 15 G 9 A 6 ts 15 +8
- lumlums

Doubt he was playing against the top defense pairings back then every night. Solid numbers though and I hope he does continue it.

All I'm saying is playoff games resemble Boston Bruins games most nights and you cannot tell me he's been successful on a regular basis against bigger and stronger teams physically.

There aren't 7 Bruin teams in the playoffs...
- DoctorNHL

and the leafs aren't the bruins teams kessel played in the playoffs with.

hard to say what we have with him.. if everyone else steps up and provides that supporting cast.. maybe it won't be a big deal.

but it's a total wildcard.

even from a leaf fan perspective.. the + would have to be something meaty to convince the nucks to step down from edler to gunnarson.

edler is one of the few decent pieces on that team.
- joel878

I know... but tell them that.

Seriously, take a focussed look at the Canucks CAP situation going into next year. Either Gillis has to go to management and ask to buyout two of Booth, Ballard and Luongo (which could be as much as 30M$ in cash), or they have to acquire sign about 7 players at league minimum. What a mess.

So how did he manage to be a PPG playoff performer years ago when he was not nearly as good as he is today?
- Leeman4Gilmour

He's scored 34 pts in 35 games.. he sucks trade him..

Doubt he was playing against the top defense pairings back then every night. Solid numbers though and I hope he does continue it.

All I'm saying is playoff games resemble Boston Bruins games most nights and you cannot tell me he's been successful on a regular basis against bigger and stronger teams physically.
- Sheppy99

He was on the top line.

I know he struggles against Boston, but he also eats the Sens alive. If we're going to pick and choose which splits to look at, why does it always have to be Boston?

Well when he plays against teams that give him little space and bares down on him physically, (against the Boston Bruins) he usually disappears and does nothing.

Factor in that most games you will play in the playoffs are like that and require grit and determination to score more than speed and quickness...... You see the conclusion I'm getting at
- Sheppy99

Problem with your logic here is there is only 1 Chara. No other team can play him the way Chara does. It isn't "Boston." It's Chara. Kessel has no idea how to deal with him. Can't beat him with speed cause of the reach, and can't pull up and shoot for same reason.

Not making excuses - he needs to figure him out - but no other team stops him like that.

beat me to it
- Leaffan8113

He was on the top line.

I know he struggles against Boston, but he also eats the Sens alive. If we're going to pick and choose which splits to look at, why does it always have to be Boston?
- Leeman4Gilmour

Because Boston won the Cup, 2 years ago. They're one of the two teams, that you have to go through, to reach the finals.

and the leafs aren't the bruins teams kessel played in the playoffs with.

hard to say what we have with him.. if everyone else steps up and provides that supporting cast.. maybe it won't be a big deal.

but it's a total wildcard.
- joel878

Playoffs are a wild card... remember LA last year... cracked in as 8th seed.. and collected a big trophy from the ugliest douche bag in sports...

and the leafs aren't the bruins teams kessel played in the playoffs with.

hard to say what we have with him.. if everyone else steps up and provides that supporting cast.. maybe it won't be a big deal.

but it's a total wildcard.
- joel878

The Bruins weren't that great back in the day.

The year after we traded for Kessel, they dropped a 3-0 series lead to Philly and lost in the second round.

There aren't 7 Bruin teams in the playoffs...
- DoctorNHL

But most teams will play a similar tight checking style.

I'm not saying it's a for sure bet Kessel will do nothing in the playoffs. I hope he does tear it up.

All I'm saying is he has a propensity to have difficult games against bigger and stronger teams.

I wonder what Yost's stupid formula says now about the Leafs? 10 days ago, it said that we're the 27th best team in the league. What a bunch of garbage.
- PrinceLH

I wanted to ask him about that. At what point does it become irrelevant? Like if we mathematically clinch a playoff position, but in that list we are 26th, can the NHL doc us points?

The Bruins weren't that great back in the day.

The year after we traded for Kessel, they dropped a 3-0 series lead to Philly and lost in the second round.
- Leeman4Gilmour

um... they were 1st in the East the year before and 1st or 2nd that year... and Philly was pretty (frank)ing good - shouldn't have been down 3-0 in the first place.

Because Boston won the Cup, 2 years ago. They're one of the two teams, that you have to go through, to reach the finals.
- PrinceLH

Can we all admit that Kessel's performance against the Bruins is an anomaly?

It's silly to base an entire guy's career around how he plays one team of thirty. If he played Boston the way he plays the Sens, but sucked against everyone else, would he be a better player?

But most teams will play a similar tight checking style.

I'm not saying it's a for sure bet Kessel will do nothing in the playoffs. I hope he does tear it up.

All I'm saying is he has a propensity to have difficult games against bigger and stronger teams.
- Sheppy99

Only Chara gives him problems... you know how many points he would have now.. if we hadn't played the Bruins 4 times.. probably ten more...

and the leafs aren't the bruins teams kessel played in the playoffs with.

hard to say what we have with him.. if everyone else steps up and provides that supporting cast.. maybe it won't be a big deal.

but it's a total wildcard.
- joel878

And that team is not quite the same big mean skilled team that they are now. They maybe had more offensive flair (plus stellar goaltending from Thomas), but they weren't the same team.

Problem with your logic here is there is only 1 Chara. No other team can play him the way Chara does. It isn't "Boston." It's Chara. Kessel has no idea how to deal with him. Can't beat him with speed cause of the reach, and can't pull up and shoot for same reason.

Not making excuses - he needs to figure him out - but no other team stops him like that.
- Big_Lightnin

I hope you are right. I would love to see Kessel succeed and hope he does if we make the playoffs.

I'm just saying, you cannot disregard the chance to get a young power forward centerman right off the bat.

Most would agree that obtaining skillful wingers is a lot easier than acquiring young power forwards who are centermen

There was a whole article that basically said getting a franchise center men in this day and age is almost impossible unless you draft one or overpay for him when he's over 30 years old.

well there might be someone else who could fit nicely into Gunnar's spot... that would be Jake Gardiner.

package Gunnarson + for Edler - Vancouver surprisingly signed him for a bit too much and would appear to have some CAP issues.

and before the Canuckleheads start blathering... no Leafs don't want Ballard or Booth... and Luongo's only being dumped out of Vancouver in exchange for Komisarek and Liles.
- BorjeFan4Ever

I know... but tell them that.

Seriously, take a focussed look at the Canucks CAP situation going into next year. Either Gillis has to go to management and ask to buyout two of Booth, Ballard and Luongo (which could be as much as 30M$ in cash), or they have to acquire sign about 7 players at league minimum. What a mess.
- BorjeFan4Ever

gillis is the worst gm in the league now that howson is jobless. at this rate, they should fire him and replace him with JFJ.. just to take a step up.

Playoffs are a wild card... remember LA last year... cracked in as 8th seed.. and collected a big trophy from the ugliest douche bag in sports...
- DoctorNHL

well... LA shouldn't have been 8th. bad coaching and couldn't score for half a year. Much better team than the standings suggested. I picked LA-Pitts final last year. Everybody said I was nuts and just hating canucks

not to mention Carter is a decent roster addition.

gillis is the worst gm in the league now that howson is jobless. at this rate, they should fire him and replace him with JFJ.. just to take a step up.
- joel878