OK, now that we've all had a few hours to digest the information that Phil Kessel is a Pittsburgh Penguin I still come away incredibly impressed with the deal that Pittsburgh was able to strike.
Here is the official deal from NHL.com :
Kessel, forward Tyler Biggs, defenseman Tim Erixon and a second-round pick in the 2016 NHL Draft went to Pittsburgh for defenseman Scott Harrington, forwards Kasperi Kapanen and Nick Spaling, and first- and third-round picks in 2016. Toronto will retain $1.25 million per year of Kessel's salary.
-- If Pittsburgh qualifies for the 2016 post-season, Toronto will receive the Penguins' 2016 first-round draft pick; and the Penguins will receive Toronto’s 2016 second-round selection. The second-round pick would be the one Toronto originally acquired from Pittsburgh for Daniel Winnik earlier this year.-- Should Pittsburgh miss the 2016 playoffs, Toronto will INSTEAD receive the Penguins’ 2017 first-round pick; with Pittsburgh getting Toronto’s 2017 second-round selection in return.
-- If the Penguins were to miss the post-season the next two years, Toronto would receive Pittsburgh’s 2017 second-round draft pick and Pittsburgh would not receive a draft pick.
Let's quickly break down this deal piece by piece.
Kasperi Kapanen: Was the Penguins top forward prospect but we need to keep things in perspective here. He was the best forward prospect among one of the worst forward prospect pools in the NHL. This is not a dig at Kapanen even though it may come off that way. The fact is Kapanen is highly skilled but there remain more questions than answers at this juncture with him. That doesn't do Pittsburgh any good with the clock ticking on Crosby and Malkin's prime. Pittsburgh drafted Daniel Sprong in the second round this year and he is a boom or bust forward prospect that can replace Kapanen on the depth chart.
Scott Harrington: He is the fourth best Penguins defense prospect behind Olli Maatta, Derrick Pouliot, and Brian Dumoulin. It is more than acceptable to include a player like this in a mega deal for a superstar goal scorer.
Nick Spaling: Addition by subtraction because of the 2.2M cap hit. The Penguins will not miss a beat or the cap hit.
Tyler Biggs: He is a former first round bust who will be a depth player for Wilkes Barre/Scranton
Tim Erixon: Will be a great depth guy for the Baby Penguins and has NHL experience so if the Penguins do run into the injury hell they found themselves in last year he could step into an NHL lineup.
The draft picks are what they are. A first and a third can be spent on Phil Kessel. It was nice to get the 2nd round pick back for next year's draft.
Salary retention: I still cannot believe this happened without the inclusion of Derrick Pouliot or Olli Maatta. 6.8M for Phil Kessel is tremendous.
Last and certainly not least Phil Kessel:
Sidney Crosby has not played with a superstar winger in seven years. The last time was 2008 with Marian Hossa. That is a LONG time for the best player in hockey not to have somebody alongside him that is somewhat his peer. For all the fun poeple have poking fun at Phil Kessel's physical stature he has blinding speed and an unbelievable release on his snap shot. People like to throw out the word 'elite' a lot when talking about players but Phil Kessel is one of the elite offensive players on the planet in the sport of hockey.
Since joining the toronto Maple Leafs only Alex Ovechkin (206), Steven Stamkos (207), and Corey Perry have scored more goals than Phil Kessel's 151. It is also worth mentioning the Ovechkin has had Nicklas Backstrom, Steven Stamkos has had Martin St. Louis for most of this sample size, while Corey Perry has had the great Ryan Getzlaf. Phil Kessel has had TYLER BOZAK. Much like how people in Pittsburgh have complained about not being able to see Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin surrounded by enough talent the same can be said about Phil Kessel yet he still produced at an incredible level.
Phil Kessel had a bad year last year by his standards. It was still good for 25 goals and 61 points. If that is a player's floor that is damn good. Here is his complete sample size.
Five of his eight full NHL seasons he has scored 30 goals or more. In 2012-13 he scored 20 goals in 48 games which is obviously well above a 30 goal pace.
His advanced metrics are no surprise. He is great at positively impacting his linemate's offense and does not impact his linemates defense positively. The perspective to keep on this is that he is way more of a positive influence due to the things he does well moreso than being a negative influence with his perceived weaknesses.
Here is a guess who game with two HERO charts
Here is Player A
Here is Player B
Both players are elite generators of offense while falling behind in the shot suppression department. Both players elite offensive ability washes out their short comings in shot suppression.
Player A is a three time MVP, three time Ted Lindsay Award winner, and five time Rocket Richard winner. Washington Capitals winger Alex Ovechkin.
Player B is of course Phil Kessel.
Extremely similar players at even-strength hockey. Basically Pittsburgh just picked up the American Alex Ovechkin who will now play with competent linemates.
What is the one thing the Penguins power play has been missing since Mario Lemeiux? A right-handed trigger man to take the pressure off of Crosby and Malkin on the right half wall. This should open up the power play a ton. Phil Kessel is not afraid to shoot the puck. This will spread the PK unit out. This is going to be super fun to watch.
With the Kessel acquisition and the signing of Sergei Plotnikov today it may signal the end of Pittsburgh's quest to improve the top six.
Extended COLUMN on Phil Kessel trade: RUTHERFORD SHOOTS TOP SHELF, CRUSHES IT http://t.co/6Sw43d371e pic.twitter.com/a9fQOBMs52
— DKonPittsburghSports (@Dejan_Kovacevic) July 1, 2015
Rutherford strongly suggested to me that he’s done with the top six, but he also acknowledged there’s uncertainty. Plotnikov “absolutely… can skate at the NHL level, he replied to my question about the most prominent knock, while adding, “but that doesn’t mean he can skate with Geno.…
I would still press hard for an Alexander Semin deal and really play with some house money.
Other quality targets such as Eric Fehr and Cody Franson are still on the market as well. It is worth a reminder that you can go above the cap by 10% in the summer. Pittsburgh still has 6.4M in cap space and the potential of moving Sutter, Kunitz, and/or Rob Scuderi (yes the probability of this happening is above 0%).
Still the potential to get better. Keep tweaking the roster.
tl;dr Kessel is a sick hockey player to have him for a 6.8M cap hit without breaking the bank asset wise was a complete steal
Thanks for reading!
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