Toronto Maple Leafs: We Salute Phil Kessel
By James Tanner
The Toronto Maple Leafs will be facing the Pittsburgh Penguins tonight.
Whenever the Toronto Maple Leafs face the Penguins, I always feel like writing about Phil Kessel, so I usually do.
Despite the fact that it eventually led to getting Auston Matthews and Freddie Andersen, setting the Leafs up for the next decade and was unquestionably the right move (not to mention necessary), I still regret that the Leafs had to trade Phil Kessel.
I’ve watched as many Leafs games as I’ve possibly been able to since the late 80s when my Dad too me to Maple Leafs Gardens to see Todd Gill and the Leafs take on the Whalers. (I remember my Dad calling him “Give-away” Gill, but looking at his hockeydb page, I wonder if he wasn’t an earlier version of Jake Gardiner). Anyways, in 25+ years of watching the Leafs, Phil Kessel is second only to Mats Sundin on my person pantheon of greatness.
I’ve always felt bad the Leafs couldn’t win while he was here, and that we had to lose him to improve. I have, however, thoroughly enjoyed watching all the ‘you can’t win with Kessel’ idiots eat there words as my boy won two back-to-back Stanley Cups. Not to mention being a heavy favor to win a third this year.
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Phil Kessel
Auston Matthews is going to be the best player in Toronto Maple Leafs history, and Marner and Nylander could also end up on the list, but right now, there are only three choices for best Leafs player of the last 30 years: Doug Gilmour, Mats Sundin and Phil Kessel. With apologies to Wendel Clark and Tomas Kaberle, it’s not even close.
Of the three, Mats Sundin is the best, and he’s also the best player in Leafs history and one of the greatest players in the history of the NHL. I love Kessel, but that’s another category all together. Still, Phil doesn’t, I don’t think, get the love he deserves. He is easily a top ten all-time greatest Leafs player, maybe even top five.
Phil finished his Leafs career having played 446 games, scoring 181 goals, 213 assists, and 394 points. He is 20th in all-time Leafs points.
Kessel is 22nd in goals-per-game, however, he happened to play in one of the lowest scoring eras of all-time, so that ranking doesn’t really do him justice. He is also 18th in points-per-game, and If I knew how to era-adjust the stats, I’m confident he’d be more like 5th or something.
Next: What to Do With Matthews?
The facts are this: Phil is one of the greatest goal scorers, and best players in Maple Leafs history. Kessel is on pace this year for the second point-per-game season of his career, and is looking to top his career high of 37 goals. He currently has 28 with 14 games remaining, so it probably won’t happen. Regardless, he is still having an amazing season and sits 7th in the scoring race.
Phil Kessel, two time Cup Champ and future Hall of Famer, deserves more love than he gets from Leafs fans. It wasn’t his fault the team was ran horribly while he was here. Phil is among the best Leafs ever.