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Toronto Maple Leafs: Does A Phil Kessel Reunion Make Sense?

By Josh Tessler

PITTSBURGH, PA - MAY 07: Pittsburgh Penguins right wing Phil Kessel (81) skates with the puck during the first period. The Washington Capitals went on win 2-1 in the overtime period against the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game Six of the Eastern Conference Second Round during the 2018 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs on May 7, 2018, at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, PA. The Capitals won the series 4-2 and advance to the Eastern Conference Final. (Photo by Jeanine Leech/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
PITTSBURGH, PA - MAY 07: Pittsburgh Penguins right wing Phil Kessel (81) skates with the puck during the first period. The Washington Capitals went on win 2-1 in the overtime period against the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game Six of the Eastern Conference Second Round during the 2018 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs on May 7, 2018, at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, PA. The Capitals won the series 4-2 and advance to the Eastern Conference Final. (Photo by Jeanine Leech/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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Former Toronto Maple Leafs winger, Phil Kessel might be on the move this off-season.

Yesterday, Joey Alfieri of NBC Sports wrote a post explaining that Kessel and Pittsburgh Penguins‘ head coach, Mike Sullivan aren’t best of friends at at the moment. In his post, Alfieri explained that Josh Yohe of The Athletic Pittsburgh mentioned in a recent post that Kessel wasn’t thrilled that Sullivan didn’t put him on the same line with teammate, Evgeni Malkin.

Due to the recent friction in the Penguins locker room, this has opened the door to plenty of trade rumours surrounding Kessel. In fact, yesterday, one of our sister blogs, Oil on Whyte, the official Edmonton Oilers blog on FanSided had published a post on Kessel potentially finding his way to Alberta. Warsame Abdi, Site Expert of Oil on Whyte discussed whether or not he’d mesh well with Conor McDavid.

There likely will be more than just one rumour around Kessel. There are many teams across the NHL that could use someone who can consistently put the puck in the net. Plus, there are many teams that could use another power-play specialist.

Some fans in Leafs Nation might ponder whether or not a reunion would make sense. While many Leafs fans would love to see a Kessel reunion because he knows how to light up the lamp. There are a few negatives with the concept of a possible reunion.

Does A Kessel Reunion Make Sense?

During his time in Toronto, I loved Kessel. I had a big old man crush on him. He was nothing but spectacular for the Toronto Maple Leafs. In 446 games played with the Maple Leafs, he registered 181 goals, 213 assists and 52 PPG. While he was a star for the Maple Leafs, he was dealt to the Pittsburgh Penguins in July of 2015. The Maple Leafs were rebuilding and we’re looking to unload assets left and right.

In the trade with the Penguins, the Maple Leafs did fairly well. The centerpiece of the deal for the Maple Leafs was Kasperi Kapanen. This past season, Kapanen finally found playing time in the Toronto Maple Leafs lineup. Prior to that point, he was playing most of his time with the Toronto Marlies and waiting for a slot to open up.

Moving back to Kessel, if Brendan Shanahan and Kyle Dubas were interested in making a package to land him, they’d have to unload the farm. They’d likely have to send a few prospects and draft picks to Western Pennsylvania.

The question is if it would be worth it. My answer is no.

Kessel Isn’t A Fit

While there is no doubt that Kessel is stellar in the offensive zone, he wouldn’t be a good fit with Auston Matthews, Nazem Kadri and/or William Nylander.  Kessel is very much a selfish player who loves to control the puck. Due to his personality, I couldn’t see him playing well with the Maple Leafs centremen. The Maple Leafs centremen need to be in control of the puck most of the time. Matthews, Kadri and Nylander are play-makers and giving the puck in the hands of a sniper to control most of the time would be a mistake. In Abdi’s piece on Oil on Whyte, he brought up the same argument around Kessel meshing with McDavid.

In addition, Kessel is set to be owed 8 million USD until the end of the 2021-2022 season. If Kessel were acquired, the Toronto Maple Leafs would have a lot less money in their pocket to extend Mitch Marner, Nylander and Matthews. While the Maple Leafs do have a significant amount of cap space, Dubas should be extremely cautious. Any trade/signing could significantly damage the Maple Leafs’ future.

All-in-all, I don’t see a Kessel reunion making sense. His salary and personality scares me. While he might not be a good fit in Toronto, he could be elsewhere. I do see him being a potential fit on a team like the Anaheim Ducks or the Dallas Stars. Both squads had trouble scoring goals last season and averaged around 2.82 GF/GP. Perhaps, Kessel will take his talents to Texas or California. It’ll be very interesting to see where he lands up.

Next: Leafs Front Office Roundtable

Even though I don’t think it’d be a good idea for a reunion, please voice your opinion in the comments section. I look forward to reading your take on Kessel returning or not.

stats from NHL.com

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