He may be scoreless for 11 games, but Phil Kessel isn’t as bad as he seems
With Phil Kessel, you have to celebrate small victories. Though the Toronto Maple Leafs highest-paid player forward didn’t record a point in last night’s messy 5-4 victory over the Atlanta Thrashers (thereby extending his scoreless streak to 11 games), he did finish a respectable plus-two. He buried the tempest that erupted over his comments about head coach Ron Wilson. And he even got a promotion midway through the game. Not bad for a player who’s beginning to be called “beleaguered” about as often as the CBC.
Kessel has a paltry 19 goals and 34 points in 52 games, well short of the numbers the sharp-shooting sniper was expected to hit heading into the season. His teammates and even his opponents note he hasn’t lost his ability to create chances—but he has lost his ability to finish them. His current scoring slump is the most obvious evidence of that this season.
Not all the blame can be squarely placed at Kessel’s feet. He’s a sniper without a centre, a wingman without a pilot. Kessel may be a natural goal-scorer but he needs to skate with top-level talent if he’s going to realize his potential. With the Boston Bruins, he played alongside top-line forwards Marc Savard and Milan Lucic. In Toronto, he’s often stuck with well-meaning teammates who would have trouble cracking even the bottom six on the NHL’s better squads.
Moving up from the third line to the first line in last night’s tilt may have paid meager dividends for Kessel on the scoresheet but it did bump his plus-minus for the night to plus-two. Right now, he’s sitting at a team-worst minus-22 20 on the season. He’s only been on the right side of the stat sheet in that regard nine times this year—but what’s interesting is that the Leafs are a perfect 9-0-0 when he is. Interesting, no?
Lastly, earlier this week, Kessel channeled in his inner Forrest Gump when describing his relationship with Wilson—“Me and [the coach] don’t really talk and that’s all I got to say about that”—causing a flurry of speculation regarding whether or not he wanted out of the Big Smoke. But he also laid those rumours to rest as quickly as they erupted last night, connecting the words “love” and “Toronto” numerous times at the morning skate.
Considering he didn’t score a goal—or even tally an assist—Kessel sure accomplished a lot last night.
- While Kessel struggles, MacArthur just keeps scoring [Toronto Star]
- DiManno: Kessel’s whinging unleashes torrent of words [Toronto Star]
- Leafs rally to beat Thrashers 5-4 [Toronto Star]
- Phil Kessel: A sniper without a centre [Toronto Star]
- Kessel bounces back as Leafs beat Thrashers [Globe and Mail]
- Kessel gets his wish: Better linemates [Globe and Mail]
- Line shifts lift Leafs [Toronto Sun]
- With no supporting cast, Kessel is wasted [National Post]
UPDATE: Kessel’s pay ranking and +/- statistic have been updated. Torontolife.com regrets the error. February 8 at 3:55 p.m.
![](http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https://torontolife.com/city/he-may-be-scoreless-for-11-games-but-phil-kessel-isnt-as-bad-as-he-seems/&title=He may be scoreless for 11 games, but Phil Kessel isn’t as bad as he seems&picture=https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Phil-Kessel.jpg&description=
[caption id="attachment_55004" align="aligncenter" width="655" caption="Phil Kessel: better than beleagured (Image: Bridget Samuels)"][/caption]
With Phil Kessel, you have to celebrate small victories. Though the Toronto Maple Leafs highest-paid player forward didn’t record a point in last night’s messy 5-4 victory over the Atlanta Thrashers (thereby extending his scoreless streak to 11 games), he did finish a respectable plus-two. He buried the tempest that erupted over his comments about head coach Ron Wilson. And he even got a promotion midway through the game. Not bad for a player who’s beginning to be called “beleaguered” about as often as the CBC.
Kessel has a paltry 19 goals and 34 points in 52 games, well short of the numbers the sharp-shooting sniper was expected to hit heading into the season. His teammates and even his opponents note he hasn’t lost his ability to create chances—but he has lost his ability to finish them. His current scoring slump is the most obvious evidence of that this season.
Not all the blame can be squarely placed at Kessel’s feet. He’s a sniper without a centre, a wingman without a pilot. Kessel may be a natural goal-scorer but he needs to skate with top-level talent if he’s going to realize his potential. With the Boston Bruins, he played alongside top-line forwards Marc Savard and Milan Lucic. In Toronto, he’s often stuck with well-meaning teammates who would have trouble cracking even the bottom six on the NHL’s better squads.
Moving up from the third line to the first line in last night’s tilt may have paid meager dividends for Kessel on the scoresheet but it did bump his plus-minus for the night to plus-two. Right now, he’s sitting at a team-worst minus-22 20 on the season. He’s only been on the right side of the stat sheet in that regard nine times this year—but what’s interesting is that the Leafs are a perfect 9-0-0 when he is. Interesting, no?
Lastly, earlier this week, Kessel channeled in his inner Forrest Gump when describing his relationship with Wilson—“Me and [the coach] don’t really talk and that’s all I got to say about that”—causing a flurry of speculation regarding whether or not he wanted out of the Big Smoke. But he also laid those rumours to rest as quickly as they erupted last night, connecting the words “love” and “Toronto” numerous times at the morning skate.
Considering he didn’t score a goal—or even tally an assist—Kessel sure accomplished a lot last night.
While Kessel struggles, MacArthur just keeps scoring [Toronto Star]
DiManno: Kessel’s whinging unleashes torrent of words [Toronto Star]
Leafs rally to beat Thrashers 5-4 [Toronto Star]
Phil Kessel: A sniper without a centre [Toronto Star]
Kessel bounces back as Leafs beat Thrashers [Globe and Mail]
Kessel gets his wish: Better linemates [Globe and Mail]
Line shifts lift Leafs [Toronto Sun]
With no supporting cast, Kessel is wasted [National Post]
UPDATE: Kessel's pay ranking and +/- statistic have been updated. Torontolife.com regrets the error. February 8 at 3:55 p.m.){kind=link}
71 C Evgeni Malkin 43 15 22 37 -4 18 5 0 3 182 8.2
81 R Phil Kessel 53 19 15 34 -20 16 6 1 3 225 8.4
With the team that Pittsburgh has on the ice – why was Malkin not front page news in Toronto with those stats
(PS – take off the last 10 games and you can easily see why Phil was in the company of all stars)
Just keep trying Phil.
Phil Kessel is an all-star. his hockey ability is amazing, and he can do some pretty amazing stuff out there. When your on a team like the leafs though, how high do you think your self confidence is going to be. With a coach that talks bad about everyone, and pin points players out on national t.v when things dont go his way, I probably wouldn’t be playing to my full potential either. Ron Wilson needs to be fired, and they need to start fresh. They have a solid team, some amazing players, they just need the right coach to lead them to the cup!
Kessel is not the Leafs highest paid player. He is the 3rd highest paid behind Giguere and Phaneuf.
He is the highest paid forward.
Also he is -20 after last night’s game, not -22.
I know the Toronto Life sports section is pretty much non-existent but a little research is still a good idea for any article.
I’m not sure being on pace for 30+ goals is paltry. Not has many as expected by certainly not paltry. Just imagine if he played even half the season with at least one NHL calibre top line mate (no offense to Bozak). The talent of his linemates, now that could be called paltry.