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Toronto Maple Leaf Fans: Don’t Blame Phil Kessel!

By Mike Hrankiwskyj

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The Toronto Maple Leafs and Phil Kessel are headed towards a divorce this summer.  No, nothing is official, and I’m sure if the media asked Brendan Shanahan about it, he’d give a generic, “Phil’s part of our club moving forward, yadda, yadda, yadda” response.  Don’t buy into it.  When training camp rolls around, Phil Kessel will be wearing another uniform even if not everyone believes it to be true.  And while Kessel will never win any media darling awards, I’m here to tell you: don’t blame him for his Toronto tenure.

Let’s just take a quick look at his time in Toronto: currently in his sixth season, he has played in 435 games for the Leafs, scoring 180 goals and adding another 207 assists.  He’s already collected three-30 goal seasons, and is 20 goal output in the lock-shortened 2012/13 season projected to another 30+ goal season.

Has he struggled this season?  Absolutely.  His 24 goals and 30 assists so far projects to be his lowest goal output since 2007/08 when he scored 19 for the Bruins.  He’s on pace for his lowest point production since 2009/10.  He’s played the worst hockey of his Toronto career this season and is part of the reason why the team is sputtering towards a lottery pick.

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But, as he said when he defended teammate Dion Phaneuf: “did he build this team?  No.”  Phil Kessel didn’t build a roster without a number one centerman.  Phil Kessel didn’t cobble together a paper-thin defense.  Phil Kessel didn’t fire a head coach that was 21-16-3 back in January.  For all his faults, Phil Kessel is in the lineup every night (he hasn’t missed a game since 2009/10) and is still leading the team in scoring.

So why all the Kessel hate?  Well, part of it is the salary he takes home.  A cap hit of $8 million a year through 2021/22 is the tenth highest in the league this season, comparable with players like Ryan Getzlaf, Shea Weber, and Claude Giroux.  Would you take Kessel over any of those guys?  Probably not.  But to blame a player for the money he’s making?  It takes two to tango, and last I checked Phil Kessel didn’t hold a gun to the Maple Leafs’ heads when they offered him an eight year, $64 million extension in 2013.

Maybe the hate still stems from what the Leafs gave up to acquire Kessel.  You know the trade by now: two-first round draft picks plus a second rounder which turned into Tyler Seguin and Dougie Hamilton.  The Bruins won a Cup…Kessel cemented his reputation as a malcontent and coach-killer.  All Kessel did in 2009/10 was score 30 goals, but that wasn’t enough to prevent the Leafs from the second pick in the draft that was shipped to Boston previously…because it was Kessel’s fault his goalies posted a collective save percentage under .900 or that the team featured only one other 20 goal scorer (30 goals? ha!) after Kessel…the immortal Niklas Hagman.

This isn’t to say that Kessel is without faults.  He has had his moments of not going all-out and he’ll never be confused with a future Selke Award winner.  But the man can score goals…lots of goals.  His 180 goals in Toronto rank fifth in the league over that time (and he’s only one behind for fourth). In a league where goal scoring is at a premium, Kessel is a valuable commodity.

Where he falls short is “is he a franchise guy?”  That’s a more difficult question to answer because despite his stellar offensive numbers, his teams have continually fell short in Toronto.  They have one playoff appearance in six seasons and while it’s obviously not all his fault, people pointing to the fact to augment their position have every right to do so.

That doesn’t mean he isn’t one of the better players in the league.  He’s made three all star games during his Toronto tenure, and would probably have been more if not for the game being canceled due to the lockout or Olympics.  During his entire Toronto career he’s never once played with a true number one center, but instead he’s been forced to play with centers being forced into that role, and with mixed results.  There’s no doubt he would thrive elsewhere with a number one pivot and probably where he doesn’t need to be “the man.”

So where does that leave us?  At some point this summer Toronto will make him available since it appears the damage between the two is irreversible now.  Perhaps a team like San Jose, Anaheim, or Vancouver steps up where he won’t be asked to carry the offensive load and perhaps sink a little bit more into the background.  It’s clear he’s uncomfortable with the spotlight of Toronto’s media.  A team where the media scrutiny isn’t as intense would go a long way for Kessel.

However things play out over the next few months, just make sure not to blame Phil Kessel in his Maple Leaf obituary.  He’s lived up to his end of the bargain…Toronto can’t say the same.

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