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Phil Kessel Trade Could Hurt Pittsburgh’s Future

By Patrick Helper

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The Pittsburgh Penguins added Phil Kessel to their already offensively loaded roster, but in doing Hurricanes owner Peter Karmanos Jr. points out that that deal could come back to haunt the Penguins. The Penguins have so much talent on their roster they haven’t needed a first round pick in years. Counting next year’s NHL Draft the Penguins have opted out of the first round three years running. The issue is under the current ownership group and with Sidney Crosby aging Pittsburgh has one Stanley Cup to show for it. They simply are dumping first round picks in hopes of catching lightning in a bottle. It’s just not the right way to build a team.

"Alright, now, Pittsburgh has no first-round picks anymore. They traded their first-round pick from the year before. They traded their first-round pick for this year, and now they’ve traded their first-round pick for next year. But they have Kessel, who may score as many goals as, uh, Alex Semin did,” he said, as Semin scored six goals. “And I don’t have to take credit for that. [Yahoo.com]"

It’s entirely possible that this is a case of sour grapes as Phil Kessel would have fit well within the Hurricanes roster, but with the inflated cap number that comes with Kessel it wasn’t worth it. The Hurricanes and Penguins are operating on different levels. Pittsburgh is attempting to have a strong looking roster as they get ready to be sold, and Carolina is trying to build a competitive team on a tight

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budget.

The trade works out well for Pittsburgh in the short term but it won’t win them another Stanley Cup. Phil Kessel has shown over the past two years that his has a lazy streak, and at times becomes complacent. If that happens in Pittsburgh the entire season could come unraveled. On the talent side of things the Penguins are aging and the lack of first round talent is going to come up and bite them. Crosby (27 years old) is inching towards the down side of his prime as is Evgeni Malkin (28 years old). The Penguins are in a win now at all costs race, and I believe in the end they lose.

Phil Kessel is aging as well; the 27-year-old has played in 668 NHL regular season games, and has shown he can score (520 points), but it’s on the back end he falls very short (-75). If he is going to rebuild his game and show he can play with a talented roster Kessel will need to overhaul his game, and prove to be a solid reliable two-way forward. If not he is nothing more than a glorified waste of  money. Sure, he will get 30 goals and have a nice stat line for the Penguins, but I think the Penguins need more then scoring from him. They need him to play on both ends of the ice.

Things will be changing in Pittsburgh, and it will only be a matter of time until the NHL and its fans find out if the once power house Penguins start to fall short. It would be great for the game if I’m proved wrong, but right now it’s Stanley Cup or bust for the Penguins.

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