Quote:
Originally Posted by BigTuna
Wrote that before you saw my post I guess. How is 13 goals, 21 points in 22 playoff games a disappearing act?
Honestly, a lot of you guys just spew the crap you hear. Kessel is underrated.
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Nope. I actually take the time to think about what I'm going to say, and how it's relevant to the current situation. If you had done so, you would note that 15 of those 22 playoff games you are hanging your hat on were over 5 years ago, when he was still with the Bruins.
Kessel just doesn't have the reputation as a game changer and a leader. When it's crunch time, he's not the guy you can count on. Look at all those trips to Boston, the heat was turned up, and he was invisible. And the 2010 Olympics, 2 points in 6 games.
I'm not saying that he's awful, but $8 million for 8 years suggests an elite level player. Kessel seems more along the lines of a Tavares, Marleau or Towes. A great player, salary in the lines of $6-6.5 million/year. But he's just not in the same league as a Stamkos, Perry or Getzlaf.
I will say that the talk that the Bruins absolutely "won" the Kessel trade is now dead. The Raycroft/Rask trade has far eclipsed that in terms of Toronto ineptitude.