Friedman: Flames a good fit for Kessel?

[N-E-B]

Phil Kessel the hockey player is a fantastic fit on any team. He's a great player.

Phil Kessel's contract, however, is a load of garbage and we should stay far away unless Toronto retains a ton.

He's not a guy you should build a team around, but he'd be an excellent piece on a good team. If he came here I think he'd be like Hossa in Chicago. Excellent player but not who they built around.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Dagger

Phil Kessel is an elite scoring winger without much help. Expecting increased production with better line mates is not unreasonable, and given his already impressive totals, there is every chance he scores 40 or more and is a point per game player.

Hardly anybody on the Leafs did anything of mention this year, that doesn't make them poor players, ir makes it a poorly constructed team. If they want to have a garage sale, this is the place to find a deal.

It can be both, you know. Kessell may be able to score, but he is a liability overall. No one can play a one-dimensional game in today's NHL and be a contributing member of the team. If 5'6" Gaudreau can backcheck, and if Trotz can force Ovie into a 200 foot game, then Kessell can take some responsibility to play a little defence.

And let's call him a 40 goal scorer when he scores 40. This year he scored 25.

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by Dagger

Phil Kessel is an elite scoring winger without much help. Expecting increased production with better line mates is not unreasonable, and given his already impressive totals, there is every chance he scores 40 or more and is a point per game player.

Hardly anybody on the Leafs did anything of mention this year, that doesn't make them poor players, ir makes it a poorly constructed team. If they want to have a garage sale, this is the place to find a deal.

First and foremost, when you have contracts for players like Monahan, Gio, Gaudreau and others coming up who are part of your rebuilding plan and probably going to get significant raises, you can't really afford to get a boat anchor contract like Kessel's where a mistake puts you into a bad cap situation.

Calgary finished in the top 10 in scoring last year, We don't need Kessel, what the Flames need is defensive depth.

I will continue to state that if I were paying a player 8 million bucks a year which is the top paying contract on my team, he'd better be a driver and not just a beneficiary.

Calgary is still in the middle of their rebuild, mortgaging the future on Kessel would be ridiculously silly and would make little to no sense.

Kessel had something like 6 goals over the last 30 games of the year, when the Leafs needed him the most he was nowhere to be found. That's two years in a row where he's done that. He's pretty much anti-clutch

There's no logical reason, player wise or contract wise why the Flaems should pick him up, especially in a city with a similar media precense and fan expectation as Toronto.

Florida would be the perfect team for him, or Vegas when the NHL gets there.

[automaton 3]

Kessel has demonstrated that he doesn't care much about fitness or about playing a 200 foot game. Plus the small matter of 54 million left on his contract.

He is the antithesis of what has brought the Flames success over the last 1.5 years.

I suppose it is possible that Hartley and Giordano could get him motivated, but given the coaches he has burned through in Toronto I think it is pipe dream.

100x no

[codynw]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

Calgary finished in the top 10 in scoring last year, We don't need Kessel, what the Flames need is defensive depth.

So what I'm getting from this, is that Calgary needs Phaneuf instead of Kessel?

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by codynw

So what I'm getting from this, is that Calgary needs Phaneuf instead of Kessel?

Well, gun to head, I'd take Phaneuf over Kessell.

Luckily there are other options.

[Racki]

Are all fans so blinded by their own rooting interests that they lose the ability to be logical?

My buddy, die-hard Leafs fan, smart hockey guy gave me these serious proposals.

Kessel for Bennett, 2015 1st and 2015 3rd (Leafs retain 50% of salary) or
Kessel for Poirier, 2015 1st and David Jones (no salary retained)

How nuts would this place go if either or those happened? He toild me id be the worst GM in hockey because i told him both offers were ridiculous.

[Bourque's Twin]

For a split second it's fun to picture Kessel sniping passes from Gaudreau and scoring 30+ goals per year. However, it makes no logical sense.

Why would the Flames risk paying $8 million until 2022 for a slim chance Kessel buys into the system and puts up 35+ goals per year?

The Flames need to continue to build from within and not get into CAP trouble.

Monahan, Gaudreau, and Bennett will most likely be $5 million+ players, so that's a minimum of 15 - 20M coming onto the books. Add an 8M Giordano and hopefully a 5M Gilles or Ortio too. Russell will probably be in the 4M range as well.

With guys like Poirier, Klimchuk, Ferland, Arnold, Colborne, and whoever we draft this year, there's plenty of offence coming in the pipeline. Not to mention, all of whom play a 2-way game.

[Caged Great]

If the Leafs want to trade Kessel to us, I would in exchange for Raymond, Jones, and maybe a player like Granlund. There is no need to take that contract on. Similar to other teams wanting to ditch a bad contract, there is no incentive to actually give up anything decent from our end.

[CSharp]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

Well, gun to head, I'd take Phaneuf over Kessell.

Luckily there are other options.

I'd take Phaneuf over Kessel as well, but not his salary and cap hit. I hope the Leafs are gonna eat both of their contracts.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by N-E-B

...He's not a guy you should build a team around, but he'd be an excellent piece on a good team. If he came here I think he'd be like Hossa in Chicago. Excellent player but not who they built around.

Please tell me you did not just make a positive comparison between Phil Kessel and Marian Hossa...

Two-time Stanley Cup-winning Marian Hossa...
Future Hall-of-Famer Marian Hossa...
No. nine-in-scoring all-time European born and drafted player Marian Hossa...

[mdubz]

Makes me wonder how well Friedman even knows the Flames. This makes no sense. Yes, his contract is affordable NOW, but when you factor in the raises that several young players will need in the next few years, it just doesn't work. His attitude and work ethic don't match our playing style. And finally, unless last season was a fluke (which advanced stats people will claim), the Flames have no issues scoring goals.

[CroFlames]

Originally Posted by iggysback05

Are all fans so blinded by their own rooting interests that they lose the ability to be logical?

My buddy, die-hard Leafs fan, smart hockey guy gave me these serious proposals.

Kessel for Bennett, 2015 1st and 2015 3rd (Leafs retain 50% of salary) or
Kessel for Poirier, 2015 1st and David Jones (no salary retained)

How nuts would this place go if either or those happened? He toild me id be the worst GM in hockey because i told him both offers were ridiculous.

Even retaining salary doesn't change the fact that he's got an 8 year deal that will likely be immovable after he is 30 years old.

Kessel is a good player, possibly a great winger. But he's not an all round player. His worst attribute is his contract, which can't be helped. All the other areas of his game can be helped, but it's not in the cards for the Flames to be helping him out.

Under the current circumstances, I'd never consider Kessel.

If he had a different contract, I would certainly consider the options.

[codynw]

Originally Posted by iggysback05

Are all fans so blinded by their own rooting interests that they lose the ability to be logical?

My buddy, die-hard Leafs fan, smart hockey guy gave me these serious proposals.

Kessel for Bennett, 2015 1st and 2015 3rd (Leafs retain 50% of salary) or
Kessel for Poirier, 2015 1st and David Jones (no salary retained)

How nuts would this place go if either or those happened? He toild me id be the worst GM in hockey because i told him both offers were ridiculous.

Still don't think I'd give up Bennett for him, but Kessel with 50% salary retained would be very interesting. Leafs would never retain that much salary for that long though so it's irrelevant.

[Oling_Roachinen]

Originally Posted by iggysback05

Kessel for Poirier, 2015 1st and David Jones (no salary retained)

That's more than a reasonable offer. Up until this year he's been a pretty consistent point-per-game player, 35+ goal scorer. There's very very few players you can say the same about, and he's still only 27.

He's uncharismatic, looks older than he is and is almost certainly not meant to be a leader of a team. It doesn't help that he wasn't able to get a 'retirement' cap-circumvention contract but 10M+ will be the norm for the top tier players in the league. 8M is reasonable for an elite player. He's been able to do what only the elite players have done recently. Over the past 4 years, only Malkin and Giroux have outscored him by more than a margin of 6 points.

If it's possible to get him without giving up Monahan, Gaudreau, Bennett, Giordano or Brodie, it's a deal that Treliving would almost certainly jump on. I really doubt that would be the case though.

[Huntingwhale]

I'd take Kessel. He's an elite talent, is a lock for 35+ goals and is a sure fire 1st line winger. Any team could use him. But his contract is just downright nasty. Especially considering how our own young guys are going to need raises and we'll need that cap space. I just don't see room for his 8mil cap hit until 2022, when we might very well have our own 6x6 (guesses) coming in shortly. If we do end up with a 8mil cap hit player, I would hope it's a youngster like Gaudreau or Bennett who has earned it. Not a 30+ player in Kessel.

I'd say no to him not because I don't think he'd fit in. But because his contract sucks.

[Enoch Root]

1) $8m a year for what? 7 more years?
2) doesn't buy into the team concept
3) would cost multiple young assets
4) wouldn't fit in the room
5) is annoyingly fat for a professional athlete

Sure, Kessel can score with the best of them. But there is a lot more to winning than that. You can't simply try to acquire every asset that becomes available - there is a salary cap so you have to pick prudently.

And NOTHING about Phil Kessel says that he would be a prudent way for the Flames to blow a LOT of assets (cap space as well as youth).

It's a horrible idea and it isn't happening.

[To Be Quite Honest]

Retain 2 million and then trade Jones and Porier then there is a deal that I'd bite down on. Leafs wouldn't.

[Oling_Roachinen]

Originally Posted by Huntingwhale

But his contract is just downright nasty.

He'll be 33 to start the last year of his contract. Injuries are always an issue with long-term contracts but he hasn't missed a game in 5 years.

I still think there's a disconnect where people are erroneously comparing contracts between the old contracts and the ones signed after cap-circumvention was prevented. Bobby Ryan, who scored 23 and 18 goals the last 2 years and can't spell intensity, is going to be making 7M+ for the next 7 years. Their contracts end the same year, and Bobby Ryan is older than Kessel.

10M will be the norm for the elite talents in their primes. 80% for the second tier players is reasonable. Given his goal scoring ability, I don't think it's wrong to put Kessel in that second tier.

The main reason I wouldn't want Kessel is the assets it would require to get him. He's not going to be given away free and the names that it would require are not names I think should be moved.

[Dion]