Much has been said, publicaly and privately, about Phil Kessel’s troubles and the collateral damage it has caused the Maple Leafs.
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Kessel, however, is getting the bulk of the attention.
On level of interest in Kessel:There has been strong interest in not just Phil, but several of our players. “I think that, as I said at the end of the year, for whatever reason the mix hasn’t necessarily worked out well here”. But when you have a guy like (Kessel) who is such a natural goal-scorer in the prime of his his career… everyone wants goal-scoring. Obviously in a cap world it’s not as easy for everybody to fit that player in as it used to be in the old days, but he’s a great player and a great goal scorer, great finisher. “There has been a lot of interest”. But one name keeps coming up regularly: Kessel.
The season opens October 7 with four games: Canadiens at Leafs, Rangers at Blackhawks, Canucks at Flames and Sharks at Kings.
The only players who have produced more points in that span is a list of superstars – Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin, Claude Giroux and John Tavares – and those five aren’t going anywhere. Babcock and the Leafs will definitely be looking to play spoilers to the coach’s ex- team.
By his standards Kessel had an off year in 2014-15.
Top offensive talent is very hard to get, as it nearly never gets to free agency anymore.
Reporter: The asking price for Phil, other GMs are saying is insane. I think there is some competition among teams that want him, that want other players of ours.
Even if Kessel’s long-term future with the organization is murky. “He’s probably the player that’s gotten the most phone calls”, Shanahan said on Thursday in Florida.
“We’re in no rush; we need to have a deal we’re comfortable with”, Shanahan said, according to NHL.com.
With the 2015 NHL Awards being presented tonight, I thought it might be fun to look at some of the annual awards handed out to players across the league, and look at them on a Buffalo Sabres basis.
During a break in the team’s draft meetings on Thursday, Shanahan told the media that Kessel continues to garner the most calls – not mentioning Dion Phaneuf or anyone else once.
“Right now we’re expecting to pick fourth”, Shanahan said.
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The 27-year-old winger had 25 goals and 35 assists for 61 points last season and is 247-273-520 in 668 games in his nine-year career spent between the Bruins and Maple Leafs.
