Could Kessel end up a Hab?

[JVD]

They're saying Kessel has a limited NTC and one of the teams he would go to is Montreal. I would love to see MB pull off a big trade to make that happen. If Toronto 'IS' actually serious about blowing up their team and moving Phil's big (long-term) contract... looking at the Habs lineup they could move P.A. and Plekanec (whose contacts are up next year) which the Leafs could wipe off their books in 2016. Basically the cap moving both ways are pretty much the same but I would expect the Habs would have to toss in a first rounder. It's something that could make sense being that Phil wouldn't have to deal with the media cause Subban can take all of that attention and Phil can just concentrate on scoring goals. Chucky would just have to step up as a full time centre!

Pacioretty Desharnais Gallagher

Del La Rose Galchenyuk Kessel

Bournival Eller Weise

Prust Mitchell Smith-Pelly

And in a perfect world, maybe by trade deadline move Desharnais (with picks) for a Kopitar, Backes, Kesler, O'Reilly if they're still not signed.

[The Chicoutimi Cucumber]

Not sure why this warrants its own thread, but whatever.

The idea of getting Kessel for a song could only be sustained if the Leafs are utterly desperate to get rid of him. If they're trying to get value back, then for sure picks and prospects will have to go the other way. I don't think the new regime will be stupid enough to just throw Kessel away. They have a lot riding on getting this 'reboot' right. And I don't see what a REBUILDING team would want with Plekanec and PAP. The Leafs will be selling hope for the future, not veterans they can wipe off the cap. You should be thinking in terms of players like Tinordi, Beaulieu, Scherbak, and/or picks, etc., going back.

And despite some of the more dubious comments on this board, the fact is that losing Pleks would leave a dangerous hole in our lineup anyway.

In terms of getting a handle on what it might take to get this explosive, insanely gifted, yet mercurial winger on our team, the first step would be to think about what the other seven teams he's listed might be prepared to offer. I think we can rule out Chicago and Pittsburgh right away, and probably NY, but I'm not sure about the others. We'd have to analyze it from their perspective: would Philly, LA, etc., be willing to part with significant picks/prospects/young players? Can they make the cap room?

With that done, we'd be able to have an actual handle on what the market is like for Kessel.

I can't conceive of a better opening to add a PPG player to our lineup at a tolerably reasonable return, though. The situation is optimal: he's coming off an aberrantly bad season so his value is at its lowest; the team, while maybe not desperate to move him, is a motivated seller; and the market for him is artificially restricted. If I'm Zoot, I'm crunching possibilities like crazy to see if I can make it work.

[Meller93]

I'm thinking along the lines of cucumber, it'll probably take more to get Kessel with the new leafs regime, even if his value is currently low. Now, of course i'd love Kessel on the RW, as he'd immediately fill what is IMO the biggest hole on the team, however is Kessel worth 8 million? His salary is really the only reason he's on the block in the first place. I mean he's known to be a vastly talented guy but with a questioning work ethic. Not sure I want to give up toooo much for him, not sure Bergevin likes his CHaracter either.

Last, I think Plex is underrated by most on this board. how much better is Kessel than Plex really? Certainly better offensively, certainly worse defensively.

[Machine of Loving Grace]

I'd do Eller/Emelin/Prospect/1st in a second for Kessel.

[Habs30/31]

i hear Phil is about 245 by now and fading away to an elephant

Phil Kessel is the next Danny Heatley.

[Lovett's Magnatones]

i hear Phil is about 245 by now and fading away to an elephant

Phil Kessel is the next Danny Heatley.

C'mon. 245? That's ten pounds less than Byfuglien.

[Habs30/31]

I'd do Eller/Emelin/Prospect/1st in a second for Kessel.

when leafs traded for kessel they were a 21 st place team..............with him they went from 21st all the way up to 29th . lol

[JVD]

My thing with Kessel is 'IF' the Leafs don't want him and I'm sure he doesn't want to be there anymore then the Leafs will probably have to take bit of a hit with him being that he is signed long term and the only way to do that is by bringing salary back (ie. Plek or DD along with PAP) whose contracts have one year left but obviously the Habs would have to throw in at least one 1st rounder (and possibly a condional 1st as well) with a prospect (ie.Tinordi, Fuacle, Sherbak)

The big question is would Galchenyuk be able to become a full time centre?

...and some people posting Kessel having character issues and all that, it just seems to me that he hates being in front of the camera answering the same dumb questions day after day in Toronto. I think he'd flourish in Montreal leave the media speaking for PK to deal with.

[habs rule]

My thing with Kessel is 'IF' the Leafs don't want him and I'm sure he doesn't want to be there anymore then the Leafs will probably have to take bit of a hit with him being that he is signed long term and the only way to do that is by bringing salary back (ie. Plek or DD along with PAP) whose contracts have one year left but obviously the Habs would have to throw in at least one 1st rounder (and possibly a condional 1st as well) with a prospect (ie.Tinordi, Fuacle, Sherbak)

The big question is would Galchenyuk be able to become a full time centre?

...and some people posting Kessel having character issues and all that, it just seems to me that he hates being in front of the camera answering the same dumb questions day after day in Toronto. I think he'd flourish in Montreal leave the media speaking for PK to deal with.

Ok but what about his being a lazy, fat, spoiled little boy, who has never met the goalie in his own end? Where is the CHaracter that MB talks about. You must think that Le Genius is going to convert this guy to a real hockey player? -72 in the last 5 years? I do not know but I would be surprised if he becomes a hab. But by the great pumpkin he can sure score the goals that boy. I love his offence.

[Habs30/31]

My thing with Kessel is 'IF' the Leafs don't want him and I'm sure he doesn't want to be there anymore then the Leafs will probably have to take bit of a hit with him being that he is signed long term and the only way to do that is by bringing salary back (ie. Plek or DD along with PAP) whose contracts have one year left but obviously the Habs would have to throw in at least one 1st rounder (and possibly a condional 1st as well) with a prospect (ie.Tinordi, Fuacle, Sherbak)

The big question is would Galchenyuk be able to become a full time centre?

...and some people posting Kessel having character issues and all that, it just seems to me that he hates being in front of the camera answering the same dumb questions day after day in Toronto. I think he'd flourish in Montreal leave the media speaking for PK to deal with.

The character issues he gets ripped for for have nothing to do with off ice interviews. Its all on ice.

[Davehab]

i just dont see it happening.....I mean how can I support him after I've ripped him to all my Leaf fans friends for so long

[Machine of Loving Grace]

Kessel in Montreal would be great. Just what we need.

Kessel ain't coming to Montreal.

[Guest Stogey24]

Kessel in Montreal would be great. Just what we need.

Kessel ain't coming to Montreal.

lol, nope

[habs rule]

i just dont see it happening.....I mean how can I support him after I've ripped him to all my Leaf fans friends for so long

And I know Dave that MB is going to take that into account. There will be embarrassing any Habs fans.

[xXx..CK..xXx]

Pretty ridiculous how picky people are. The consensus on this board is that one of our major, if not our major need, is to get an offensive right winger. Another consensus is that these elite offensive players aren't easy to acquire.

When we had Vanek, people ripped into him. Now we're talking about Kessel and people rip into the thought of having him.

I'm sure there are people who would hate something about the idea of acquiring Ovechkin as well.

Call me crazy, but I would take any of the players I just mentioned on the team. In my humble opinion, the worst that acquiring Kessel could be considered would be taking a risk. Once again, in my humble opinion, it would be a risk worth taking. I do not agree that Kessel is the next Dany Heatley because there's one thing he has that Heatley never had and that is speed. I also do not think that acquiring Kessel would be a Scott Gomez like risk. We all hate the leafs and that's obviously coming into play in some people's opinions but I can only think of a couple of teams where Kessel would not flourish and they're both Canadian (Toronto & Edmonton). I think he'd even be a good fit on a team like Phoenix.

[Machine of Loving Grace]

Kessel in Minnesota makes the most sense. It's on his list, they are trying to move Mikko Koivu and they have some young defencemen that would interest Toronto. Give the Leafs their temporary number one center, gives the Wild a dynamic scorer since Vanek isn't pulling it off (and only has two years left on his deal) and maybe James Reimer comes with him.

[DON]

Kessel $8m/yr till 2022.

Somehow I don't think on top of Bergevin's shopping list anyways!

[hab29RETIRED]

Not unless Toronto was willing to eat $2m/yr

Kessel $8m/yr till 2022.

Somehow I don't think on top of Bergevin's shopping list anyways!

I can't see minny making sense, they already have long deals to suter and parise, and will have other young players to sign in the next couple of years.

Kessel in Minnesota makes the most sense. It's on his list, they are trying to move Mikko Koivu and they have some young defencemen that would interest Toronto. Give the Leafs their temporary number one center, gives the Wild a dynamic scorer since Vanek isn't pulling it off (and only has two years left on his deal) and maybe James Reimer comes with him.

[Machine of Loving Grace]

Not unless Toronto was willing to eat $2m/yr

On a bad season Kessel puts up 60 points.

On a good season Kessel is a Top 3 scoring winger and Top 10 scoring player. He's been an 80 point player twice and was 8th in scoring in the lockout shortened season. He's almost a point per game playoff player.

He's worth $8M per season. Parenteau + Eller is just $500K from what Kessel costs per season on the cap.

[hab29RETIRED]

Is he who the $8m for another 7 years??

On a bad season Kessel puts up 60 points.

On a good season Kessel is a Top 3 scoring winger and Top 10 scoring player. He's been an 80 point player twice and was 8th in scoring in the lockout shortened season. He's almost a point per game playoff player.

He's worth $8M per season. Parenteau + Eller is just $500K from what Kessel costs per season on the cap.

[JVD]

I'm sure there's 29 GM's out there trying to figure out how desperate Toronto is on moving Kessel.

...and the 8mil/ 2022, he's only 27 not in his 30's

[hab29RETIRED]

Most goal scorers see a decline after 28. 24 to 29 tend to be the peak period.

I'm sure there's 29 GM's out there trying to figure out how desperate Toronto is on moving Kessel.

...and the 8mil/ 2022, he's only 27 not in his 30's

[BCHabnut]

Thus team has three years to win the cup with the contracts and talent they have. Patch and Price will double their salaries then. If we could land kessel, even at full cost and get three good years out of him, I would be willing to deal with 5 more years of an over rated contact. If it meant a stanley cup.

[The Chicoutimi Cucumber]

I'm pretty much with xXx. Kessel is an elite offensive RW, one of the very best scoring wingers in the game, EXACTLY what the team needs organizationally. His speed game should fit nicely with our team design to boot. I'll grant that he's got a huge cap hit, and that he's not a 200-foot player. Those are downsides. But it's pretty hard to just turn your nose up at a game-breaking 35-goal scoring winger with blazing speed on a team whose lack of finish was the main reason for its playoff exit. Just pooh-poohing that would be insane.

Maybe the guy I would talk to extensively before making a big push for Kessel is Therrien. We have no reasonable grounds to believe that Kessel is going to morph from what he is - which is a gifted, idiot-savant type offensive player - into some blood-and-guts two-way 'complete' hockey player. No doubt he can be nudged in the direction of basic defensive responsibility and team play (getting him out of TO and into a healthy organizational culture could work wonders), but he'll never be a Selke candidate. He's one of these guys where you just have to open the bench door and let him go play, not try to overcoach. Can Therrien accept that? Or is he going to go to war with Kessel trying to turn him into Bob Gainey? If so, then $8 mil is too much to spend.

[Machine of Loving Grace]

Carlyle tried to turn Kessel into something he wasn't.

But that's not to say Kessel doesn't hustle when everything isn't working against him. It's a lot like Ovechkin. For all of the hate towards him it ain't like he just skates around twiddling his stick when the other team has the puck. He just doesn't have a defensive brain.

The issue with Kessel is he shouldn't be the number one guy on the team. We have Price, Subban and Pacioretty. He wouldn't have that weight on his stomach.

But he's not coming.