Pittsburgh Penguins: The Case to Not Trade Phil Kessel

The Pittsburgh Penguins have been rumoured to be shopping forward Phil Kessel.

Phil Kessel is a great forward that has a lot of value for the Pittsburgh Penguins. They have several different options for him and I’m sure many teams would love to add him.

Earlier this week I discussed the case on why the Pittsburgh Penguins should trade Phil Kessel. Well today, we’ll look at the other end of the spectrum and look at why trading him isn’t such a good idea.

Pittsburgh Penguins

Star Power

Simply put, eliminating Phil Kessel eliminates a big part of why we won those back-to-back Stanley Cups. We have Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang, and of course Phil Kessel. Kessel adds a lot of star power to this team that is vital when it comes to the playoffs.

We are a very depthful team and Kessel adds a lot of power to our lineup. By keeping him, we’d hold on to the offensive strength that our team has. I don’t think any other team has the effectiveness up front that we have.

Production First

Phil Kessel is a star because he is a consistent, elite forward. His production throughout the years simply show that. In the past nine season, Kessel has put up at least 20 goals every year. Just this past season, he put 23 goals and 47 assists for 70 points in 82 games.

He has shown he is consistent in his production and is still capable of being a top player on this team. Phil Kessel is so good that you can put him on most other teams and he will be the number one player there. He may be taking a slight backseat to Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, but he is still a leader in his own right.