Pittsburgh Penguins: Where is Phil Kessel?
By Shandi Pace
The Pittsburgh Penguins may have won game 4, but there are still some questions up in the air.
One of these questions for the Pittsburgh Penguins is Phil Kessel’s productivity.
The Past
When Phil Kessel was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins almost three years ago, no one knew if he would actually pan out. As a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Kessel was a 20-30 goal scorer who was consistently near the top of the league’s best.
He was the Toronto Maple Leafs best player despite the team around him not knowing what direction they were heading in, but still garnered criticism from the outspoken Toronto media.
After spending six years on a team that didn’t seem like it was going anywhere, it was time for a change. During free agency the Penguins general manager, Jim Rutherford pulled off the deal of the decade. Forwards Nick Spaling, Kasperi Kapanen, defenceman Scott Harrington, and the Penguins first- and third-round pick from 2016 were traded to the Leafs in exchange for Phil Kessel, forward Tyler Biggs, defenceman Tim Erixon and a 2016 second-round pick. Toronto would also retain $1.2 million of Kessel’s salary for the next seven seasons.
Pittsburgh Penguins
The Present
It turns out that being traded to a team with multiple superstars was a refreshing change. Since joining the Penguins, Kessel has continuously been more productive each year. Through his first season with the team, he had 59 points; in his second, he had 70 points. This past season was Kessel’s best with 34 goals and 92 points in 82 games. Despite being above teammate Sidney Crosby and other notables like Alexander Ovechkin and Steven Stamkos; he was one of the NHL’s most underrated players this season.
After having such a memorable regular season, where is Phil Kessel now?
Over the last two years, Kessel has racked up a monstrous 45 points throughout the playoffs. He was apart of the memorable HBK line who tore up the 2015-16 playoffs. Then clicked extremely well with Evgeni Malkin last year.
Through nearly two rounds this season, he has six points, only one of those being a goal. He has been absent in almost every Penguins playoff game. This is far from normal for a near 40-goal scorer during the regular season.
It’s obvious that Kessel needs to shoot the puck more.
In the nine games the Penguins have played, he has accounted for 13 shots on goal. The last two playoff seasons combined Kessel has accounted for 166 shots. To be productive in any way, Kessel and the Penguins must shoot more pucks at Braden Holtby. In order to create more scoring opportunities, they need to jar Holtby. Once he becomes shaken, the Washington Capitals tend to collapse around him, which has been their demise in the second-round for the past two years.
The Future
Going into Game 4 Pittsburgh had lost their last three games at home. They need to reintroduce their home play of the regular season in order to tie the series back up against the Capitals as they head back to Washington for the deciding Game 5.