Pittsburgh Penguins: 3 Reasons Not To Trade Phil Kessel

As you may have heard recently, the Pittsburgh Penguins have been updating their trading block.

On Tuesday, the Athletic reported that there may be some issues between Phil Kessel and Pittsburgh Penguins coach Mike Sullivan. Whether this is true or not, it’s starting to look like the Penguins may be trying to part ways with Kessel sooner than later.

But is this really a smart decision? Is it really what’s best for the team? Today I present you three reasons as to why Kessel should not be traded away by the Penguins.

He’s Been Leading Our Offence

Phil Kessel has just had a career year, scoring 92 points on the season, which is his career best for points. He has something special going for him this year yet it seems like he is not getting the credit for it.

If he truly is having troubles with Sullivan, he’s not showing it on the ice. If we trade away Kessel, we are trading away one of our offensive leaders and that is something very hard to get back.

Pittsburgh Penguins

He Is Not Easy To Replace

We didn’t win the Cup last year. We should be trying to improve our team. Kessel is not a player you can easily replace. We are a win now team, so we’re not looking for any prospects or draft picks that will bring us success later on. We need to win now and we can only replace Kessel if we get a forward of equal skill level back. Usually, these type of trades don’t usually happen (something like P.K. Subban for Shea Weber).

Kessel Deserves More Chances

We’ve seen this happen before and it worked out in our favour. Kessel was labeled a coach killer or a locker room problem back when he was in Toronto as well. Once he came here, he fit right in. Now I don’t know the situation, but if these problems between him and the coach are new, why not give him another chance. If he can clear it up and help the team, then that’s a trade we don’t have to worry about.