During the shortened 2012-2013 NHL season, Phil Kessel worked on his backchecking and also helped welcome James van Riemsdyk to the Maple Leafs, setting up many of his early goals. Phil finished 8th in points with 52, and despite some goal scoring droughts, ended up with 20, good enough for 13th in the league this year.
Combining this year with last, Toronto's PK, is 4th in the NHL for points production, and 6th overall for goals scored.
Over the past 3 years, Kessel is 8th in points and 4th in goals, behind only Steven Stamkos, Corey Perry and Alex Ovechkin. Even in goals per game, he ranks 10th in the National Hockey League over the most recent three seasons, the entire time of which he has played with linemates who had rarely if ever seen 1st line NHL duty before. Phil Kessel made top line players out of Tyler Bozak and JVR, while also reviving the career of Joffrey Lupul in 2011-2012.
Don't believe that was Kessel's magic? Okay then look back to his Boston Bruin years. His goal total went from 11 in his rookie year to 19 as a sophomore, and in his breakout 3rd year he potted 36 goals and added 24 assists, and finished a +23. Marc Savard had his 3rd best year as an NHLer with 88 points, and 2nd year Bruin Milan Lucic increased his point total from 27 to 42, with a +17. now, some would argue that anybody could play with savard and Lucic, however based on the Toronto evidence, one could also state that anybody can play with Phil Kessel, and then see their stats improve.
Leafs FUTURE: Kessel, Kadri, Gardiner, Frattin, JVR, Franson
Regardless of what happens in Boston tonight, Kessel is among a core of Leafs needed to be signed for the longer term, together with Kadri, Gardiner, Frattin, van Riemsdyk and Franson. Bozak should get a 2 to 3 year deal, same for Fraser, Komarov and Gunnarsson. Colborne's a RFA so will have to accept a 2-way deal, whereas Kostka being a UFA will likely look for a 1-way, NHL-only deal, and he may get priced out. If he'll take a 2-way, Buds can offer a few years of security and at least he'll be living in Toronto either way.
Liles needs to be moved, and if Reilly (or Blacker) makes the Buds this coming camp, which is a definite possibility, then Phaneuf may have to be traded also. I think many fans see his mistakes but ignore his prowess at clearing bodies and shooting pucks and are biased against him, however his experience and $6.5 million salary may be a piece some other team needs desperately (Tampa?). Liles is a lot slower than Gardiner and weaker than Phaneuf, so it is hard to see where he fits in, and after he's gone, that makes more room for Dion, so I expect he'll be back, and if the team is doing well he will stay as GM Dave Nonis adds a vet or two for the Cup battles.
Finally, keeping Reilly with the Marlies for a season may have one extra benefit. The fact that Naz spent last year in the AHL and Jake spent this year there, means that neither has been able to pad their NHL statistics, which will help when trying to re-sign them into longer deals. Gardiner may have been kept on the Marls as he recovered from his concussion because the Leafs were winning and the team did not want to expose him to NHL hitting until he was 110% recovered, which he looked on Wednesday night.
Future is bright.
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