If you were to ask almost any hockey fan if adding Phil Kessel to the Pittsburgh Penguins would automatically make them the #1 contender for the Stanley Cup next season, I would wager a decent bet that most people would say yes.
Myself, I feel that it doesn't, but it definitely doesn't hurt their chances at all.
There are just too many other factors and teams that have gotten better to say that they are the number one contending team.
After watching Phil Kessel over the last few seasons every Saturday night on Hockey Night in Canada, (since Toronto apparently is the only eastern team that ever plays on Saturday) I have noticed a few things.
He has great speed down the wing which gives defenders fits, and his hands are something that leaves people with their mouths open. He also has an ability to cut to the middle and take a shot that other players wouldn't dream of doing. If they did, they very well may lose their heads. His vision on the ice is very good. He sees teammates and lanes for passes that not many others do. And the release of his shot.....wow. Super fast release that fools even the best goalies who seem ready for it.
Now you can't have all good all the time so there are some negative things. He doesn't back check all the time which results in a lot of chances going the other way. It seems that if things aren't going his way when he is on the ice, he changes or gives up on the play.
He also needs to get a little dirtier in the corners (I think) to get the puck. We all know that usually the elite stars of the NHL are not the grinder type, and I'm not saying that's how he should play. He just needs to show a little more want in the offensive zone when the defenders have the puck down low or along the wall.
Those are just a few things that I have noticed about his play over the last couple of seasons while watching him on tv. Seeing him live however gives you a much better idea of just how good he is when he is on the ice. I've only seem him live twice when he was with the Maple Leafs and his skill in one game in particular drew my interest. It was a step ahead of everyone else. The other, a complete beat down in Boston, was one where you could see the whole team could not wait to leave that building and get on to the next game. Even still in that blow out, he was still one of the better players on the ice for the Leafs and was still trying to make something work to get a spark of any kind going.
After seeing him live a couple times and watching him so often on tv, would changing the small things in his play make them the possible top contender? Simply, no.
It's going to take depth. The Penguins have some depth but they aren't as deep as they were a couple of seasons ago. They have gotten rid of some defensemen and moved some key forwards which has given them space for new talent, but unless they are all ready to play 82 games in the NHL on a consistent basis, their depth just isn't there.
Their top two lines are what makes this team what it is. Even with that, www.dailyfaceoff.com shows that they are going to have a newcomer in their line up and on the 2nd line LW. Sergei Plotnikov, who just signed his entry level contract this off season, is slotted into the second line LW spot. Now that most likely will change and David Perron will get that spot, but it just goes to show what their depth is right now.
They have decent depth on defense with players who have a lot of NHL experience which is good. It's just going to be how well they gel together and if they can all play their systems properly.
In goal, they really only have Marc Andre Fleury. Once again according to dailyfaceoff, their back up tender is going to be Jeff Zatkoff. A player who has seen some time in an NHL crease, but not a lot. If Fleury doesn't stay healthy for the whole season, we may see a trade for an experienced back up.
So there is a very brief look at some of the depth issues, and now I circle back to my question. Did adding Phil Kessel make the Pens a top contender next season?
I still say no. Strictly due to depth issues. They have the scoring but not the depth to make the full run.
Let me know what you think.
Leave a comment on who you would add to help fill out the roster and how you think they will do this season.
Thanks for reading.
Until next time.
No comments:
Post a Comment