The Leaf Blog: The Shortcomings of Phil Kessel

Now over 20 games into his Leaf career, Torontonians have enough of a sample size to properly judge Phil Kessel. Since his first game in which he peppered the goal with 10 shots, it was clear the kid had talent. It was also clear that he “just loves to play hackey.”

Phil has quickly become a fan favourite in T.O. — his number 81 replica jersey is frequently seen throughout the ACC, and the crowd lights up when he gets the puck in open ice.

Kessel does some incredible things offensively, and he’s convinced a great deal of Leaf fans that 5.4 million is not too high a price, nor were the two first-rounders that Brian Burke gave up to acquire him.

Having now been through the honeymoon stage, the flaws of a player become more noticeable as they reoccur. So for many who have observed Kessel as a Bruin and a Leaf, we present you with the shortcomings of the offensively dynamic baby bear lookalike that is Phil Kessel.

Powerplay Setback
Phil adds a presence on the powerplay as a threat to fire a laser from the left half-boards. However, Toronto’s powerplay was clicking before Phil arrived, largely because there was no single go-to player for penalty killers to target. The Leafs were moving the puck and improvising with the man advantage, with Tomas Kaberle securely manning the point as a reset option. Kessel slows down the pace of the powerplay by holding the puck too long, allowing penalty killers to get firmly set instead of using his teammates. Since his arrival, the powerplay seems to exist entirely on his side of the attacking zone, and with mostly poor results. Further to that, he has shown a propensity to cough up the puck on the PP by attempting to force passes to the opposite point, or shooting into a crowd.

Selfish With The Puck
Phil Kessel wants the puck, and that’s pretty obvious. This may arguably be one of his strongest traits, but at other times it holds his game back. You want your snipers to demand the puck and create scoring chances, but a great player should possess the awareness to occasionally dish the puck to get out of trouble. Perhaps his tendencies will change when the Leafs can give him a linemate of equal skill — perhaps Nazem Kadri will be that player — but nonetheless, he has the vision to create offense using his linemates.

Careless Clearing
It’s really nice to see a player clear the zone with a little zest. Phil Kessel tends not to do that. He has a habit of gingerly attempting to clear the puck and then turning the opposite way, trying to bolt up the ice for a breakout before the puck has been cleared. It’s not fair to call him lazy, but Kessel certainly appears to over-conserve his energy without the puck, only to burst forth when an offensive chance presents itself. It’s these offensive bursts that make him so exciting, but a more committed defensive effort must be shown if Kessel is ever to be considered a superstar.

It’s Gotta Be The Hard Way
Phil Kessel can do this but sometimes he fails to recognize that the safer play is often the better one. Rather than get the puck deep to create sustained offensive possession, Kessel tries too hard to make a play that isn’t available. For every successful deke under a defender’s stick, there will be multiple failed attempts.

Not a Digger
The line of Alexei Ponikarovsky, Matt Stajan and Phil Kessel has worked quite well for the Leafs, largely because of hard work on the part of Kessel’s linemates. Phil is an opportunist, with a keen sense of positioning himself into scoring areas. He doesn’t excel playing a cycle game though, and he will need a couple of hard-working players on his line at all times to do the grunt work required to manufacture scoring chances. One of the best Leaf diggers is the often-criticized Jason Blake, who Kessel could certainly learn a thing or two from about working hard along the wall.

Note: Phil Kessel is a dynamic offensive hockey player and these observations have been published in an attempt to balance out the lopsided local perspective of Toronto’s newest franchise player.

If you’d like to add additional Kessel pet peeves in the comments, please do so.

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