I’ve Never Even Been to Reno

The NHL season is coming round the bend like the train Johnny Cash sings about in Folsom Prison Blues. I feel like the summer has been my prison, and I am finally free to watch the greatest game on earth. It’s almost here, and per usual, I am as giddy as a little girl.

One thing that has me especially giddy is the trade involving Phil Kessel. Look, Kessel is a fine player, and I honestly wish him luck, but I think Boston did a nice job getting what they got in return for a disgruntled kid. Boston offered him 4 years at 4 million apiece. Almost the same contract (check that) the exact same contract Pittsburgh offered Jordan Staal, and I’ll take Jordan Staal over Phil Kessel any day of the week. Phil turned it down, and Boston got a first and second rounder this year and a first rounder next year. I would say that will put Boston firmly in the driver’s seat at the trade deadline in March, as well as the draft next year, but we’ll get to that.

Here’s where Kessel helps. Last year Kessel scored 36 goals, and missed a month with mono. The year before, he scored 30 and had cancer. It’s scary to think what the kid can do with a full NHL season to work with. Alas, that won’t happen this year, as he is out until November with a rotator cuff injury. Who hurts rotator cuffs? Pitchers in baseball, not hockey players. I think the boy may be frail.

Here’s where Kessel hurts. He cannot play defense. He just doesn’t get back well, and if you can’t play defense, you can’t play for Claude Julien. Of the 36 goals Kessel scored last year, how many were hard goals? I.e. Kessel crashes the net and pots one? I’d say 0. Maybe 1. He gets rebounds, and puts home passes from Marc Savard. Will Kessel have one of the premiere set up men with him in Toronto like he did in Boston when Saavy was feeding him? Nope. The knock on Kessel has been for years that he doesn’t make anyone on the ice better, and it’s very true. He scores 36 goals a year. Maybe 50 if he can manage a whole NHL season. With a good set up man. That’s it.

I think this is a brilliant move by Boston for a couple of reasons. First and foremost, is, fuck him. He doesn’t want to be here, then go to Toronto. That’s an awesome place for a painfully shy kid that will have great expectations thrust upon him to play. Good luck with the media there Phil. Secondly, by trading him, and not walking away from an offer sheet they get 2 first rounder’s and a second rounder, as opposed to a first, second, and third rounder. How big is that? Think of it this way. Boston now holds in the NHL draft next season 5 of the first 60 picks. They have two first round picks right now (their own, and Toronto’s) so if Toronto sucks like they are predicted, Boston is looking at a potential lottery pick for 2010 with Toronto’s pick, and wherever they finish, they’ll have that pick as well. Another scenario is trade Toronto’s first round pick, which as we went over could be very high, plus their pick in the first round to possibly move up in the draft. They could potentially wind up with the first pick overall in 2010. Again, I am as giddy as a school girl. Another scenario has them trading picks at the deadline for immediate help should the need arise. Boston’s brass handled this perfectly, and I am excited to see it play out. T minus 7 days till puck drops. It’s comin round the bend.