Could Phil Kessel be a trade target for the Montreal Canadiens?

One-Dimensional

Not everything is perfect. Two things that have always followed Kessel is his play away from the puck and his perceived attitude.

Only three forwards on Pittsburgh ended the season as minus players: Bryan Rust at -3, Malkin at -25, and Kessel at -19. It’s a definite downgrade from his -4 in 2017 but plus/minus doesn’t tell too much of the story.

What does are his shot generation and shot suppression stats which don’t look too favourable despite the points Kessel puts up. Kessel had a -3.73 RelCF/60 and 6.15 RelCA/60. Ideally, you’d want a RelCF/60 to be as positive as possible while a RelCA.60 as negative as possible.

Based on these two stats, the Pittsburgh Penguins are getting more shots directed towards the net when he is on the ice vs. off. When Kessel is playing, almost four fewer shots are sent towards the opponent’s goal while six more are being sent on the Penguins’ net. And unfortunately, this isn’t a one-off.

Kessel has had a pattern of negative RelCF/60s and positive RelCA/60s in his previous two seasons as well. His first year in Pittsburgh was decent sporting a 4.68 and 0.65 in respective stats.

But when it comes to Phil Kessel, you’re paying for his point production, not so much his overall play. What your paying for is also fairly reasonable considering the raw stat lines at $6.8 million for the next three years and the security behind his health.

Kessel has played in every regular season game since the 2010-11 season. That’s 1082 straight games in the lineup which is a slight silver lining over the defensive issues, especially given his role.