Phil Kessel

[lamajama]

http://www.thestar.com/sports/leafs/2013/08/21/can_phil_kessel_step_out_from_shadows_sochi_games_should_be_rainbow_olympics_cox.html

Cox speculates Phil wants to stay and the deal is in the 8 years $70 mil range.

Yeah I'd want to stay too for that dough.

 

[Bullfrog]

Wow, that's a massive contract.

 

[Zee]

Huge contract but that's the NHL, you have to lock up your own stars, and Phil definitely fits that category.

 

[Corn Flake]

I would suggest if it's really going to be that high (I don't thin it will be) or even above $7 mil that the Leafs need to get Phaneuf locked up first.  I don't think Dion is getting a rasie at all but will get term instead.

 

[Tigger]

He'll likely get over 8 per on an 8 year contract, close enough to 70 overall for me and at this point the Leafs kind of have to give it to him.

 

[Nik]

http://www.thestar.com/sports/leafs/2013/08/21/can_phil_kessel_step_out_from_shadows_sochi_games_should_be_rainbow_olympics_cox.html

Cox speculates Phil wants to stay and the deal is in the 8 years $70 mil range.

Yeah I'd want to stay too for that dough.

Considering the bigger deals that were signed this year by Perry and Giroux and the way the cap is probably going to grow..yeah, that seems about right. I think anyone who really thought Kessel was going to sign at a deep discount needs to remember how he came to be a Leaf in the first place.

 

[oakl0008]

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/johnston-kessel-has-no-room-for-distractions/#community

The winger watched good friend Tyler Bozak go through a contract year last season and knows how stressful it can be. Speaking generally, he noted that most players who hit the open market ? as Bozak did ? end up signing elsewhere.

?When you get to that point, a lot of guys don?t stay,? said Kessel. ?If you look throughout the league I don?t think that that happens (very often).?

 

[princedpw]

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/johnston-kessel-has-no-room-for-distractions/#community

The winger watched good friend Tyler Bozak go through a contract year last season and knows how stressful it can be. Speaking generally, he noted that most players who hit the open market ? as Bozak did ? end up signing elsewhere.

?When you get to that point, a lot of guys don?t stay,? said Kessel. ?If you look throughout the league I don?t think that that happens (very often).?

Well, I don't like the sound of that too much.  If Kessel doesn't want to negotiate during the season, that's fair.  I'd sign him before the season starts.  If he isn't willing to sign for his fair market price (which would be in the $8 million range), it must mean he wants to leave so I guess I'd trade him at the deadline.  And I'd try to trade Bozak and Clarkson too (but that might not be possible).  Clear the decks.  Start the rebuild.  Not resigning Kessel is certainly a fabulous way to make the Kessel-Seguin trade look as bad as it could possibly be.

 

[Highlander]

Prince, this is posturing...lets trade the second highest point getting winger next to Martin St.Louis in the last two years and our newly aquired power forward David Clarkson...and start the rebuild..thought that was over and this was the rebuild..duh

 

[axman15]

If I were the Leafs, I'd offer him something like 8 years/60 million; which is about 7.5 per year. Even though he can be streaky, he is our best offensive player.

 

[drummond]

If I were the Leafs, I'd offer him something like 8 years/60 million; which is about 7.5 per year. Even though he can be streaky, he is our best offensive player.

Sounds good to me

 

[dappleganger]

If I were the Leafs, I'd offer him something like 8 years/60 million; which is about 7.5 per year. Even though he can be streaky, he is our best offensive player.

Not only is he our best offensive player, he's one of the best offensive players in the league.

7.5m per is fine.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

I'd be shocked if he signed for anything under $8mil. I say offer him 8 years at $8.1mil (since that seems to be the style these days).

 

[maplesyrup]

I'm confused. What makes Kessel a more valuable player than say, Patrice Bergeron who signed for 6.5 mil X 8? Everyone says centers are worth more too.

 

[bustaheims]

I'm confused. Why makes Kessel a more valuable player than say, Patrice Bergeron who signed for 6.5 mil X 8? Everyone says centers are worth more too.

Because of the massive difference in offensive production between the two. Over the past 2 seasons, Bergeron has 32 goals and 96 points. Kessel has 57 goals and 134 points.

Bergeron's a very good player, but, over the last couple seasons, Kessel has been one of the top 10 offensive threats in the league.

 

[maplesyrup]

I'm confused. Why makes Kessel a more valuable player than say, Patrice Bergeron who signed for 6.5 mil X 8? Everyone says centers are worth more too.

Because of the massive difference in offensive production between the two. Over the past 2 seasons, Bergeron has 32 goals and 96 points. Kessel has 57 goals and 134 points.

Bergeron's a very good player, but, over the last couple seasons, Kessel has been one of the top 10 offensive threats in the league.

I'm not sure that's "massive." I love Kessel but to be honest, I'd rather have Bergeron as the cornerstone of my team. I just think he's more "valuable" to a team in many ways.

 

[Nik]

I'm confused. What makes Kessel a more valuable player than say, Patrice Bergeron who signed for 6.5 mil X 8? Everyone says centers are worth more too.

One player taking a below market contract doesn't set the salary scale. What good does the Bergeron contract do the Leafs if Kessel, a pending UFA, wants to be paid like Corey Perry?

 

[maplesyrup]

I'm confused. What makes Kessel a more valuable player than say, Patrice Bergeron who signed for 6.5 mil X 8? Everyone says centers are worth more too.

One player taking a below market contract doesn't set the salary scale. What good does the Bergeron contract do the Leafs if Kessel, a pending UFA, wants to be paid like Corey Perry?

Well, if I'm the Leafs, I absolutely use the Bergeron contract as an example in negotiations.

 

[bustaheims]

I'm not sure that's "massive." I love Kessel but to be honest, I'd rather have Bergeron as the cornerstone of my team. I just think he's more "valuable" to a team in many ways.

It's almost double the goals and 1.5x the points. That's pretty massive. And, while Bergeron may be valuable in more ways, I think Kessel has become more valuable overall. His defence has significantly improved as has his playmaking. He's made up some of the gap there, and the difference in offensive production more than makes up for the differences in other areas, as far as I'm concerned. Kessel would be the best non-goalie on most teams in the league. I don't think you can say that about Bergeron - and, the teams that it would be true for are pretty poor teams.

 

[Nik]

Well, if I'm the Leafs, I absolutely use the Bergeron contract as an example in negotiations.

An example of a player taking a below market contract? Ok but unless Kessel was interested in going below market anyway all that's going to show him is that Patrice Bergeron is a less financially motivated person than most. Nobody's going to look at Bergeron's deal, certainly not any competent agent, as being representative of what an elite player could get on the open market.