Phil Kessel and the Canucks
Posted 8:50 PM ET | Comments 12
Phil Freaking Kessel!
Could the Canucks actually have a chance to grab Phil Kessel from the Big Bad Bruins?
You betcha we could. We’d just have to be willing to give up a package of prospects (the Bruins can't really afford roster players in their cap situation) starting, but certainly not ending with Jordan Schroeder, for a 22 year old with the potential to score 500 goals in his NHL career. What an opportunity!
But…………
(But what? Don’t rain on the parade, fool.)
But……….Phil Freaking Kessel is undergoing the knife this summer for (according to THN) a torn rotator cuff and a torn labrum. Not an insignificant surgery for a guy who’s worth is defined by his shooting ability.
Now, Kessel is a fighter, and I’m sure he will work hard to rehab his shoulder, and get his career back on track – he overcame Testicular Cancer after all. Still, we all remember how Marcus Naslund’s famed wrist shot suffered when his elbow and shoulder were damaged, and those injuries didn’t require major surgery like Kessel’s does.
Any surgery has risks, and even if everything goes perfectly who’s to say Kessel doesn’t lose a bit of velocity on his shot - forever.
How many baseball pitchers who have had rotator cuff surgery have ever gotten that 95 mph fastball back?
In my opinion, if the Canucks were to trade for Phil Kessel it would be with the understanding that most of the 2009/2010 season would be a write off. We would be hoping for him to work his way into the line-up by the end of November, have a decent second half, and morph into the real Phil Freaking Kessel by playoff time.
Then by the time the 2010/2011 season kicks off we would have the young gunslinger we need to play beside Cody Hodgson. Of course that is if……..If everything goes perfectly.
If not, we are stuck with our own version of Jonathan Cheechoo.
So, do you feel lucky Punk? Do ya?
Now, I’ve been trying to get into Mike Gillis’s head for over a year – not an easy thing to do, let me tell you – and one of the few things I’ve gleaned is that Mike is not much of a gambler. He is arrogant (he calls it confident), stubborn (he says patient), and completely committed to his plan for the future of the Vancouver Canucks, but he’s not the type of guy who is going to risk his team on a roll of the dice – unless, that is, he feels he is getting overwhelmingly outstanding odds.
His whole management philosophy is built around making careful, controlled, impassionate evaluations, and then keeping his head while those around him are losing theirs.
With this composit of our GM in mind, do you really think Mike Gillis can make a trade for Phil Freaking Kessel? The Bruins are not going to accept some weird lowball offer just to alleviate a simple cap problem, and Gillis is not going to castrate the Canucks by trading away a substantial chunk of the future for a howitzer that might turn out to be a popgun.
Oh well, back to drawing board. Maybe Michael Grabner doesn’t look so bad after all (Phil Kessel…Phil Kessel…Phil Kessel…Phil Kessel PhilKesselPhilKesselPhilKesselPhilKessel………………………..).
Could the Canucks actually have a chance to grab Phil Kessel from the Big Bad Bruins?
You betcha we could. We’d just have to be willing to give up a package of prospects (the Bruins can't really afford roster players in their cap situation) starting, but certainly not ending with Jordan Schroeder, for a 22 year old with the potential to score 500 goals in his NHL career. What an opportunity!
But…………
(But what? Don’t rain on the parade, fool.)
But……….Phil Freaking Kessel is undergoing the knife this summer for (according to THN) a torn rotator cuff and a torn labrum. Not an insignificant surgery for a guy who’s worth is defined by his shooting ability.
Now, Kessel is a fighter, and I’m sure he will work hard to rehab his shoulder, and get his career back on track – he overcame Testicular Cancer after all. Still, we all remember how Marcus Naslund’s famed wrist shot suffered when his elbow and shoulder were damaged, and those injuries didn’t require major surgery like Kessel’s does.
Any surgery has risks, and even if everything goes perfectly who’s to say Kessel doesn’t lose a bit of velocity on his shot - forever.
How many baseball pitchers who have had rotator cuff surgery have ever gotten that 95 mph fastball back?
In my opinion, if the Canucks were to trade for Phil Kessel it would be with the understanding that most of the 2009/2010 season would be a write off. We would be hoping for him to work his way into the line-up by the end of November, have a decent second half, and morph into the real Phil Freaking Kessel by playoff time.
Then by the time the 2010/2011 season kicks off we would have the young gunslinger we need to play beside Cody Hodgson. Of course that is if……..If everything goes perfectly.
If not, we are stuck with our own version of Jonathan Cheechoo.
So, do you feel lucky Punk? Do ya?
Now, I’ve been trying to get into Mike Gillis’s head for over a year – not an easy thing to do, let me tell you – and one of the few things I’ve gleaned is that Mike is not much of a gambler. He is arrogant (he calls it confident), stubborn (he says patient), and completely committed to his plan for the future of the Vancouver Canucks, but he’s not the type of guy who is going to risk his team on a roll of the dice – unless, that is, he feels he is getting overwhelmingly outstanding odds.
His whole management philosophy is built around making careful, controlled, impassionate evaluations, and then keeping his head while those around him are losing theirs.
With this composit of our GM in mind, do you really think Mike Gillis can make a trade for Phil Freaking Kessel? The Bruins are not going to accept some weird lowball offer just to alleviate a simple cap problem, and Gillis is not going to castrate the Canucks by trading away a substantial chunk of the future for a howitzer that might turn out to be a popgun.
Oh well, back to drawing board. Maybe Michael Grabner doesn’t look so bad after all (Phil Kessel…Phil Kessel…Phil Kessel…Phil Kessel PhilKesselPhilKesselPhilKesselPhilKessel………………………..).
Canucks need to do something, they are a team full of pluggers with 2 skilled players on the team. They are extremely boring and not talented. They need ALOT of help.
Hi TKON. You are right about one thing; we are a team full of pluggers. But they are damn good pluggers - maybe the best pluggers in the whole NHL. I guess that doesn't seem like much to a Black Hawks fan with all the high level talent you've got on your team, but it's what we've got and we take pride in it.
Oh, and by the way, it's easy for you, as a Black Hawk fan to be self satisfied wrt the skill on your team, but please remember how you got all that skill: Since the 2000 draft you have had 8 picks in the top 11 (including a run of 4 in a row of #1,#3,#7, #3). The Canucks have had 2 top 11 picks in that time - both #10's, and one of those guys died! So, a little understanding, and a little less attitude please.
Well I did post a somewhat apologetic post before your last one but it does not show up, maybe it will in a bit.
Uh, sorry TKON. I guess you kind of hit a nerve there. As you can imagine, our lack of front line talent has been a bit of a sore spot for Canuck fans ever since we lost the infamous coin flip, which allowed the Sabers to pick Gilbert Perrault in Vancouver's first year of existance.
We, of course, settled for Dale Tallon - nice guy, decent player, but no Gilbert Perrault. Hmmm...wonder whatever happened to him?
No need for an apology, I brought in a heated convo in a different thread to here which I should not have. And yes I understand the frustration of front end talent as I as a hawk fan have been in depression for years haha. But now I quit living in the past and try not to worry too much about the future and just take it year by year as the hawks are really messing around right now. And yes the Perrault loss was a tough one I agree 100% with that!
Friggin timed out.....Hey fellas, settle down! Both teams played in the BEST SERIES of the Playoffs this past year. That series was fantastic, Speed, Skill and absolute Pounding Bodychecks! As an Eastern Conf fan, I was in awe of that series. Both teams wouldve been proud reps of the Conf final!!!!!
....As for Kessel.....Boston is in series trouble with their cap situation, so whoever gets him will have to give prospects and/or pick(s)....Boston is strapped, they have no alternative. Amazing, they get so close after trying for soooo long, and Chia- messes it up!!!! needs to talk to Theo Epstein about some Mngmnt courses.
If Boston wants to clear space, they will give him to canucks for hardly anything