Chiarelli: Phil Kessel will be back

OF THE WEEKEND

I think it is awesome news and this should help the Bruins remain competative.

First : Hunwick going to arbitration keeps the Bruins with his rights until the hearing. Meaning they have exclusive rights to offer him a contract and no other team can offer him anything until after the hearing. Then the B’s can turn down or except the amount awarded to Hunwick at the hearing. If they turn it down he is then an Unrestricted Free Agent with the ability to sign with anyone he deems as a good fit. The B’s should in my opinion resign Hunwick. He’s a great D-man with great passing and scoring skills. Though size is a slight problem as long as he stays strong and gets stronger he will be a great player to watch.
Second: Kessel is a soft one way player that only scores against weak teams. Yes 36 goals was great last year and he had a great plus minus for himself. (His best he will probably ever have in his career.) He had somewhere around 6 hits last year though and still is a one dimensional forward. He has the puck and he goes to the middle or tries the same curl and drag move over and over that only works on the weakest of D-men. The average to good D-guys just step up and shut him down very easily. Now Savard definitely makes this kid look a lot better than he really is too. Hitting Kessel when he’s poaching in front of the net. Which don’t get me wrong at least this kid goes to the net. Anyway to make a long story short: Do we really need to pay 5 mil a year for a soft one dimesional player that we may have to give up some better more (Bruin Like) players? Will Kessel get benched yet again this upcoming season? Like he has so many times in the past for not playing the way the coaches want him to play rather than his own way. I think the B’s will be fine as long as they stick to the plan of developing these young guys and keeping the core of the team together. Go Bruins!!!

If Kessel gets 50 hits that would be great. That translates into 50 more possible puck turnovers and shows he is a competitor. This is Hockey last I checked. The 36 goals was great last year, but in this day and age of NHL Hockey with the rules the way they are, you have to be able to play both offense and defense or you become a bottom of the barrel team. While this means you get the first draft pick it also means you suck.
Kessel played well according to his stats, but remember Savard did too and is a predominantly one way player also. Due to Julien, both players finished with very good plus minus ratings. Which brings me to my next point. If Kessel and Savard played more like their one way player selves that they always have been, until last season,then they probably could have had posted a lot more points, but would have had their usually dreadful plus minus and possibly lost more games due to lack of defense. You never know.
I am not here to bash Kessel as much as I really dislike soft players that give up on plays and let the other team have the puck without a fight. I am merely saying I would not give him 5 million dollars to play for the B’s. He’s not worth it. See Hossa’s deal.
We have 8 players signed through to the end of this upcoming season with 37 million already tied up and 13 RFAs and UFAs to deal with. I just don’t see signing Kessel for as much as I have “heard” he’s been asking for as being a viable option. On the cheap would be cool. Sign him for 1 year 3 mil and see what he can do. 40 goals? 7 Hits? it could be a career year.
Hal Gill is the best D-man ever. He alone could carry a whole team on his shoulders and win a Stanley Cup by himself. Most of his coaches have him hold back to keep the league from complaining. Now that Hal is a Hab we should be very very scared. I look forward to the games at the Garden were he will be boooooooooed just like when he played here. Have a good one guys!

Hal Gill is the best D-man ever. He alone could carry a whole team on his shoulders and win a Stanley Cup by himself. Most of his coaches have him hold back to keep the league from complaining. Now that Hal is a Hab we should be very very scared. I look forward to the games at the Garden were he will be boooooooooed just like when he played here. Have a good one guys!

BrotherCrimson, you’re kidding right Hal Gill is a human obstruction machine and a pylon. Not every player on the Bruins has to hit, they employ enough people to hit, also not everyone can score.

I was JOKING. The question here is are you serious? Hal Gill? Come on.

On the hitting comment. Hockey = Hits . I am not by any means saying all players should be bangers and hit like Lucic or Phaneuf or anything like that. What I am saying is in the game of hockey hits are a tool used to cause turnovers and help your team to keep possession of the puck among many many other things. Kessel is in the NHL and needs to put up a bigger fight for the puck if he and his team want to be successful. Kessel may have to fight for the puck by himself once in a while.(You know when he doesn’t have one of those “Employed specifically for hitting” types on the ice with him.) So he needs to learn to protect it as much as he needs to learn to fight for it. You finish your hits. This is taught from a young age.
And thank you for pointing out the things that I didn’t know….like “they employ enough people to hit, also not everyone can score.” I was wondering why Yelle didn’t have the 40 goals last season. Sheesh! I didn’t know I was writing on this blog to get criticized by people who merely point out the obvious.
All I am saying and was trying to say was that 5 million is a little steep for player of Kessel’s caliber and that the B’s should be careful due to next off-season. That’s it. Nuff said.