Washington Capitals Rumors: Phil Kessel A Fit For Caps?
Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports
The Washington Capitals are looking for a top line right wing this off-season. The Washington Capitals aren’t going to find that in free agency because, well, they are no good fits on the free agent market. Justin Williams is at best a second line wing at this stage in his career and he has declining numbers, which isn’t good. So the Washington Capitals will likely try to pursue a top line right wing via a trade.
If Washington Capitals general manager Brian MacLellan wants to go for the largest prize, that would be Toronto Maple Leafs wing Phil Kessel. According to Bleacher Report, the Caps could be a good fit for Phil Kessel.
Kessel would give [the Capitals] the most dangerous line in the league or tremendous scoring depth in the top six if he were to join the second line. – Bleacher Report
I completely agree with that assessment. If the Washington Capitals paid the price for Kessel (and it would be a large price considering that 30 goal scorers do not grow on trees), that would definitely help the Caps and would go a long way to helping the Caps solve their scoring problems.
I wouldn’t put Alex Ovechkin and Kessel on the same forward line because they’re pretty much the same type of player. They are both very heavy volume shooters who love to shoot the puck. However, he’d be a flawless fit for the second line. Giving Evgeny Kuznetsov and Marcus Johansson an elite talent like Kessel to work with would not only work out well for Kessel, but also work out well for Kuznetsov and Johansson.
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A package for him would likely involve Jakub Vrana and/or Madison Bowey. I’m guessing it would involve both because the Caps are either going to need the Leafs to eat quite a bit of his salary or the Caps are going to have to talk Toronto into taking on Brooks Laich and possibly Troy Brouwer. A first round pick would likely have to be included as well. I’m not even really sure what kind of package it would take to get Kessel because it’s so rare that guys like him are available on the trade market.
However, Bleacher Report notes that there is a potential downfall to a Phil Kessel trade for the Washington Capitals.
Having Ovechkin and Kessel on the same team is one thing, but could you imagine the same line after they posted two of the league’s worst plus-minus ratings in consecutive seasons? Ovechkin had a minus-35 in 2014, and Kessel a minus-34 this year. Maybe head coach Barry Trotz could do for Kessel what he did for Ovechkin and help guide him to a plus-10 in 2015.
OK, that’s a tad bit extreme because plus/minus isn’t that telling of a stat. It mostly just tells you how bad your teammates are. A bad plus/minus does not equate to being an awful player. It could mean misuse, inferior line mates or just plain bad luck. If Phil Kessel got traded to the Caps, I would relish listening to the talking heads attempting to figure out why Kessel is all of a sudden so much better. The answer would be simple: He would be on a much better team. Funny how when you’re on a better team, you tend to be on the ice for fewer goals against and more goals for.
There is one major reason that the Washington Capitals probably shouldn’t do this trade and it has absolutely nothing to do with Phil Kessel’s on-ice play.
The main reason that the Caps probably shouldn’t trade for Phil Kessel? His contract. He has an $8,000,000 cap hit through 2021-2022. Unless the Leafs eat half of his contract (good time to remind everyone that the Leafs have no reason to do this because Phil Kessel is a borderline elite goal scorer at worst), there’s no fathomable way for the Caps to take on his contract. Not when they already have Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, Brooks Orpik and Matt Niskanen locked up to long-term deals. Plus they’re likely going to give Braden Holtby a huge contract as well. Tying up that much money to six players is a great way to be a bad team. If the Caps want the Leafs to eat half of Phil Kessel’s contract, they’re going to have to give up an even bigger haul. One that would likely be way too much for the Caps.
So as much as I would love to see Phil Kessel in a Capitals sweater, I can’t picture it happening. The salary cap is cruel. I hope Phil Kessel goes somewhere where he’s actually appreciated because he’s an amazing hockey player who deserves better than the Toronto media.
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