If Phil Kessel is to maintain his current pace for the remaining games left this season he will see himself eclipse the 100 point barrier by quite a margin. However you won’t find many sane people expecting that to happen.
Kessel’s hot start has not only been a testament to how skilled a player he is, but his maturity and evolution as an NHL player. These days it’s not unusual to see Kessel skate back to break up scoring chances for the other team, or fill in for a pinching defenceman. Brian Burke will tell you “Phil Kessel is a 200 foot player now”. I’m sure there are people that will tell you they never thought they’d see the day when Phil Kessel is a complete player. Now they’ve seen it.
Along with improving his defensive game Kessel has also became more of an offensive juggernaut. His 21 points in 13 games is leading the NHL. Kessel looks dangerous every shift. A threat to score every time his skates touch the ice. Kessel’s pace is sure to slow, but by how much? Kessel doesn’t appear to be the same player that he was even as little as a year ago. His evolution has been apparent. Kessel will surpass his previous career high of 64 points this season by a fair margin barring injury.
As Kessel is evolving so are the Toronto Maple Leafs as a team. The Leafs who now sit 1st in the entire NHL are off to their best start in years. The Leafs best players have stepped up to propel the Leafs to the upper echelon of NHL teams. I’m sure the Leafs brass are hoping the evolution is on-going because right now the future looks very bright for not only Kessel, but the Toronto Maple Leafs.
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