Kessel is thrilled to join Pittsburgh + two myths on Pens debunked

Kessel is thrilled to join Pittsburgh + two myths on Pens debunked

Since joining the Penguins on Wednesday there has been a media circus surrounding the move, some criticising Kessel and trying to pin what happened in Toronto on him, some being sympathetic and thankful for his efforts to the cause. Toronto have not been a successful team in a long time and this is down to bad management and roster acquisitions, not on what Phil Kessel has done.

The Toronto is particularly strong in their scapegoating of players. Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun is someone who has been critical of Kessel for a while and his latest piece does not hide his feelings. His latest piece is more a diatribe against him, trying to pin the problems of the 2014-15 season on him. Something which just doesn't make sense.

Kessel will enjoy the more relaxed media in Pittsburgh. It is different to the media scene in Toronto. It isn't as much of a hotbed but there is still some significant interest in it. The make-up is different as well with independent reporters in Dejan Kovacevic and Josh Yohe alongside the traditional print media types. Their more laid back and professional approach is why players appear more willing to engage with them than the traditional media.

Elsewhere, some interesting comments have popped up regarding the Penguins and their make-up going forward. The most common one mentions the Penguins currently having $25m on their top three forwards and another mentioning that the Penguins have close to $40m tied up in five players.

Looking at the first point we have $25m going to Malkin ($9.5m), Crosby ($8.7m) and Kessel ($6.8m). If you're going to have a strong offence then you need to pay to get it. If you look at other teams in the league then $25m for your top three forwards seems a fair price. Chicago currently have $26.9m signed up to Sharp, Toews and Kane. Minnesota have $21m signed up in Parise, Koivu and Vanek. So, to say it is detrimental when Chicago are perennial cup contenders paying out more is a bit much.

The second is that the Penguins can't build a team because they have nearly $40m tied up in their top five players. Those top five being the three above along with Letang and Fleury. In total that equals $38m. Looking at the league again Chicago have slightly more at $39.1m and the Wild again have around $34m.

The Penguins have been drafting well in the last few years on defence which is why they're able to pay so much to their top five. Maatta and Pouliot are both on entry level deals which are cost controlled and give them more flexibility. Pittsburgh were also helped by their top two, Malkin and Crosby, signing new deals before the new CBA came into being. They'd be earning more now for sure.

This isn't to say that the Penguins have had an easy ride, they have struggled to sign players to deals before and build a good team but that seems to be changing now. If they do need to create space then  Kunitz and Scuderi are available fodder and would create $7m roughly in space. In conclusion, Penguins fans need not worry, they know what they're doing.