Florida Panthers: Why it Wouldn’t Make Sense to Acquire Phil Kessel
Phil Kessel is a remarkable player who can score goals with ease, but at this stage of his career, he just wouldn’t make sense for the Florida Panthers.
This piece is a rebuttal to Sam Golub’s article, which took the position on why the Cats should acquire Kessel’s services. While ‘Phil the thrill’ would be a catch down in Sunrise, Florida, there are reasons why the Panthers should look elsewhere.
To start, and to also remind everyone, the Florida Panthers have not been officially linked to Phil Kessel. There’s a greater chance that Phil remains in Pittsburgh, or better yet, goes to another organization.
As great as Phil Kessel is, he’s just too costly for the Panthers at this point. Phil holds a cap hit of $6.8M, adding on another $1.2M which is retained by Toronto. His $6.8M cap hit would be the highest among Panthers forwards, and would rank 2nd on the team entirely, sitting right behind Aaron Ekblad ($7.5M).
If we’re being realistic, we know that Dale Tallon would never acquire a 30-year-old winger who’d sit above our core forwards in pay. Tallon has always left money available to give to the main guys, and with the core already locked up front and at the back, the extra space will be used to give to other young players like Owen Tippett and Henrik Borgstrom in a few years time.
If you suddenly add Kessel’s contract to the books, you’re instantly left with very little to give to those two. Both Owen and Henrik won’t be needing contracts for a little while, but Kessel’s current deal spans for another four years in length, which is problematic come time to re-signing those two.
And it’s not just Tippett and Borgstrom who come into play; the rest of the roster comes in as well. With Kessel’s contract, you’ll also have very little room to improve your roster in any area needed. Whether it’d be offensively, defensively, or in-goal, Phil’s contract will handicap and prevent you from further improving your team.
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While his contract may be the biggest roadblock, his age certainly appears shortly after. As mentioned earlier, Phil is currently 30-year-olds, and will turn 31 in October. Despite 2017-18 being a career-season for Kessel with 92 points, it only takes one bad injury and/or one bad season for his production to slant the other way.
With the American-born winger heading into his 30s, his game will unquestionably begin to decline. Based on where he’s at today, Kessel unfortunately doesn’t fit the Panthers’ blueprint, nor will he be around for the foreseeable future either.
What Florida needs is someone who’s younger and cheaper like Alex Galchenyuk, and one who can also grow with the team in their quest for the Stanley Cup. Kessel wouldn’t offer any of this due to his age and contract, and would be restricted on the number of years he’d remain with the Cats.
For cap purposes and the future, it’d be best if the Panthers stay away from Kessel-like players, solely based on their age and contract. A quick-fix like Phil Kessel just isn’t the way to build a contender for the long-term; drafting and acquiring specific players who fit your blueprint via trade and free agency are the way to remain competitive in this league, while staying below the cap.
Next: Connor Brickley’s 2017-18 Season Recap
The chances of the Panthers pursuing Phil Kessel are pretty much none, and the cons of acquiring his services certainly outweigh the pros at this point of time. It’d be recommended that the Cats look elsewhere to fill this need in the top six. If push comes to shove, the Panthers can always address that need at the draft or even in free agency.