Welcome to LWOS Hockey’s summer series, Call to the Hall, where we take a look at the next great player from each NHL franchise to get called to the Hockey Hall of Fame. There are a few caveats, the player must be active, and must have played 300 games (or 150 for goaltenders) with the franchise.
Call to the Hall: Toronto Maple Leafs
There are some teams for which this series of articles was easy, who have one player who is unquestionably the right answer (Calgary, Arizona or Columbus, for example). There are some teams who boast a handful of great players who could be chosen (Chicago, Pittsburgh or Detroit). The Toronto Maple Leafs fall into neither category. Of the players currently playing in the NHL that have represented them, none of them are deserving of a Hall of Fame nod. Alex Steen? Matt Stajan? Hardly. If Tyler Seguin or Tuukka Rask had ever played a game for the Leafs, they could potentially be in the running. But they didn’t. As it is, the only active player who comes even close would have to be the recently traded Phil Kessel.
Phil Kessel
Kessel was picked out as a future star in the United States long before he was recognized in Canada. Joining the US National Team Development Program, he set multiple goal-scoring records for both the U17 and U18 teams. Being ineligible for the NHL Draft when he graduated from high school, Kessel chose to attend the University of Minnesota (instead of joining a CHL team), on a sports scholarship. He played well there as well, winning the Rookie of the Year award.
This body of work with both the NTDP and the Golden Gophers prompted the Boston Bruins to select Kessel fifth overall in the 2006 Draft. He began his first season in the NHL, putting in a respectable rookie year until, on December 11, 2006 it was announced that Kessel had been hospitalized with testicular cancer. He was pronounced cancer-free less than a week later though, and Kessel returned to the ice incredibly quickly, suiting up for the Bruins on January 9th. Over this span, he missed just 11 games. At the 2007 NHL awards, Kessel was presented with the Bill Masterton trophy, for perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey.
Kessel really began to break out as a star in the 2008-09 season, when he potted 36 goals, and played an integral role in his team’s playoff run. However, that season marked the end of his time in Boston, as the Bruins traded him that summer to the Toronto Maple Leafs, in one of the biggest blockbuster trades of the decade.
Despite missing the first month of the season due to shoulder surgery, Kessel was very good in his first year as a Leaf, scoring 30 goals in just 70 games. He quickly became known as a scoring juggernaut in Toronto, putting up at least 30 goals every year until the 2012/13 lockout-shortened season (when he still put up 20, a 34-goal pace).
Fans in Toronto always had a love-hate relationship with Kessel, who became a very polarizing figure (especially given the high price paid to obtain him). There were those, obviously, who loved him, for his incredible snapshot and blistering speed that allowed him to lead the team in scoring pretty much every year. And then there were those who hated him, claiming Kessel is lazy and out of shape. Of course, it’s unclear how a perennial 35-goal-scorer and one of the fastest players in the game could be out of shape, but to each his own.
This summer, as one of the biggest moves of the Leafs’ rebuild, Toronto traded Kessel (and $6.8 million of his $8 million contract) to the Pittsburgh Penguins. He’ll probably be one of the most exciting players to watch in the entire NHL next year, whether he plays with Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin. Look for Kessel to put up incredible goal totals, potentially even challenging for the Richard Trophy.
As well as being one of the NHL’s best pure goalscorers, Kessel has represented his country excellently. He’s played for the USA at the Olympics twice (winning a silver medal at Vancouver 2010), the World Championships three times, the World Juniors twice and the World U18 Championships twice (winning a gold medal in 2005). These performances have prompted fans to mention Kessel’s name among the best Americans in the NHL.
Love him or hate him, Phil Kessel is an elite goalscorer. Probably not Hall of Fame quality (unless he takes his career to a new level in Pittsburgh), but still the best option the Leafs have for this series.
