I fail to see what the issue is with this statement. The point I was trying to make was that I would rather have them that Kessel by himself without a decent centre.....

in other words Turris/MacArthur is better say a fictional Jesse Winchester/Kessel....

and again I reiterate that the Bozak/Kessel combo is very good. Both top lines for these two teams are very comparable.
- GadesnSens

quantity is not better than quality, you can't say player x & y are better than player z.....if so, then you'd also say that michalek and zibby are better than toews.....spezza and michalek are better than crosby.

you cant' judge players that way

6th, 8th, and 6th in scoring the last 3 years. If he's not top 5 he's pretty damn close.

And those were on lousy leafs teams playing with Bozak. Imagine if he had a real centre.

Kessel is elite, I don't care what team you cheer for, if you can't see it, you're blind.
- Talkshowhost

also, where did i say he wasn't elite?

i think karlsson is an elite player, but i don't think he's top 5 in the leauge either (top 5 d-man yes, but not top 5 player)

is scoring all that matters? if it does, then you could argue that toews and kopitar might not even be in the top 10, and also, it means that kessel is better than every d-man in the league.

you could make an argument that he's a top 5 offensive player in the leauge, but even that isn't a slam dunk.

he's absolutely NOT a top 5 player in the nhl
- sensarmy_11

Scoring is for some reason becoming a ridiculously underrated stat.

It's a little sad what ten years in the wilderness can do to some fans...

No scoring isn't all that matters but when you are significantly better in all offensive catagory then it makes up for the loss of defense. And gifted offensive players don't grow on trees.
- JVR_42_PK81

well every year there have been 5+ better offensive players, so then how is he a top 5 player in the league. he's never been top 5 in scoring, and he isn't better than an average 2-way player.

again, you can say he's a great player without him being in the top 5, or even top 10.

but for fun, please give me your list of top 5 players in the leauge

I wouldn't say he is top 5. Top 10 is very possible.

Crosby
Toews
Stamkos
Tavares
Doughty

Scoring is for some reason becoming a ridiculously underrated stat.
- RogerRoeper

from a fanbase, and individual, who have done little but rip spezza and karlsson for the last half decade for only putting up points.


i love that scoring points, and doing little else, justify making kessel a top 5 player, but when spezza finished 4th in league scoring he was nothing but on overrated one-dimensional player

malkin, giroux, weber, kopitar, tavares, chara, kane, karlsson, etc.

you could easily make an argument that he isn't even in the top 10. not saying he isn't, but it wouldn't be that difficult of an argument to make.

from a fanbase, and individual, who have done little but rip spezza and karlsson for the last half decade for only putting up points.


i love that scoring points, and doing little else, justify making kessel a top 5 player, but when spezza finished 4th in league scoring he was nothing but on overrated one-dimensional player
- sensarmy_11

One dimensional is a stupid saying. Spezza had goal scoring, playmaking, Hockey IQ. That's not one dimensional.

Why is Karlssson a top 10 player exactly? As a D-Man, he's everybit as "One-dimensional" as Kessel is.

One dimensional is a stupid saying. Spezza had goal scoring, playmaking, Hockey IQ. That's not one dimensional.
- JVR_42_PK81

i didn't say he was.....but if you can't admit that a good chunk of leaf fans criticized him ALL THE TIME for it, then you obviously don't spend much time on this site.

Funny enough the guy leafs hired yesterday Cam Charron wrote on article on how false it is that they have chemistry I think he used Garbo as an example and Kadri and Kessel were fine together last year.
- ClarksonDavid

I'll consider that perception of mine busted .... thanks for the clarification

well every year there have been 5+ better offensive players, so then how is he a top 5 player in the league. he's never been top 5 in scoring, and he isn't better than an average 2-way player.

again, you can say he's a great player without him being in the top 5, or even top 10.

but for fun, please give me your list of top 5 players in the leauge
- sensarmy_11

Consistency?

i hope this isn't directed at me, he wasn't in my top 10. i wouldn't put kessel or karlsson in my top 10

Consistency?
- walshyleafsfan

he's consistently not a top 5 scorer.......i agree.

He's saying the players ahead of him aren't always the same...does he need to spell that out for you?

Consistency?
- walshyleafsfan

Bingo. He's putting-up big numbers every year with Bozak. He is a top 5 offensive player.

And BTW, Chara is not a top 10 player. It is over. Anyone watch him last year?

he's consistently not a top 5 scorer.......i agree.
- sensarmy_11

Looks like he's consistently a top 8 scorer. I think possibly only Giroux has managed that. Not too shabby. But he has the advantage of playing with Bozak, so really it's unfair on the rest of the competition.

i love how the "he scores consistently" arguments are valid for proving kessel is elite, but when sens fans say the same for karlsson or spezza (when he was here), we're called homers and told our players are one-dimensional and suck.

people and their Top 5, top 10 lists who cares... fans get butt hurt because their guy is not on some random internet posters top 10 list

oh and Turris = Bergeron obviously

Spezza was consistent in PPG, not overall points. Kessel and Spezza are opposites in injury issues.

so health is now a factor when considering top 5 players? guess we have to take crosby out then.

Health is a factor when comparing Kessel and Spezza, yes.

Thought you guys hated Spezza? Anywho. As consistency doesn't count for much, who is better.? Malkin or Cheechoo