When Phil Kessel was acquired by the Pittsburgh Penguins, the thought of adding him to a forward corps built around Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin was downright frightening.
His first regular season with the club had its ups and downs, both from a personal production standpoint and for the Penguins as a group, and Kessel's 26 goals and 59 points came in below expectations.
Kessel found his game under replacement head coach Mike Sullivan, and he broke out on the way to a Stanley Cup win with 10 goals and 12 assists in 24 playoff games - and should have won the Conn Smythe Trophy.
And through 26 games in 2016-17, Kessel has shown no signs of slowing down. In fact, a quick look at the points per game leaderboard and we see all three Penguins snipers ranked within the top five among players with at least 20 appearances this season.
| Player | Games | Goals | Assists | Points/GP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sidney Crosby | 20 | 17 | 10 | 1.35 |
| Connor McDavid | 28 | 11 | 25 | 1.29 |
| Nikita Kucherov | 26 | 13 | 16 | 1.12 |
| Evgeni Malkin | 26 | 10 | 18 | 1.08 |
| Phil Kessel | 26 | 9 | 18 | 1.04 |
In terms of total points, Malkin leads the way with 28 - good for third overall -while Crosby and Kessel are tied with several others for fourth with 27.
If and when the Penguins decide to settle on a single goalie, this team will be well-positioned to repeat as champions.
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