Kessel ascends from career low-point into Cup victory in first season with Pens

PITTSBURGH, Pa. - From the lowest point of his career to the highest, all in less than a year for Phil Kessel.

The star winger completed an ascendant first season as a Pittsburgh Penguin, leading the club in post-season scoring en route to a Stanley Cup, all this 11 months and 12 days after he was discarded by the Toronto Maple Leafs in a summer blockbuster.

"It's a long year, but it's the best year I ever had," an emotional and fully bearded Kessel said on the ice at SAP Center as the Penguins celebrated the Cup on Sunday night.

It was among the more unpredictable results for Kessel, given the rocky state of his career when he left the Maple Leafs last July. He was three months removed from his worst NHL season, the face of all the turbulence that had consumed the Toronto team.

His character was maligned in various corners of the media and fan base, and even members of the club hinted not so subtly that they were happy to have moved on.

Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford, however, described Kessel as his No. 1 target, evidently undeterred by the griping about Kessel's persona and an on-ice performance trending in the wrong direction.

Rutherford was intrigued by Kessel's speed and scoring ability. Both were prominent factors in Kessel's finest post-season.

Kessel scored 10 goals en route to the Cup, leading the Penguins with 22 points. His line, which included speedster Carl Hagelin and centre Nick Bonino, was easily Pittsburgh's most effective.

"It's a big change from where I was at before," Kessel said of the move to Pennsylvania.

Former Maple Leafs teammates at the final, now playing for the Sharks, often get asked the same question when it comes to Kessel: What's different about Phil? They shake their heads, knowing as he does, that next to nothing has changed.

The 28-year-old Kessel is the same player he's always been, only with better teammates on a grander stage.

"I haven't changed anything," Kessel said. "Just kind of played the same way I have for my whole career. Obviously you don't get many chances like this so you need to try to be at your best."

Teammates in Pittsburgh describe him as a quiet, happy and competitive guy when it comes to hockey and off-ice pursuits like ping-pong.

"You always hear things about guys and obviously things are portrayed differently, but Phil's such a good guy," winger Bryan Rust said. "(He's a) little bit of a quiet guy, kind of keeps to himself. But he's an awesome, team-first guy, does whatever he can to help out guys on the team. He's always got a smile on his face, just having fun."

Penguins coach Mike Sullivan has suggested throughout the post-season that Kessel became a more complete player as the months have passed in Pittsburgh. Toronto coaches expressed similar wants of Kessel throughout his Leafs career, only to see such efforts wane in time.

It's more likely that Kessel has simply been engaged more consistently during the Penguins' run to the Cup, that engagement asserting itself more often during the second half of the season.

"Phil's game right now," Sullivan said after Game 4. "When I watch him play, I say to myself, he's committed, he's committed to helping us win."

Sullivan observed Kessel's diligent play away from the puck and intensity in competing for loose pucks in the defensive zone.

Kessel produced at least six points in every round of the post-season, scoring with his quick shot or setting up teammates with passing ability that's long been called underrated and should now be well-established as part of Kessel's arsenal.

Kessel had two assists in Game 4 of the final and the first goal in a 2-1 overtime victory in Game 2. He set up Evgeni Malkin for a goal in a Game 5 defeat. He has 23 goals and 43 points in 46 career playoff games, numbers that qualify him as one of the more effective post-season players of the past two decades.

Since 1996, only 13 players have produced more points per game in the post-season (minimum 40 games) than Kessel (0.94). The Wisconsin native sits a touch below Alex Ovechkin (0.98), but ahead of similar scorers, past and present, like Dany Heatley, Corey Perry, Paul Kariya and Brett Hull, albeit in significantly fewer games.

Kessel still has six years remaining on the hefty contract Pittsburgh opted to acquire last July 1 and it's unknown how that deal will look down the line. Regardless, the trade is a win for the Penguins in light of the championship it helped produce.

Kessel got a call from Sidney Crosby shortly after the deal went down and Crosby told him how excited he was to have his new teammate in Pittsburgh. They would try to capture the Cup, Crosby said.

"And we got it done," Kessel said. "It's an unbelievable feeling."