Toronto's crown jewel of offseason acquisitions, Phil Kessel, is expected to play his first game in a Leaf's jersey tonight, reports the Toronto Star.
Phil Kessel To Make Leafs Debut Tuesday Night
If I play, I’m going to be pretty excited.
Kessel missed training camp and the start of the season while recovering from offseason, reconstructive shoulder surgery.
Leafs Coach Ron Wilson plans to lean on Kessel for minutes as much as possible from the start.
When I see him bent over huffing and puffing I’ll give him a rest. If he feels capable of playing a lot of minutes I will.
There is a tremendous amount of pressure on Kessel to produce immediately given that the Leafs gave up two first-round draft picks and a second-round draft pick to acquire him, not to mention the fact that the Leafs have struggled offensively so far this season, winning only one of their first twelve games. Kessel will also have to contend with judgmental pens of the notoriously critical Toronto hockey media.
Expectations for immediate production should perhaps be tempered because Kessel is playing in a new system and playing without former linemate and NHL All-Star Marc Savard feeding him the puck. Said Ron Wilson of expectations for Kessel:
Remember he's playing on a new team with completely different teammates and a different style of play than he was used to with the Bruins. I think I'm more concerned with that than with his overcoming an injury. If he had this surgery and was still in Boston and he's going to step on the ice with guys he's more familiar with, it would be easier than here.
Kessel, however, believes that he can help the team immediately regardless of who his linemates are.
Obviously, (Savard’s) a good player, he passed me the puck a lot. But I’m not too worried. I’ve done it [scoring goals] before without him other places. I enjoyed playing with him, but I think playing with [Matt] Stajan and [Jason] Blake won’t make much of a difference to tell you the truth.
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