ARLINGTON, Va. – There is no room for distractions in a season as important as this one.
That is about the only thing Phil Kessel is sure of.
So as the Toronto Maple Leafs winger enters a contract year for just the second time in his NHL career — and the first where he is eligible to become an unrestricted agent — his only expectation is that there won’t be any negotiations with the team on an extension during the season.
That fact alone virtually guarantees that his contract situation will be a major topic of conversation around the hockey world in the coming months.
It is something the 25-year-old is both aware of and bracing for.
“I’m going to probably not talk about it that much,” Kessel said Tuesday during a break in the U.S. Olympic orientation camp. “I’m going to get asked obviously, but I don’t think there’ll be any contract stuff during the year. It’s just too much of a distraction.
“We’ll see how it plays out.”
At this point, he doesn’t have any idea what is going to happen.
A busy off-season for the Leafs front office hasn’t included any negotiations with Kessel’s agent, according to the talented winger, so it appears as though he is likely to report to training camp without an extension in place.
About the only guarantee is that Toronto’s top player is in line to hit the jackpot.
Set to earn $5.4 million this season, he should be able to command as much as $8 million on a long-term deal the next time around. Kessel has been among the NHL’s most consistent goal-scorers the last five seasons and is coming off a strong playoff performance that saw him score four times against Boston in seven games.
He is also a lock to represent the U.S. at the Olympics in Sochi, Russia, this February and has even started to earn some praise for his improvement on the defensive side of the puck.
“You can see how far his game has come,” said Ottawa Senators winger Bobby Ryan, who played against Kessel as a kid. “He’s always been that high-scoring fast winger with a great shot and now he’s able to embrace different roles and he’s able to play a little bit better defensively than he was when we were 17.
“It was just go, go, go back then.”
Despite some of the contract uncertainty, Kessel seems to be in an excellent frame of mind with the season fast approaching.
Living in Toronto has grown on him so much that he returned to the city more than a month ago to spend time with what he referred to as an expanding group of friends. And on Wednesday, he will host his annual golf and poker tournament at Turnberry Golf Club in Brampton, Ont.
As it turns out, he’s fairly talented on the links as well – “If my driver’s good I’ll shoot under 80,” said Kessel – although he admits that his golf game hasn’t been too great lately.
Kessel seemed to be in his comfort zone at the Olympic camp, which brought him back together with a number of players he’s competed with and against throughout his life, including fellow Madison, Wisc., native Ryan Suter.
He was coached by Suter’s dad, Bob, in minor hockey and takes part in some competitive summer pickup games with him over the summer. One small change Suter has noted in Kessel recently is that he’s started chirping back when guys get on his case in the dressing room.
He believes a deep competitive fire burns within his childhood friend.
“It seemed like he didn’t care (when we were young) and it still kind of seems like he’s non-chalant, but inside he competes and cares,” said Suter. “He wants to win. He wants to score goals.
“I know him.”
The Leafs certainly don’t have any complaints about his performance. All Kessel has done since arriving in the much-discussed 2009 trade with Boston is lead the team in scoring all four seasons.
The best one of them all came last year because he finally got the chance to experience playoff hockey with the Leafs. However, with the team moving to the newly reformed Atlantic Division (where only three of eight teams are guaranteed to make the post-season) he thinks it’s far from a slam dunk that they’ll repeat the feat.
“I think we’ve got the pieces, but it’s a different (year),” said Kessel. “I don’t know how this is going to play out with the divisions. It’s weird, this is the first time it’s happened. You’ve got a couple teams that are always there – you’ve got the Bostons, you’ve got Detroit – and (Montreal and Ottawa) have been in the playoffs the last couple years. …
“I think it’s going to be tough.”
Beyond that, Kessel knows that he’s likely to be under the microscope even more than usual, especially if he hasn’t signed an extension by the trade deadline.
The winger watched good friend Tyler Bozak go through a contract year last season and knows how stressful it can be. Speaking generally, he noted that most players who hit the open market – as Bozak did – end up signing elsewhere.
“When you get to that point, a lot of guys don’t stay,” said Kessel. “If you look throughout the league I don’t think that that happens (very often).”
That could be a telling quote next summer, although plenty is sure to play out before then. Kessel is approaching the situation with an open mind.
“I don’t know how this works,” he said. “This is the first time I’ve ever been through it. So I think it’s a different year and a different process.”