Kessel trade crucial to Penguins' back-to-back Cup wins

Don't think for a second that the Pittsburgh Penguins ever thought twice about adding Phil Kessel to the mix.

If we've learned anything over this team's back-to-back Stanley Cup championships in 2016 and 2017, it's not only that Kessel can contribute to a winning team, it's that he's downright essential.

Phil Kessel is a Stanley Cup champion... Again. pic.twitter.com/So5B0AStfD

- Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) June 12, 2017

The Numbers

Case in point: Kessel's respective goal and point totals are greater than or just (and we mean just) shy of those of cornerstone and sure Hall of Fame centers Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin over the past two playoff runs.

In fact, no player in that span scored more goals than Kessel's 18, and his 166 shots on goal put him 34 ahead of second-place Crosby. In terms of overall points, this threesome is in a class of its own, with Kessel leading the way on the man advantage.

Player	Games	Goals	Assists	Power Play Points	Total Points
Malkin	48	16	30	20	46
Crosby	48	14	32	18	46
Kessel	49	18	27	22	45

Next on that list, by the way, is San Jose's Logan Couture, who was good for 33 points in 30 games in that span.

The Trade

As a refresher, here's the deal that landed the star winger from the Toronto Maple Leafs on July 1, 2015; the Penguins acquired Kessel, Tim Erixon, Tyler Biggs, and a conditional second-round pick in 2016 (used to select forward Kasper Bjorkqvist) and sent Kasperi Kapanen, Scott Harrington, Nick Spaling, a conditional first-round pick in 2016 (flipped by Toronto to Anaheim), and a third-round pick in 2016 (used on defenseman James Greenway).

Toronto also agreed to retain $1.2 million of Kessel's salary, and that will continue for five more seasons.

The Maple Leafs had their reasons for dealing Kessel, and that's fine. Their rebuild is working out, and shedding his salary while being intentionally bad for a season has served Toronto well.

From Pittsburgh's point of view, this move was one of many pulled off by general manager Jim Rutherford in a significant retooling of the roster since taking over in 2014, not to mention the key decision to name Mike Sullivan as head coach in the middle of last season.

But make no mistake - Kessel's acquisition was essential to these latest Cups, and without his contributions over the past 49 playoff games, Pittsburgh's chances of winning would have been greatly diminished, if not erased altogether.

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