Bruins fans, some of whom pegged Kessel as the franchise’s next 50-goal scorer before his arrival in Boston, will see a more electrifying version of the player who showed up here in the fall of 2006 as the No. 5 pick overall in that June’s draft. Over three seasons and two coaches (Dave Lewis and Claude Julien), Kessel’s game evolved, sometimes in painful spurts (including his memorable removal from the playoff lineup in the spring of ’08), to the point where he finally became a very valuable piece of Boston’s offense in ’08-09.
But valuable didn’t necessarily mean valued, or trusted, or essential, or relied upon, certainly not in the way the Leafs now call upon the speedy No. 81 in the Blue and White.
Kessel leads Toronto forwards in ice time per game, 20:48, an increase of 4:15 over how he was deployed here last season. He is not only a member of Toronto’s first-unit power play - time he was rarely apportioned here - but he often quarterbacks the man-advantage, stationed low on the left-wing half-wall. From that vantage point, working on his forehand, he can rush toward the slot to rip off a wrister or dish off to a linemate or one of the points.
Penalty killers around the league have taken to backing off Kessel like so many balloons at a porcupine convention, helping him breathe life into a franchise that was 2-7-3 without him in October but went 5-5-4 upon his return to the lineup after he healed from offseason shoulder surgery.
“He’s a good player, a very good player,’’ said Boston GM Peter Chiarelli. “But that was never a question. We always said he would score, and he has, and I think he’d say that he benefited from playing here.’’
