The Pittsburgh Penguins are sitting pretty with the 2016 NHL playoffs just around the corner. Thanks to a recent 8-2-0 run, the Penguins (92 points) are well ahead of the teams vying for the final Eastern Conference wild card spot. With the Detroit Red Wings and Philadelphia Flyboys stuck at 85 points apiece and watching their window to make up that ground shrink rapidly with every passing day, the Penguins look set for a postseason bid. All that's left to determine is where they land in the playoff ordering.
And with Pittsburgh desperately trying to shake off the letdowns of the last half decade, during which the team has advanced past the second round of the playoffs just once, that leaves much to be determined for the Penguins.
And yet, there's plenty of reason for optimism for the Penguins and their legions of faithful fans, with offseason addition Phil Kessel leading the way.
Kessel, acquired by GM Jim Rutherford as part of a blockbuster deal, was the piece meant to put the Pens over the top. To take their very good, extremely talented roster and push it up into the stratosphere of elite NHL teams.
Kessel, to this point, has been a disappointment in that area.
That's not to say he's been bad, he simply hasn't been the world-changing, playoff picture-shifting talent Rutherford was surely hoping for when he forked over Kaspari Kapanen, Scott Harrington, Nick Spaling and first and third-round picks in 2016 in exchange for Kessel, Tim Erixon and a 2016 second-round pick.
Kessel, 28, has 23 goals and 54 points through 75 games. Of course, those totals are nothing to scoff at - that Kessel has been a help to the Penguins is not the question.
What is the question is whether Kessel's sudden uptick in play alongside Nick Bonino - five assists and seven points and a Third Star of the Week award - mean he's rounding into form at the perfect time and, further, whether the shocking acquisition Rutherford made all those months ago is finally going to pay off in the form of playoff success.
It's too early to tell of course and Kessel could just as easily slide back into his invisibility cloak as continue his sudden strong play, but it's looking better and better for a Penguins team that was cobbling together its defense and crossing their fingers for a postseason berth only seven or eight weeks ago.
With the Penguins boasting a game in hand on a New York Rangers squad they now lead by three points for the second spot in the East and Kessel suddenly playing what Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan dubbed his best two games since Sullivan took over - Kessel's Corsi For is now up to 54.7 percent, the highest total of his career and the highest total since 2008-09 - the immediate future looks bright in Pittsburgh. In fact, since the NHL trade deadline, the Penguins have become the league's top possession team, ahead of even the East-leading Capitals.
Whether they can hold off the Rangers, secure home ice advantage and find their way past a tough Eastern field and into the second and third round of the playoffs remains to be seen. But if they're going to do it, Kessel will have to continue playing like a guy who knows that he has to do more than just shoot the puck.
He'll also have to keep shooting.
