CRANBERRY TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- Phil Kessel doesn't talk a lot, at least not to the media. But when he does, people listen.
On Tuesday, Kessel expressed his opinion that Evgeni Malkin -- and not himself, Nikita Kucherov or anyone else -- should win the Hart Trophy.
"Why should someone else be?" Kessel said. "He plays on a good team, back-to-back Cups. He should win it."
Clearly, a compelling case can be made for Malkin, who is now second in the league in points (87) and third in goals (39).
"You watch him play, he's playing hard, he's doing all the little things right also," Kessel said. "He's getting rewarded, he's scoring goals. He's making plays."
Plays like this one to Kessel to open the scoring last week against the Flyers in Philadelphia:
Though he was notably omitted from last week's NHLPA opinion poll about the best players, Kessel said there's something to be said for Malkin's consistency over a dozen NHL seasons.
"I think, sometimes, they don't notice it because he's been around so long, he's done it for so long," Kessel said. "Someone else is doing it the same as him, they talk about him more, right? I don't think that should be the case. You watch him this year, he's missed four or five games also, he's still almost leading the league, you know?"
We know, Phil.
We also know that a strong argument could be made for Kessel as MVP too. He's been the Penguins' most consistent player this season, leads the league with 36 power play points and is eighth in the Art Ross race with 78 points.
In the last seven games, since the acquisition of Derick Brassard, Kessel has two goals and six assists for eight points, with only two of those points coming on the power play.
Finding chemistry with Brassard though, has proven a little tricky.
"He's a solid player, good two-way guy," Kessel said. "He can make plays. He can score goals. Obviously, seven games is not that many, so we have to finish the year strong and see how it goes."
Since coming to Pittsburgh in a three-team trade on Feb. 23, Brassard has one goal (below, March 3 vs. the Islanders) and an assist but zero points in the last four games:
In the seven games prior to the trade, he had five goals and four assists with the Senators. Obviously, it's been a bit of an adjustment.
"Trying to get better every game," he said. "It's going to take a little while. It's going to take the next four weeks and try and play well and go from there."
