My Case Against the Tyler Kennedy Haters

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Tyler Kennedy
Left Wing
Born Jul 15 1986  -- Sault Ste. Marie, ONT 
Height 5.10 -- Weight 183 -- Shoots R


Selected by Pittsburgh Penguins round 4 #99 overall 2004 NHL Entry Draft

Season    Age  Tm  Lg  GP  G  A PTS GC +/- PIM EV PP SH GW   S  S%  TOI  ATOI

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2007-08    21 PIT NHL  55 10  9  19  8   2  35  9  1  0  4 104 9.6  672 12:13
2008-09    22 PIT NHL  67 15 20  35 13  15  30 15  0  0  3 171 8.8  923 13:46
2009-10    23 PIT NHL  64 13 12  25 10  10  31 12  1  0  4 175 7.4  805 12:35
2010-11    24 PIT NHL  80 21 24  45 18   1  37 14  7  0  2 234 9.0 1162 14:32
2011-12    25 PIT NHL  31  5 14  19  6   0  22  5  0  0  1 103 4.9  460 14:51

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Career            NHL 297 64 79 143 55  28 155 55  9  0 14 787 8.1 4022 13:33

Season    Age  Tm  Lg  GP GPG  APG  PPG

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2007-08    21 PIT NHL  55 0.18 0.16 0.35

2008-09    22 PIT NHL  67 0.22 0.30 0.52

2009-10    23 PIT NHL  64 0.20 0.19 0.39

2010-11    24 PIT NHL  80 0.26 0.30 0.56

2011-12    25 PIT NHL  31 0.16 0.45 0.61

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Career            NHL 297 0.22 0.27 0.48

A lot of complaining about TK and his $2 mil salary lately.  First off, remember he is a 3rd line winger and that's exactly what he was signed to be.  Kennedy had a career year last season registering 45 points in 80 games played, an average of 0.56 points per game.  Because of all the Penguins injuries, Kennedy was asked to step up his game to fill some of the voids left by some of the Penguins top scorers.  This season, TK has been back in his 3rd line role, and due to missing 11 games due to injury, has been off to a slower start than Penguins fans would have liked.

So far this season Kennedy has 5 goals and 14 assists through 31 games.  Here's where most of you will be shocked.  19 points in 31 games averages out to 0.61 points per game.  Sure, his goal scoring is down from last season but he has more assists and an overall higher points per game.

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Tyler Kennedy's salary is $2 million per year.  For those of you questioning the resigning of Kennedy, I've compiled a list of free agent forwards from this past season who signed for TK's $2 mil +/- .25 mil.

Player                  Age    Previous    Pos. Type    Cap Hit    Result
Upshall, Scottie       27    CLB         R     UFA    2.25        Signed in FLA
Wheeler, Blake        24    WPG        R     RFA    2.2          Re-signed
Prospal, Vaclav        36    NYR        C     UFA    2.1          Signed in CLB
Laich, Brooks          28    WAS        C     UFA    2.067      Re-signed
Bernier, Steve          26    FLA         R     RFA    2             Signed in AHL
Moreau, Ethan         35    CLB         L     UFA    2            Signed in LAK
Zherdev, Nikolay     26    PHI          L     UFA    2            Signed in Europe
Recchi, Mark           43    BOS        R     UFA    1.95       Retired
Stafford, Drew         25    BUF        R     RFA    1.9         Re-signed
Dubinsky, Brandon  25    NYR       C     RFA    1.85       Re-signed
Setoguchi, Devin     24    SJS          R     RFA    1.8         Re-signed; Traded to MIN



Wheeler, Laich, Stafford, Dubinsky, and Setoguchi all re-signed and were unavailable for the Penguins to sign.  Mark Recchi retired.  Bernier signed in the AHL and Zherdev in Europe so I will leave them out of this comparison.  This leaves Scottie Upshall, Vinny Prospal, and Ethan Moreau as possible Kennedy replacements.

Season    Age  Tm  Lg  GP   G   A PTS  GC +/-  PIM  EV PP SH GW    S   S%   TOI  ATOI

Upshall:

2011-12    28 FLA NHL  15   1   2   3   1  -2   23  1  0  0  1    31  3.2   192 12:49

Prospal:

2011-12    36 CBJ NHL  42   9  21  30  10 -11   16  7  2  0  0    92  9.8   776 18:29

Moreau:

2011-12    36 LAK NHL  28   1   3   4   1  -3   20  1  0  0  1    29  3.4   295 10:32

Vinny Prospal would have been a great signing, but he's 36 years old.  Shero signs his yearly veteran, and this year's was Steve Sullivan.  There really was no better alternative than Tyler Kennedy.  He hustles every shift and is a perfect 3rd line winger for the Penguins system.

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All this being said, Kennedy's shooting percentage is at a career low this season, however when TK shoots the puck, it creates a rebound.  The problem this season is that no one is there to put that rebound in the goal.  Hopefully the Pens can get back on track and Kennedy can start shooting the puck in the net more.

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References:
Hockey DB
Hockey Reference