Music: {allcanada} Phil Kessel, Tyler Seguin show most improvement

Thursday, November 24, 2011

{allcanada} Phil Kessel, Tyler Seguin show most improvement

When the Boston Bruins used the first-round pick acquired in the Phil Kessel trade to draft Tyler Seguin No. 2 overall in 2010, it seemed to tie the two players together in the minds of the hockey media.

Whenever the Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs played each other, comparisons of the players and how they performed in the game seemed to be a secondary story.

The two are tied together at the quarter mark of the 2011-12 season by being the most improved players this season.

Kessel, the league leader in goals and points, is 17 points ahead of where he stood at this point last season. Seguin is right behind him at a 15-point improvement.

Kessel blossomed into an All-Star last season and has benefited from a full season with Joffrey Lupul on his line.

Seguin, meanwhile, has moved into a top-six forward role and is getting more ice time. His 12 goals and 23 points are one more each than last season, when he was brought along slowly as a rookie.

"What's really helped the Bruins is the development of Tyler Seguin and the chemistry he has with Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand," NBC analyst Pierre McGuire said. "The supplemental offense that Tyler Seguin brings is huge."

Florida Panthers general manager Dale Tallon's experiment with rebuilding on the fly has helped individual performances. Kris Versteeg, who struggled at the beginning of last season in Toronto, is 14 points better and fellow arrival Tomas Fleischmann is 12 points better. Defenseman Brian Campbell also jumped by 14 points, though he spent the first month of last season on the injured list.

Their arrival has helped Panthers holdovers. Dmitry Kulikov, Stephen Weiss and Jason Garrison all are 10 or more points better at the quarter mark.

Buffalo Sabres forward Jason Pominville is 20 points ahead of last season, but he had missed three weeks after an October 2010 concussion and took a while to get going when he returned.

The biggest dropoff — injuries aren't factored in — belongs to St. Louis Blues forward Chris Stewart, who has 18 fewer points. He did miss three games with a suspension.

Some big names have big minuses: Washington Capitals teammates Alexander Semin (minus 16) and Alex Ovechkin (minus 13); Tampa Bay Lightning center Steven Stamkos (minus 15), Carolina Hurricanes center Eric Staal (minus 14) and New York Rangers center Brad Richards (minus 13). Ville Leino, who signed with the Buffalo Sabres in the offseason, has five points at the quarter mark, down from 17 last season.

Hearings scheduled

Rangers forward Andre Deveaux and Winnipeg Jets defenseman Zach Bogosian face hearings with the league over hits in Wednesday's games.

Deveaux received a match penalty for a hit on Fleischmann, who left the game but returned. Bogosian's hit on the Washington Capitals' Cody Eakins went unpenalized during the game.

HBO special

A 15-minute preview of HBO's 24/7 inside look at the Winter Classic teams will air Friday night at 9:15 ET.

Last year's series between the Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins generated a lot of buzz for the game. This year, the Rangers and Philadelphia Flyers are playing in the Philadelphia Phillies' Citizens Bank Park.

The Rangers announced that they will unveil their Winter Classic jerseys on Monday.