NHL players survey: Phil Kessel will score at least 40 goals with Penguins

Phil Kessel's trade to the Pittsburgh Penguins should result in him scoring 40 or more goals for the first time in his career.

That was the consensus opinion of 17 top NHL players who participated in a USA TODAY Sports anonymous survey conducted at this year's NHL/NHL Players' Association Media Tour held Sept. 8-9, 2015, in Toronto.

Survey takers were asked to predict how many goals Kessel would score in 2015-16, knowing he would play alongside Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin or both. Thirteen of the respondents said he would score 40 or more. The lowest estimate was 30 goals and the highest was 50 goals.

"He’s a sniper. He likes to score goals. He’s a good skater -- he’s flying every game," said Malkin who was not a survey participant. "I think if he plays with Sid he can score 50 goals – at least. He has everything.”

The speedy Kessel, 27, has scored 30 or more goals five times in nine seasons. His personal best is 37, scored for the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2011-12. The retooling Maple Leafs traded Kessel to the Penguins in July, along with Tyler Biggs and Tim Erixon for Kasperi Kapanen, Nick Spaling, Scott Harrington, a third-round pick and a first-round pick in either 2016 and 2017. The first rounder would be in 2016 if Pittsburgh makes the playoffs.

Of the four survey takers who believed Kessel would score fewer than 40, one of them said Kessel would score "35-plus" and the other said between "35 and 40".

"Regardless of who plays with him, he's going to create a lot of offense," said Crosby who also wasn't involved in the survey.

The surveyed NHL players seem to believe Kessel will have a positive impact if he plays with Crosby. Asked who will who will win the Art Ross Trophy as NHL scoring champion this season, nineteen of 34 respondents said Crosby. Five votes went to John Tavares (New York Islanders), while Steven Stamkos (Tampa Bay Lightning), Ryan Getzlaf (Anaheim Ducks) and defending champion Jamie Benn (Dallas Stars) received two votes each.

Alex Ovechkin (Washington Capitals), Patrick Kane (Chicago Blackahawks), Ryan Johansen (Columbus Blue Jackets) and Jonathan Toews (Chicago Blackhawks) received one vote each.

Other survey results:

** Thirty-four players said they would be accepting of an openly gay teammate.

** Twenty-five players said the NHL should realign again if Las Vegas and Quebec City enter the NHL as expansion teams and eight said the teams should just be added to the Western Conference. Currently, the Eastern Conference has 16 teams and the Western Conference had 14 teams.

** On the question of whether the NHL should sell advertisements on jerseys, 25 players said 'no' and 10 said 'yes.' Many of those who said 'yes,' stipulated that the use of advertisements had to be done in moderation.

** The Columbus Blue Jackets were the leading vote-getter when players were asked to name the No. 1 "sleeper" team heading into the 2015-16 NHL season, but 14 different teams received votes

The Buffalo Sabres and Edmonton Oilers received five votes, while the Florida Panthers received three and the Dallas Stars, New York Islanders and Nashville Predators received two votes each. The Montreal Canadiens, Minnesota Wild, Boston Bruins, Calgary Flames, San Jose Sharks, Winnipeg Jets and Toronto Maple Leafs received one vote each from the surveyed players.