Phil Kessel: ‘It's not going right. It might not be working out here'

Phil Kessel of the Toronto Maple Leafs was dropped down to a line with Darryl Boyce and Joey Crabb in practice on Sunday, as Coach Ron Wilson moved center Tyler Bozak to a line with Kris Versteeg and Colby Armstrong.

Combine that with a 10-game goal-less streak -- oh, and the dignity of being the last pick in an exhibition game fantasy draft -- and they're frustrating times for Kessel.

That frustration manifested itself in post-practice comments, in which he told reports that, "Me and Ron don't really talk ... that's all I got to say about that."

From the National Post:

"I don't really know what to say about that any more," Kessel said of his slump. "I'm trying. Obviously, it's not going right. It might not be working out here. What are you going to do?"

Kessel was asked about the line change: "I don't know," he said. "Maybe it's just not working out, I guess. Who knows? I didn't get anything going. Maybe it's time for a change or something. Who knows?"

Said Wilson, via the Toronto Sun:

"He doesn't want to talk about it or even work on it in practice, it's kind of a touch thing," Wilson said. "He comes and goes with cold streak and hot streaks. Just be patient and change up the line. This is a different look, it makes you think a little bit. At the end of the day, he's getting the chances (averaging more than four shots per game) and he has to figure a way to put he puck in the net. But a scoring chance that fails, should not shut you down the next five or six minutes."

Again, it's frustration manifesting itself as rather incendiary words about a player's state of mind and relationship with his coach -- answering the slump question countless times in the last few weeks. Read into it what you will. But Kessel's attitude is nothing new to those who have covered him previously, like Kevin Paul Dupont of the Boston Globe, who wrote Sunday:

Kessel, no longer on Toronto's top line, went into weekend play with his season-worst goal scoring drought at nine games (0-3-3). A midweek Toronto Sun report had the ex-Bruin phenom snubbing an interview request and being the first Leaf to leave the practice facility. Same Kess, by the way, who was picked last when the captains divvied up the All-Star squads last weekend in Raleigh and then went 0-0-0 in the game.

Is Kessel emblematic of the Leafs' problems or a catalyst for them?