Mike Babcock may have taken a shot at Phil Kessel.

Mike Babcock made some very interesting comments at the 2015 NHL Draft, comments that could be interpreted as a shot at former Maple Leafs star forward Phil Keseel.

With all of our focus on the actual draft choices we didn't notice the subtlety in Babcock's comments until a recent article published by NBC Sports published the quote from Babcock made us do a double a take.

“The number-one characteristic of a Toronto Maple Leaf is a good human being. Period.” Babcock said. “So if you don’t fit that, you’re not going to be here. Anything that’s been going on is going to get cleaned up.

“We’re going to be a fit, fit team. We’re going to be a team that comes to the media everyday, after a win, after a loss, after practice, and owns their own stuff. Period.”

Now we will admit on the surface it doesn't look like a shot at Kessel, after all he doesn't even mention him, however when you take a closer look at this part of the quote, "We’re going to be a team that comes to the media everyday," it does seem like he's referring to Kessel specifically.

After a tough loss early last season Kessel blew up and refused to talk to reporters after the game, a few days later he spoke to the Toronto Sun and made this comment:

“I think you have the responsibility to talk ... Maybe I need to do more, but not every day."

When you look at it in this context it once again it does seem at least plausible that Babcock was refering to Kessel, add to that his emphasis on fitness in the quote and you can see there may very well have been a subtle jab thrown at Kessel.

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