Friedman: Friedman | Columnist’s Kessel trade speculation has some merit

[Nakawick]

I'll just touch on this. Kessel's contract is actually very favorable.

7.65m, 5.95m, 5.95m, 5.1m, 5.1m. The only downside is that those final two seasons are heavy with bonuses (4.25m of that 5.1m is bonuses).

But 5.1m for someone who would be 34/35 isn't a bad contract by any means.

But a 6.8 cap hit to one of 8 contending teams probably is.

 

[who_me?]

Except the fact that he still has his condo here, spends a lot of time in Toronto, and even brought the Stanley cup here... so there is that.

Lol
So he had a bad time in Toronto for a couple seasons and now he just hates all of Canada and will never play for a Canadian team cuz of it.
Imagine he had a bad experience on an American team instead of Toronto, he would only have seven teams to choose from.
Get some facts

Phil loved Toronto. Get some facts

Most Canadian stars don't want to play for a Canadian team, but they spend their summers in Canada. Phil is no different.

 

[webersshot]

Would Gallagher and lekonen do it?

 

[SEALBound]

Would Gallagher and lekonen do it?

Nope.

 

[Nakawick]

Would Gallagher and lekonen do it?

I think if Kessel was to be traded there would be more than one trade. If the Pens could do a 2 for 1 for Kessel, they could use one of the two as part of a package for another player. So your proposal ( or any hypothetical one) would depend on what else I had cooking.

 

[chethejet]

The salary includes said bonus those years. In three years his actually cash salary payable is 4.8 million the last two years. But the Pens think he is a big part of winning a cup so it is highly unlikely he is moved.

 

[Ugene Magic]

Most Canadian stars don't want to play for a Canadian team, but they spend their summers in Canada. Phil is no different.

Phil is an American who chooses to live in Toronto. He has made a lot of ties there, and there isn't one issue for him doing that.

Those ties are much stronger than what transcended at the end of his time playing for the Leafs.

 

[DudeWhereIsMakar]

How funny would it be if he did end up going back to Toronto.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

Here's another thought, instead of preemptively trading him because his play might decline in a couple years, you keep him and go for a 3rd straight Stanley Cup? Crazy thought.

Kessel will probably be traded when Sprong makes him expendable. You don't trade Kessel because you have Sprong as a prospect in the system.

Exactly. People are so quick to jettison players because of some fear that, at some point in time, they'll no longer be as good as they are now. In the Pens' case, so what?

The Pens are in win-now mode. They've won back-to-back Cups with this core still in its prime, and they'll be a legitimate contender as long as Sid and Geno remain at or close to their best. Kessel's best also happens to fall within that time frame.

If Kessel becomes a bit of an albatross when he's 34 or 35 years old? So be it, if it results in 5 more years of the Pens being Cup contenders until that time.

 

[Peat]

How funny would it be if he did end up going back to Toronto.

I trust Toronto would agree he's worth more now that we've taught him how to win and not be a locker room cancer

 

[glovesave_35]

I don't understand any talk of trading Phil Kessel right now. None. Pittsburgh is in full on win-now mode. They just recently got back into the thick of things playoff-wise in the last few years and Kessel has been huge in helping the team win back to back Cups. This ought to be full-on keep the band together time.

 

[Riptide]

I don't understand any talk of trading Phil Kessel right now. None. Pittsburgh is in full on win-now mode. They just recently got back into the thick of things playoff-wise in the last few years and Kessel has been huge in helping the team win back to back Cups. This ought to be full-on keep the band together time.

That's because there isn't any. One Pittsburgh radio show host who has zero ties to the Penguins and does little but slam them brought it up. Friedman (like he did in the past with the Malkin trade stuff) keyed off of that.

Rutherford even said there's no truth to it... but apparently that's not enough.

 

[WayneSid9987]

My take:

-Don't believe for a second JR is actively shopping Phil around. He's literally JR's Patrick Kane on this roster right now. Teams best offensive winger that gets paid to score, period, and has done just that in back to back Cup wins.

-I can see pundits like Friedman and the people he talks with looking at PIT's situation and thinking, "you know, if Sprong comes in and looks really good, i could easily see them shopping Phil."

-But if they fully believe that Phil is being shopped cuz no one wants to deal with him(coaches/teammates), they'd be dead wrong.

-reality is JR's pretty high on Sprong. If he can establish himself pretty quickly, i do see JR changing his tune a little more towards accepting GM calls on Phil. But thats 1/2 years away.

 

[Disappointed EP40]

Plus you know the Pens will be selling at a discount, price of winning back to back Cups so I don't think they'll complain about that.

What are you talking about ?

"Price of winning cups" ... Discount ?

This makes zero sense. Seriously. What are you talking about?

 

[412 Others]

Ron Cook is a grumpy old Pirate fan with ZERO credibility with regards to hockey.

Ron Cook is to hockey news as Phil Kessel is to physical play.

Phil will be staying for a while...as he should.

 

[Seanaconda]

Phil the thrill is good to have someone for malkin to yell at and yell back at.

 

[madinsomniac]

Media hates Phil... he isnt interview friendly and tgey take it personally when he repeatedly declines to jump through hoops for them...

The pens know the guy is a playoff beast with a ntc... plus tge fans love him.. he isn't going anywhere anytime soon.. except in disgruntled media members brains

 

[Mach85]

Some of y'all need to work on your reading comprehension. Friedman said he thinks there's something to Cook's speculation, and mentioned he talked to a couple other people about it (at least the salary part). He didn't say Cook was his source. He regularly talks to people within organizations and assuming Cook is the only line he has to the Penguins is a pretty flawed assumption.

That said, reading into the language Friedman used, it doesn't sound like the info he did get was very unequivocal or that it's something that's being strongly considered.

 

[3074326]

Would Gallagher and lekonen do it?

Does it make the Penguins better? If it's not a resounding yes, then the answer is a resounding no. Might as well just drop the Gallagher thing.