Friedman: Kessel is in play

[mjhfb]

I heard he was interested in hot dogging his skills in Frankfurt.

 

[attaamillo]

Blake gets fired if he does this. Or he should.

Kings fans don't want to do two really good pieces, they don't want to trade either of their top 2 prospects, and now two good but lesser players and 3rd best prospect is a "fireable offense"...

 

[Liferleafer]

I would definitely not do Martinez and Pearson from the Pens side. Kessel is a difference maker and sniper, you don’t trade that for depth guys. Top tier winger or defenseman has to come back

Huh...i remember thinking that a while ago as well...

 

[fsanford]

Kings fans don't want to do two really good pieces, they don't want to trade either of their top 2 prospects, and now two good but lesser players and 3rd best prospect is a "fireable offense"...

Top 6 forward, Top 4 D, and top prospect for a guy who will be 31 at the start of the season. That smells of a Lombardi process his last couple of years, what happened to him again?

Cap Dollars > 1 player 30+ player for the next 3 years at almost 7 million per.

League is about the ability to roll 4.

Still think Boston Model is one that needs to be followed.

 

[Kranix]

So with Rutherford addressing it, we can put this to bed as Elliotte yet again being asked a leading question and having to fill air time with his musings.

 

[The Winter Soldier]

Kessel at 6.8M for 4 more years with the 1.2M retained by the Leafs would still be of value to a team that needed secondary scoring. He's a proven points producer and playoff performer for a contending team.

 

[Reaper45]

Kempe + Martinez + Ladue ?

Kempe is a non starter. Not to say he isn't worth Phil, of course he is but the Kings need Kempe and need to add a player like him to the top 6.

 

[3074326]

Huh...i remember thinking that a while ago as well...

Yeah, he also has notable retention (thanks btw), two Cups under his belt, and a career-best season since that last trade.

 

[Liferleafer]

Yeah, he also has notable retention (thanks btw), two Cups under his belt, and a career-best season since that last trade.

The 2 cups thing shouldn't really make him more valuable...that's a team thing. I will give you tbe rest though. Although i could counter with when we traded him he was 3 years younger and other than his last season was pretty much a PPG player here witbout Crosby/Malkin.

 

[rent free]

Huh...i remember thinking that a while ago as well...

quite the absurd thought. why would a contending team trade a top tier winger or defenseman to a rebuilding team?

 

[Liferleafer]

quite the absurd thought. why would a contending team trade a top tier winger or defenseman to a rebuilding team?

I have zero clue what you are saying here....

My point was i thought Kessel was more valuable than the return we recieved....you're trying to hard man.

 

[attaamillo]

Top 6 forward, Top 4 D, and top prospect for a guy who will be 31 at the start of the season. That smells of a Lombardi process his last couple of years, what happened to him again?

Cap Dollars > 1 player 30+ player for the next 3 years at almost 7 million per.

League is about the ability to roll 4.

Still think Boston Model is one that needs to be followed.

I see the point you are trying to make, I just hate using the argument "why trade a top 6 forward and a top 4 dman for a top 6 forward"? Trades are made based on talent, contracts, positions of strength, etc. In this case the top 6 forward you mentioned is a good upcoming young player who will probably get better. However, the other top 6 forward in the equation had more than double the amount of points last season, carries his own line, runs the PP, etc. You can't just water it down to them both being a top 6 winger.

The Pens aren't trading Kessel without Kempe or Toffoli coming back. Pearson is a possibility if packaged with a better D man.

Also, side note, is "top prospect" an appropriate term for your 3rd/4th best prospect? Not being a jerk, I would just think getting Kessel and retaining your top 2/3 prospects would be a big win for the Kings.

 

[rent free]

I have zero clue what you are saying here....

My point was i thought Kessel was more valuable than the return we recieved....you're trying to hard man.

what i'm saying is was absurd back then to think we would have gotten a top tier player back for kessel. in terms of the trade itself, we didn't have a proper gm to conduct the kessel trade and leafs organization wanted to get rid of him asap. you didn't consider that when he was traded. the pens don't want to deal him so it would cost something very valuable (like maybe a top tier winger or defenseman). the pens will get very good value imo if he is traded, which i don't think will happen. he will get more in return than what the leafs got, thats for sure

 

[Empoleon8771]

Kempe is a non starter. Not to say he isn't worth Phil, of course he is but the Kings need Kempe and need to add a player like him to the top 6.

I saw another Kings fan say they'd do Martinez and Pearson for Kessel, would you do that deal? That seems like a good return for the Penguins that fills multiple needs for the team.

 

[USMC607]

I have zero clue what you are saying here....

My point was i thought Kessel was more valuable than the return we recieved....you're trying to hard man.

He was more valuable than what you guys got for him.

But he didnt wanna leave Toronto and made his NTC so restrictive you guys basically could only trade him to us. We knew it, and we also knew the front office wanted him gone, which is why we gave so little.

But this time "apparently" he is open to being traded, which means he may wave his NTC for certain teams not listed. But we really dont have to (or maybe even want to, besides Sullivan apparently).

So if he is traded, that should open up better returns.

 

[Peat]

The 2 cups thing shouldn't really make him more valuable...that's a team thing. I will give you tbe rest though. Although i could counter with when we traded him he was 3 years younger and other than his last season was pretty much a PPG player here witbout Crosby/Malkin.

But as we can see from every free agency overpayment to a guy with cup pedigree and every incredible get out of jail salary clearing trade for Chicago, those cups do make them more valuable. Potentially mad but there we go.

 

[attaamillo]

It seems we've discussed the Kings to death. What other teams might make sense?

 

[Chili Goal]

It seems we've discussed the Kings to death. What other teams might make sense?

Nashville.

 

[Empoleon8771]

It seems we've discussed the Kings to death. What other teams might make sense?

I think there's just too much smoke around the Kings for something there to not get worked out. I think that the Kings have been linked to Kessel by all of the big 4 insiders (Dreger, Lebrun, McKenzie and Friedman).

But outside of the Kings, I think a lot of the western conference makes sense to be interested in Kessel. San Jose, St. Louis, Minnesota (the team I think makes the most sense, even more than the Kings), Anaheim, Calgary, Chicago, Nashville and Arizona all make varying levels of sense to be interested in Kessel. There are many more western teams that make sense than eastern teams IMO.

Also, McKenzie doubled down on what he said recently:

TSN’s McKenzie: Phil Kessel Eminently Available

McKenzie acknowledged Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford’s effort to “calm the waters” regarding the speculation and discussions regarding Kessel, but also suggested reports in “Pittsburgh media, quite correctly, that Kessel is eminently available.” Though McKenzie also acknowledged a deal isn’t assured unless the Penguins get “the right price.”

That's not just saying "there's a very real chance that Kessel gets traded" like he said a couple of days ago, that means that Kessel is very available.

 

[attaamillo]

Nashville.

Hmm.. Following a similar structure of what was discussed with the Kings...maybe something like Ellis or Ekholm + Hartman or Smith or Fiala

 

[LeafsNation75]

This is a legit question I'm wondering about if the Penguins trade Kessel.

Since the Leafs still have $1.2 million of his contract against their cap does it get taken off or does it remain and what's left on Kessel's contract gets taken on by whatever team trades for him?

 

[attaamillo]

I think there's just too much smoke around the Kings for something there to not get worked out. I think that the Kings have been linked to Kessel by all of the big 4 insiders (Dreger, Lebrun, McKenzie and Friedman).

But outside of the Kings, I think a lot of the western conference makes sense to be interested in Kessel. San Jose, St. Louis, Minnesota (the team I think makes the most sense, even more than the Kings), Anaheim, Calgary, Chicago, Nashville and Arizona all make varying levels of sense to be interested in Kessel. There are many more western teams that make sense than eastern teams IMO.

Also, McKenzie doubled down on what he said recently:

TSN’s McKenzie: Phil Kessel Eminently Available



That's not just saying "there's a very real chance that Kessel gets traded" like he said a couple of days ago, that means that Kessel is very available.

There is a lot of smoke from credible sources. Kessel's 8 team restriction makes it really hard to speculate but I'll throw out some random thoughts from the teams you named.

Arizona -- Domi + Hjalmarsson/Demers ...could make a lot of sense, I just dont think he'd waive to go to AZ. I think the Tocchet thing is overblown

Minnesota -- Brodin + Coyle/Greenway .. steep price from MIN but I agree with you, MIN makes a lot of sense. I think they really need a player like Kessel to take the next step.

San Jose -- Would need Hertl + Dillon or something like that for the Pens to make a deal. I dont see a match.

Anaheim -- Cogliano + Manson or Rakell + Montour

Calgary -- Hamilton straight up or Brodie + Bennett

Chicago -- Saad is about the only player that makes sense. He's younger and plays LW which is important. But he's a significant downgrade from Kessel offensively and costs nearly as much money. I dont see a match with CHI.

St Louis -- of course would want to get Parayko but that seems unlikely. Edmundson or Dunn could be interesting. Not sure of a forward to package with either of them.

 

[Beerfish]

Foolish move for the pens to trade kessel as I do not think he will fetch fair value.

We as a group like to poke fun at Kessel but he is a very good player and had a lot to do with the Pengiuns last two cups.

 

[Chili Goal]

Hmm.. Following a similar structure of what was discussed with the Kings...maybe something like Ellis or Ekholm + Hartman or Smith or Fiala

Ekholm + Fiala would be a perfect return. Allows Maatta to move down to third pairing, gives Letang another partner up top with Dumo/Schultz forming a great middle pairing.

Imagine the Pens would need to add here - Sheary?

 

[scramble91]

I saw another Kings fan say they'd do Martinez and Pearson for Kessel, would you do that deal? That seems like a good return for the Penguins that fills multiple needs for the team.

I might be one of the crazy ones...but I would do this if Voynov came back.