From all the reports from reputable sources out there, Kesler is pretty much the big fish out there on the trade market right now. My point is, if he sucks as much as has been proposed here, why aren't the pro scouts catching on? Either hfboards posters with cool nicks and sweet avatars know more than the pro scouts or the hfboards is wrong.
The difference is stats and watching on TV vs. first hand viewings and contact. A pro scout would have a lot more insight into
why Kesler hasn't played his best hockey the last couple years. Is he injured? Does he hate the fans? Is he sick of Canada? Does his wife/girlfriend hate it there? Does he feel it's a sinking ship? Etc.There's a massive amount of factors that go into a player's performance and scouts/management would have much more insight into it than any fan could.
That's why I don't like when people use advanced stats as the be-all-end-all, they don't tell the whole story and shouldn't be presented as such. They show a lot, but not everything. These are human beings with lives off the ice that impact their performaces. I've seen it first hand.
It seems like teams know a lot more about Kesler's situation than the fans do, which is not a surprise. There's teams that think that a happy Kesler will be an impactful Kesler, and I tend to agree with them.
However, ideally you'd have a guy that didn't pout and played through injuries at a top level, but those are special players, special individuals. The vast majourity of NHL players let their personal feelings and injuries impact their games. The difference is whether or not you think your situation will put them in the headspace they need to be in.