They consistently treated Despres like he was someone that they had to keep on the team rather than someone they wanted on the team. Literally everyone else got better opportunities than he did, more credit for their achievements and more leeway than he did. From coaches AND the media, it was so bizarre. It's one case where no-one can deny that there was genuine spite from the organisation. What for we may never know or IC could never tell us.
Others on this board seem to know more than I do in that regard. I've asked multiple people, and the best I ever got - and I said this before the trade - was that they are obsessive about the handedness of their d, and they wanted a RHS.
I know for a fact that he was well-liked by at least a portion of the room. I don't think he was disliked by anyone, though there were reports from others that certain players were threatened by him - but they're gone now.
There are two pretty common rumors, neither of which I've been able to confirm - the organization, from my point of view, has refused to bash the kid - and that's related to uh, the ingestion of liquid and ... Hanging out live at the Arron Asham radio show (trying to be discreet here, just infer)
Neither of those are, in my mind, offences punishable by trade, but I've felt pretty comfortable saying that Guerin hated him. Maybe he felt like he wasn't devoted to hockey. I don't know.