I think there are two schools of thought with how the Ryan Kesler trade has affected Jason Spezza's status on the trade block.
There are those who are optimistic about the returns for Spezza, if only because the other real top-six centerman definitively on the market is now off. With Anaheim having landed Kesler in exchange for Nick Bonino, Luca Sbisa, and the 24th overall pick (they also exchanged third-rounders), one team and one player have been removed from the bidding. Now, teams like St. Louis, Nashville, Dallas, etc. will have to circle back on Ottawa, and perhaps up their offer a bit to land Ottawa's captain.
There are those who are now pessimistic about the returns for Spezza. While it's fair to note that the Kesler trade sort of jammed Vancouver up -- in that Kesler would only accept a trade to one of two teams -- the mere offer itself was woefully underwhelming. The big piece in the offer was Nick Bonino, who more or less rode the percentages to a season he'll almost certainly never duplicate. Nice player, not a great one.
Sbisa feels like nothing more than a throw-in, and while the first-round pick is valuable, it is at the lower-end of the first. This for a bona fide top-six center that can still handle himself well in brutal minutes against the opposition's best.
Spezza's whole situation is tricky. His deal is expiring. He's not limiting trade partners to a great extent, but there are certain teams that Ottawa (like, say, Toronto) simply won't trade him to, either. I'm not sure Ottawa has much leverage because the player sort of wants out, but they reminded the media in attendance yesterday that if a great offer never manifested, they'd simply hold onto him. I'm skeptical that was anything more than a stunt to spur better offers, but that's their public position, anyway.
Interesting times ahead. How are you feeling about a potential move? Did Ryan Kesler's trade help or hurt things?