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It’s starting to heat up on the trade front with the deadline only 3 days away. Things are really starting to get interesting surrounding the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Vancouver Canucks.
A proposed deal would send Kesler to the Penguins in exchange for center Brandon Sutter, two 2014 draft picks — likely a first- and third-round — and the Canucks' choice of defensemen Simon Despres or Brian Dumoulin, the sources said.
The surprise in this proposed deal is the fact that Penguins top defense prospect Derek Pouliot is not involved.
Looking at this Kesler situation from a Penguins point of view I see no reason why Shero would not be aggressive in obtaining Kesler’s services.
This is NOT a rental situation. This would not be a trade for the sole purpose of saving this season. The scope in which you look at a potential Kesler trade cannot be viewed in the vacuum of the current 2013-2014 season.
The reality is that the 2013-2014 season might not be savable with the injuries the Penguins have sustained and the salary cap being as low as it is. Sure the Eastern Conference is weak and the Penguins could still find their way to the ECF but let’s be honest, the bottom 6 is way past repair for this year and does not favorably compare to other contending teams.
Tyler Dellow has provided a very nice breakdown of contending teams and how their top 6 and bottom 6 forwards contribute to the team. Let’s just say the Penguins don’t fare well when compared to the other big boys. You can find that breakdown here .
The big thing for me is that a player like Ryan Kesler does not always become available, especially with such a reasonable cap hit along with term left on his contract. Its either you get aggressive during the time period he is made available, or you sit it out. I view sitting this one out as a missed opportunity.
The assets the Penguins are reported to be giving up are not any different than what they got in return for Jordan Staal. Last time I checked Jordan Staal and Ryan Kesler were extremely comparable players. Even if Derek Pouliot is in a potential Kesler deal it is still doing the Jordan Staal deal in reverse.
Remember, the Penguins never wanted to get rid of Staal. This is Shero’s chance to fill that roster spot with a similar player and for cheaper than Staal. Personally I think Ryan Kesler has more offensive talent than Staal so this would actually be the slightest of upgrades over Jordan.
I also feel that people tend to overvalue draft picks and prospects, especially during this time of year. When you are a contending team with superstar players in their prime you need to go with the sure thing. Prospects and draft picks aren’t that. Adam Gretz wrote a very nice piece about trade deadline assets, here is an excerpt (specifically about 1st round picks) from that piece:
If you're a fan, however, you probably shouldn't overvalue that pick because it's probably not worth as much as you think it is. Especially the first-round pick.The only teams willing to give up their first-round draft pick this time of year are teams that are pretty sure of their postseason standing, so you're more than likely talking about a mid-to-late first-round pick which are at times nothing more than a roll of the dice. Once you get past lottery picks, or even the first six or seven picks in most draft classes, the odds of finding a top-line player or an All-Star drop dramatically, and NHL general managers surely know this.
That's why draft picks, even the first-rounders, are rarely the focal point of trades this time of year and are usually exchanged straight up for second-tier players, or as part of much larger packages for top players.
As one of my readers (rival22) put it :
“I seem to always miss the trophy for most assets at the NHL Awards show every season.…
Last year when the Penguins traded for Jarome Iginla by using a 1st round pick they did so with the intent on keeping him away from Boston. The Penguins already had two very good top 6 RW options in James Neal and Pascal Dupuis. It is widely believed Iginla was misused by Bylsma, but that is only partially true. I don’t blame Byslma for not using Iginla as a top 6 RW. His fault was not using Iginla on the #1 PP on the left circle, that’s it.
Acquiring Ryan Kesler is not anything like the Iginla situation. Kesler can play top center minutes, top winger minutes, 3rd line center minutes, top PK minutes, top PP minutes. He is a jack of all trades. This makes the Penguins better, there is a fit.
Next year when the Penguins look to fill the roster out they will never get the value Kesler brings for 5M per year on the open market.
Also the Penguins will get Pascal Dupuis and Kris Letang back next year and who knows maybe Beau Bennett will play in a few games. Add Kesler into the mix and now the Penguins are cooking with fire again.
Why would the Canucks trade Kesler? The simple answer is because Mike Gillis is wearing clown shoes right now. The Canucks make way more waves off the ice than they do on the ice these days.
Look no further than the Roberto Luongo situation. Gillis navigated the Luongo Schneider situation with the finesse of Edward Scissorhands giving a back massage.
Yesterday Gillis thought that he hadn’t treated Luongo poorly enough and decided to pour gasoline back onto the Luongo fire again. Luongo will not be starting for the Canucks in their outdoor game tonight, it will be Eddy Lack. Talk about disrespect.
Luongo was good enough to get a start for Canada but isn’t good enough to start for his own team?
Seems like the Canucks are running out of ways to treat Roberto Luongo like crap
— Bruce Arthur (@bruce_arthur) March 1, 2014Is it any wonder why Ryan Kesler wants out?
Ryan Kesler owns a no trade clause which means he can pick his destination. Those destinations reportedly include Pittsburgh ,Detroit, and Philadelphia. Gillis has certainly shown in the past he will sit on a player and not trade them but how many times can he do that before that culture becomes incredibly toxic in Vancouver?
Who knows if Kesler gets dealt now or in the summer, but one thing is for sure, he would help the Penguins and Shero should be all over it. By all accounts he is.
There isn’t always smoke surrounding potential Shero moves, but the fact there is this time should be a clear indication that there is at least a small fire in the making. Usually when Shero zeroes in on a target he acquires it. This should make for an interesting next couple of days.
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As far as the outdoor game last night goes, it didn’t go well for the Penguins. The Blackhawks were superior in every way.
Personally I am a fan of hockey first and foremost and I like watching the best in the world do their thing. Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, and Patrick Sharp certainly provided some of that, even if it was at the Penguins expense.
I thought the scene was pretty great and it translated well on TV, but it’s not something I’m going to draw too many solid conclusions from.
Fleury played great, he was left out to dry.
Despres had a very rough night, had a few penalties against and scored an own goal. He has to make more of his opportunity even the conditions are not normal and ideal.
Perhaps the Penguins should be attempting to trade for Brent Seabrook, it appears he and James Neal have some chemistry out on the ice.
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Results from the Ales Hemsky poll from yesterday:
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Congratulations to Jaromir Jagr on goal #700!
When Jagr was asked about being traded he replied the following:
Jaromir Jagr said he might go home if he's traded. He already got all his bonuses for game played. Total of 2.0M$. #devils
— Renaud Lavoie (@LavoieRenaud) March 1, 2014Doesn't Jagr still have a home in the Pittsburgh area? ...
#JagrbombsForever
Thanks for reading!
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