RUMOUR MILL: Seriously...it won't be long before Kessel has a new home

@PKC, Marakh> Marakh is right...the Rangers have a strong pipeline of prospects, reinforced by the deal with Montreal that brought them McDonagh and Valentenko.

Difficult to see why Chiarelli would deal Kessel to New York though. A Preds-Bruins transaction would be more to his advantage--if he in fact wants to move Kessel, which he says he doesn't.

And as PKC says, cap room is a challenge for both teams...the extent of which depends on which sources you consult.

But you know how rumours are.

marakh wrote:I would say they have very good prospects: Grachev, Anisimov, Sanguinetti, Del Zotto, McDonagh... and Dubinsky, Staal and Callahan are still young.

Dubi's still without a contract.

davetherave wrote:

SpezDispenser wrote:

asq2 wrote:The Rangers? Does Sather seriously have a stipulation in his contract that he must add one big contract per month?

For once that might actually be too bad an idea. The Rangers are so bereft of talent up front...it's such a waste of Lundqvist's talent.

@Spez> You are correct. Sather has the cap room and the need. Kessel would make sense for the Rangers.

ASQ is just engaging in the usual "kick in the Slats"

Slats does a pretty good job of that himself, usually in the form of hefty contracts.

asq2 wrote:

marakh wrote:I would say they have very good prospects: Grachev, Anisimov, Sanguinetti, Del Zotto, McDonagh... and Dubinsky, Staal and Callahan are still young.

Dubi's still without a contract.

Wonder what's gonna happen there... I dont blame Dubi one bit. He is a 1.5-2 mil player for sure.

Yeah, I've thought the same thing for a while. Why isn't he done at 1.75 X 2 years? What's the hold up on the Rangers side? It's not an incredible sum to pay for a young player whom you hold in such high regard - and he needs to be there for camp.

700K? What the hell Sather, yet you give every Tom, Wade and Harry 6.5+ million. Good work. :___:

SpezDispenser wrote:Yeah, I've thought the same thing for a while. Why isn't he done at 1.75 X 2 years? What's the hold up on the Rangers side? It's not an incredible sum to pay for a young player whom you hold in such high regard - and he needs to be there for camp.

700K? What the hell Sather, yet you give every Tom, Wade and Harry 6.5+ million. Good work. :___:

Geez, so much hate for poor old Glen Sather...y'all sound just like Rangers fans.

Maybe he needs his own thread, eh.

The Kessel rumours appear to be gathering credibility, as details emerge from sources in Boston, and Pierre Lebrun at ESPN, among others.

From Kevin Paul Dupont at the Boston Globe:

Three years ago, prior to Zdeno Chara’s arrival, the Bruins couldn’t dream of letting Kessel go. But now, with a winning and defense-first game plan in place, it’s a club that can take the calculated risk of moving on without him. The hardest micro-decision in keeping Kessel is whether or not to deal away the 29-year-old Michael Ryder instead. Ryder makes $4 million, and something around $5 million would likely be enough to take care of the 21-year-old Kessel. But for now, Chiarelli & Co. seem intent on keeping Ryder over Kessel.

More here: http://www.boston.com/sports/hockey/bruins/articles/2009/09/13/sounding_the_attack_at_camp/?page=3

Meanwhile, NESN offers its perspective:

As rumors continued to swirl around Bruins restricted free agent Phil Kessel, the Bruins and Kessel continued to take the high road and remain mum on the situation.

While addressing the media after the first day of training camp Saturday, Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli refused to comment on the stalemate with his leading goal-scorer from a season ago.

“I will not be commenting on any contract negotiations or trade speculation concerning Phil Kessel,” Chiarelli told the assembled media.

Head coach Claude Julien praised his boss for not commenting on the Kessel saga and refraining from entering a war of words with Kessel and his agent Wade Arnott.

“I think our focus is really on our team,” Julien said. “At the same time, I think Peter has done a great job of handling this situation. From the outside people can make comments. But he’s been very professional at keeping that situation in control and not having to get into a war of words, and I respect that. It’s easy to be loose-lipped and feel like you need to defense yourself, but he doesn’t. And I have full confidence that he’ll handle the situation well and the players feel that way too.”

The players didn’t really discuss Kessel either but remained confident that should they have to say goodbye to their teammate, they have the depth to replace his scoring.

More here:
http://www.nesn.com/2009/09/as-kessel-rumors-continue-to-swirl-bruins-take-high-road.html

According to NESN, the Leafs and now the LA Kings would be suitors, as well as the Preds.

Allan Muir of Sports Illustrated suggests Nashville may offer some of their prime prospects in return for Kessel. Muir's view is described in the NESN article cited above.

Larry Brooks of the New York Post says the Rangers have no interest in Kessel.

Lebrun identifies the Leafs and Preds as teams making a play for Kessel.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=4467812

I'd definitely move Ryder over Kessel, but if they do move him, I'd see if I could pry a Blum, Hornqvist and pick out of the Preds (assuming Wilson is off-limits).

The Kessel rumour mill keeps churning...

http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/hockey/bruins/view/20090917phil_kessel_trade_likely/

I'm betting he lands in Toronto.

shabbs wrote:The Kessel rumour mill keeps churning...

http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/hockey/bruins/view/20090917phil_kessel_trade_likely/

I'm betting he lands in Toronto.

if it's Toronto, it won't be via an offer sheet, unless Burke wants to be a huge hypocrite.

Burke won't care. If it comes up he'll just say it's a completely different scenario and can't be viewed as Hypocritical.

Cap'n Clutch wrote:Burke won't care. If it comes up he'll just say it's a completely different scenario and can't be viewed as Hypocritical.

I suppose that the hockey media will eat that all up and claim him again as a hockey god, well at least in Toronto anyway, here in the real world, I will be calling him a hypocrite.