The Phil Kessel saga continues still unfettered after days, weeks and months of rumors surrounding the 21-year old forward. In fact, I am quite surprised that it is still taking place.
Speculation began with Kessel ever since the Boston Bruins were eliminated by the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference Semifinal. Since then the Restricted Free Agent was the subject of trade talks on Draft Day – specifically for Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Tomas Kaberle – as well as re-signing with the Bruins, and has even been a part of a couple of other trade talks, including just recently San Jose. Other rumors included the hefty salary that Kessel was requesting, which was rumored to be at $5 million per year.
Many Bruins fans thought that when the team traded defenseman Aaron Ward to Carolina for forward Patrick Eaves (who later had his contract bought out the day) that the Bruins and General Manager Peter Chiarelli had intentions of re-signing Kessel. Problem is, they didn’t do that (at least as of today) and they signed defenseman Derek Morris from the New York Rangers, to replace Aaron Ward.
While Morris seems like a nice addition to the Bruins blue-line and should fit in nicely to a defensive first system under head coach Claude Julien, the Bruins needed to sign Kessel right then and there. The 21-year old forward had his best year in his third season with the Black and Gold, scoring 36 goals. At one point, Kessel scored a point in 18 consecutive games, and some people were considering the former Minnesota Golden Gopher as a possible MVP candidate. That is until he had mono, thus missing a bit of time during the month of January.
Yes the Bruins have Michael Ryder and David Krejci locked up for a few more years, however, given their salary cap situation right now, one would think they would have to part ways with Kessel. Marc Savard is a unrestricted free agent at the end of next year and Milan Lucic and Blake Wheeler are restricted free agents at season’s end. Given the current state of the economy, the price that Kessel seems to be asking for has the Bruins at limb, especially since the league cap number could go down after next year.
On top of the cap situation, let’s not forget that Kessel won’t be ready at the beginning of the season, after undergoing shoulder surgery.
This is what Kessel had to say during team USA’s Olympic Orientation camp last week after chatting with Boston Globe legendary hockey writer Kevin Paul Dupont. You can read more of Dupont’s interview with Kessel on The Globe’s Bruins Blog by clicking here
I don’t know what’s going to happen to tell you the truth. It will be interesting I think. I am not disappointed or anything because, obviously, it’s a business decision for [the Bruins]. It’s kind of like we are at a standstill, and I think it can go either way at this point.
Yesterday, a familiar trading partner with the Bruins, the San Jose Sharks, traded defensemen Christian Ehroff and Brad Lukowich to the Vancouver Canucks. This paved the way for some much needed cap space for the Sharks to pursue a goal scorer. If the Bruins are willing to trade Kessel to San Jose, perhaps the Bruins could look at Patrick Marleau in return, which would make a lot of sense.
If that is proposed, then the Bruins should part ways with Kessel. Otherwise, the B’s should make every attempt to hold on to the 36-goal scorer from 2008-09, unless they get an offer they can’t refuse for “Phil the Thrill”.
All in all, this situation has gone further than it already should’ve gone. It might not be the ugliest situation (just look at the Dany Heatley saga in Ottawa for proof), but it hasn’t been the best situation for all parties involved: Chiarelli, Kessel and his agent Wade Arnott.
Posted by Tim Rosenthal 
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