A What If Regarding Kessler

mmmm, not sure i agree with your logic, I’d like to keep kesler here, he gives more upside as compared to what we would have to give up to get “kovalchuk” hahaha, not kovalev buddy…

Hey Rod, welcome to the group. I’ll give you a pass on the ev-chuck mixup. But you should really try and spell Kesler correctly, since the man is a god. Anyway, I’m not seeing how not signing Kesler makes him more valuable for trade purposes— if anything, him not being signed makes him more of a risk factors as far as costs are concerned.

Thanks klyotok. First identical twins, now I can’t tell the difference between Russians. I am so doomed.

Personally I would rather keep Kesler as well but you have to admit that Kova….whatever would quickly bump the Canucks even closer to being a Cup contender. I fully expect that Russian guy to sign with his current team in any case so this could be moot.

Thanks too Beantown Canuck. I will work on my Kessssler spelling. First of all, I love Kesler as well. I think his work ethic is second to none on the team and that is worth a lot. Ideally, I would love to see him as a third line centre as his one short coming is finish around the net. He is a checking centre first class but we have been forced to play him on the second line due to that missing scoring centre we’ve been looking for over the years. In all likelihood, the Canucks will keep him where he is and look to acquire a replacement for Wellwood at the deadline but that qualifies as only a marginal improvement.

Kovalchuk doesn’t have a contract going forward nor does Kessler. Whether this flexibility makes him more or less valuable for trade purpose is debatable. I threw him into the mix in an attempt to read between the lines as to why he hasn’t been extended long before now. Some of the ridiculous trade scenarios that get thrown out there are laughable. If the Thrashers actually do make Kovalchuk available, we know the price will be high. There are many who would argue that it would be worth it to get a player who fits our needs so completely.

Thanks for the welcome.

Hope you guys pop over to RivalsHockey.com and join in our discussions there as well. We have some good people there as well. Some of them even know how to spell.

Switching gears a bit, I think we can safely discount the Kovalchuk to Vancouver rumors. That doesn’t address why a new contract for Kesler has been so long in coming but my post was more to play devil’s advocate than anything else. It’s great to see the reasoned responses. It is what I would have expected here which is why I joined.

Personally I think the Canucks will add two players at the deadline. Definitely a third line centre to provide an upgrade on Wellwood or possibly Bernier. They need scoring from that line. I also feel they need a bit more depth on defense. Too many guys have had to play far more minutes than they are capable of doing in a seven game series. I would feel far more comfortable with SOB in a number six slot but even our top four could use an upgrade. Last year Ohlund was as close as we had to a stud defenseman and I don’t feel we’ve adequately replaced him. We went into the Chicago series last year assuming our defense corps was one of the best in the league but it was exposed when we faced a team blessed with speed. We haven’t found an answer for San Jose and that has to be a consideration for Gillis at the deadline.

We can’t just add as cap constraints don’t give us that option so I fully expect at least one top nine forward and one of our top seven forwards to be going elsewhere. Look also for the Canucks to be looking for some place in the minors to bury salary. Manitoba doesn’t have the room so players may well have to be packaged and we won’t necessarily like some of the names moving out. Trades can be very tough in a cap related system but if the Leafs and Flames can do it, I see now reason why Gillis and Gillman can’t be as creative.

I don’t see Ottawa trading Kovalev due to the success the Sens have had lately (regardless of Alexei’s help in those matters or not). I also think its suicidal to trade away our No.2 centerman and two-way specialist right now or for the next 7 years-see Jordan Staal’s work in the ’09 SCF for proof of what a great two way centerman can give you in trying times.

In the long run a Kesler (or a Gainey, or a Larionov, or a Madden) can be more vital
in a close playoff series than a Kovalchuk, regardless of his abundant talents.

Ottawa’s finally found it’s stride, I highly doubt they’ll be tampering with it, or at least big names in the team.

Likewise with us. I don’t see a need for Gillis to pick up anyone except to upgrade players not producing in our bottom lines (rhymes with Garnier). Our random defence is holding the fort too.

Whenever I see “Kessler” I think “Kessel.”

Probably pure projection here but … Atlanta is a troubled franchise that needs an exciting scorer in order to draw the fans and Kesler lacks the star power. He’s a great overall player that helps win lots of games, but for $5m or thereabouts I suspect the Thrashers (a fitting name for the team, considering their woes) would rather put the money towards a Gaborik/Crosby/Datysuk kind of player. Iginla, maybe?

Anyway, good solid winning hockey might draw the fans in Canada, but in Atlanta I think they need superstar power on top of that and will try to trade accordingly if they can find the right trading partner.

Then again, if the plan is to move the Thrashers to Hamilton, it could all change in a hurry.

Nice of you to drop in to put any rumors to rest. I am curious as to what you plan to do with Kesler’s salary demands now that you have gone on record about not trading him under any circumstances? I presume you are comfortable with the five million they’ve been requesting? Personally, if I was Kesler’s manager, I’d bump it up to six but that’s just me.

By the way, going back to the spelling mistake which I acknowledged way back when and yelling at me through the use of CAPS is just a tad tacky. Since we are getting a bit picky and pointing out typos, the word “Im” is incorrect. It’s an abbreviation of the words “I” and “am” so there’s an apostrophe between them. Also, in your list of players you don’t plan on trading, the first two names should have been separated by commas and the last two should have been joined by the word “and”. No biggie and I am sure when you get to Grade 5 most of that will be sorted out for you.

Hope you enjoy Spring Break.

Hi Slash,

To be honest, I was never in favor of the Canucks mortgaging the farm to get Kovalchuk. I threw that out there and tried to make a case based on what I thought they would have to do for discussion’s sake. As an ardent Canuck fan, I find there are times when no story lines exist and to keep the juices flowing, you have to make one up.

I think Waddell’s strategy in putting out those numbers may backfire on him. I think he’s sending this out so that other GMs will back off a bit and give him time to re-sign Kovalchuk. I have a hard time believing that anyone is going to pay enough of a price to get Kovalchuk as a rental player when so much is at stake for Atlanta. The numbers quoted are staggering. If Kovalchuk really wants to stay in Atlanta, and that’s a very big if, then they can’t be that far apart. Where it all backfires for Atlanta is that they don’t trade him by asking too much and then someone gets caught up in the feeding frenzy after July 1st and calls Kovalchuk’s bluff about wanting to stay. They wind up with nothing but cap space. In a hockey market like Vancouver, that isn’t such a bad thing but when you are based in Atlanta, not so much.

Waddell is in a very tough situation here. He’s in a very tenuous market, his marquee player wants the moon, he’s prepared to virtually give it to him and that may still not be enough. Waddell could get full marks for giving it has best shot and still be out of a job.

Long winded answer but I don’t think many will feel disappointed when these so called rumors die down.

Take care and thanks for asking.

That you are.

Kchuk is full of shit to try and claim that he wants to stay in Atl while turning down $100M???

All about the $, no way I’d give up significant future players to rent a guy like that, no way the Nucks could afford to keep him anyway.