Kessel 2.0

This past weekend, Bob McKenzie of TSN fame said that The Leafs might be looking to trade their star forward Phil Kessel. There's a problem, Kessel has a NTC and has listed eight teams that he would be interested in going to.

Bob McKenzie, TSN – Kessel's limited NTC is believed to include eight teams he can be traded to. Prior to the trade deadline, TSN reported those eight teams were believed to be: Boston; Chicago; Los Angeles; Minnesota; Montreal; New York Rangers; Philadelphia; and Pittsburgh.

Here's the problem, moving Kessel isn't going to be an easy feat. Kessel has seven year left on his contract that pays him eight million a year. Six of the teams on Kessel list have extreme cap space issues (Boston, Chicago, Minnesota, Montreal, Philadelphia,  and Pittsburgh).

Hooks Orpik, pensburgh.com --- Unfortunately for the Penguins, that $8.0 million cap hit is just too much to overcome. Kessel has been a productive player and would be in Pittsburgh, but his contract is a non-starter for a team that already has $25.45 million tied up to three players in Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang. The Pens will have to look elsewhere to fill their need of adding a top-6 winger.

This begs the question, will the Leafs be able to find a team that will be able to take on Kessel's contract? It's going to be hard.


One Facebook, one of my friends also brought up another great point. Kessel is not particularly fond of  talking to the media. Most of the teams on Kessel's list has a very proactive media.