Kessel has played his last game in Pittsburgh and already knows where he’s heading?!

The Pens are facing the real possibility of a rebuild and we can’t deny it anymore…

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 4 years ago
Kessel has played his last game in Pittsburgh and already knows where he’s heading?!
Zuma Press

The trade rumours are back and they are with a vengeance. The chatter quieted down after the trade deadline, however, Pittsburgh Penguins forward Phil Kessel spent most of last summer and this season on the trade block. While general manager Jim Rutherford kept him around for this (short) postseason, it seems like Kessel has now played in last game in a Penguins’ uniform. 

Rob Rossi of The Athletic cites multiple sources claiming the Penguins explored trading the right winger last summer, indicating Kessel was “agreeable” to playing for the Arizona Coyotes. 

As we know, the veteran forward has a good relationship with Coyotes head coach Rick Tocchet, who was an assistant with the Penguins during their championship runs back in 2016 and 2017.

The Penguins need to make significant changes to their roster - there is no question about it. They were just swept in the first round of the series by the New York Islanders. 

The team has over $79 million invested in 18 players for 2019-20 and needs to shed salary this summer if they want to get younger and faster for next season. Trading Kessel to Arizona would therefore makes sense since they have interesting depth in promising and affordable young talent. 

The untouchables always appear to be Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, however some team insiders cannot agree on whether defenseman Kris Letang, star goalie Matt Murray and winger Jake Guentzel are also on that list. 

As for Kessel, some say his offensive skills will be greatly missed if the Penguins part ways with him and say the team should instead focus on moving Jack Johnson, Olli Maatta, center Matt Cullen, and left wing Garrett Wilson this summer. 

This is one story you’ll want to keep following this offseason. 

Source: The Athletic