Rumor: Kessel holding the Penguins hostage and having a negative influence on their young stars.

The saga surrounding Pittsburgh Penguins star forward Phil Kessel seemed to quietly wrap itself up early this month when Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford indicated that Kessel would not be traded after all, however that may have merely been a smoke screen on the part of the Penguins general manager.

According to a new report from Pittsburgh Penguins insider Rob Rossi of The Atheletic, multiple sources within the National Hockey League and the Penguins organization have confirmed to him that the Penguins would still very much like to wipe their hands clean of Kessel. In fact once source, speaking under the condition of anonymity, revealed to Rossi that some within the Penguins organization feel Kessel is hold the team hostage.

“He’s got a gun, knows what chamber the bullet’s in and can fire it whenever he wants,” said the source as per Rossi.

“That’s a bad feeling. But that’s how it feels.”

Additionally it seems that the often dysfunctional relationship between Kessel and head coach Mike Sullivan has reached an all time low. Sullivan and Kessel have always butted heads but it now appears that Sullivan feels Kessel is setting a bad example for other members of the Penguins organization. This includes problems ranging from Evgeni Malkin picking up lazy habits over the past 2 seasons to Kessel being a negative influence on Penguins teammates even when he is off the ice.

From Rossi's report:

Kessel’s fondness for Pittsburgh’s Rivers Casino, where he is known as a regular, was not viewed as problematic within the organization until Sullivan learned a few younger players, including [Jake] Guentzel, had also taken to spending time there on days before games, the sources said. Nothing was said directly to Kessel, but other players were said to hear casino visits on the day prior to games were frowned upon either directly from the coach or a team employee, the sources said.

Rossi believes that trading Kessel remains the organization's number one priority this summer in spite of the comments made by general manager Jim Rutherford to the contrary and it sounds like his sources believe the same to be true as well. Rossi's source made it clear that not only is Kessel holding the team hostage, but indicated that he does not believe the Penguins will be a serious team as long as Kessel remains on the roster.

“If Kessel is back, you can’t take anything coming out of Pittsburgh to be for real,” a source said. “There’s pressure in Pittsburgh. Crosby and Malkin are great players still and they have some very good players left. They can win again, but they need to make moves. They need to make one move first.

“It starts with Kessel. He’s holding everything hostage.”

Although none of this is particularly surprising, it certainly paints Kessel in a very unflattering light. That will likely only make it harder for Rutherford to find a deal.