Rumor: Locker room issues will result in a trade involving Phil Kessel.

The Pittsburgh Penguins are going to undergo some big time changes this summer and more and more it seems like the name at the very top of general manager Jim Rutherford's list is none other than star forward Phil Kessel.

“Every possibility is on the table right now,” Rutherford told reporters after a disappointing playoff performance from his Penguins.

This week TSN released its updated "Trade Bait" list for this upcoming offseason and I must admit the name at the top of their list surprised me. Above some of the names that have been constantly out there, names like P.K. Subban and Jacob Trouba, was none other than the aforementioned Kessel. It is interesting to see him ranked so highly given how many of the NHL's top insiders work for TSN and especially so given the rampant rumors that floated about Kessel last summer. At that time rumors of some major friction between Kessel and Pittsburgh Penguins head coach were rumored to be the problem and it seems like another season together has not made things any better. 

In fact the latest from TSN's Frank Seravalli would indicate that the locker room issues with Phil Kessel got even worse this season with Kessel also rubbing one of the Penguins top stars the wrong way. According to Seravalli Kessel also had friction with teammate Evgeni Malkin who himself was the subject of trade talk after the season ended, although it now seems like Malkin will remain within the fold. The fact that Malkin is staying could now mean an even greater chance that Kessel will end up being traded out of Pittsburgh. 

Rutherford has never directly addressed those rumors, however he did openly admit that there were some major issues in the Penguins locker room in terms of chemistry this season.

“The dynamic of the team this season, it was difficult for him to deal with,” Rutherford told The Athletic. “This team never came together. It just never did. I don’t want to go into all of the details, but Mike had to deal with a lot of circumstances this year. He had to keep things under control.”

So where will Kessel end up going? The answer of course is that we do not really know and with some limited trade protection Kessel could influence where he ends up going. That being said 2 insiders have mentioned the same team, now a month apart, which seems like a very interesting coincidence to me.

Here is an expert from Seravalli this week:

The Penguins’ Kessel Whisperer, assistant coach Rick Tocchet, left to be the head coach of the Arizona Coyotes two seasons ago.

Just one month earlier Sportsnet NHL insider Elliotte Friedman revealed that the Arizona Coyotes had in fact "kicked the tires" on Kessel earlier in the season and with the cap rising next season they will need additionally salary on their books to hit the floor. Both of these on their own would be enough to spark a rumor, but when you combine the 2 it does seems like the Coyotes could be a legitimate landing spot for one of hockey's most interesting characters.

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