Thursday's Daily Five: Kennedy forcing his way out of Pittsburgh would be a mistake

1. At age 24 and coming off a 21 goal season and establishing himself as a top-9 forward for the past couple seasons, Tyler Kennedy and his camp are right to be seeking $2 million or more annually on a new contract.

However, Kennedy's agent Steve Bartlett is one of the best in the business and knows in the end, that's an unlikely figure the Penguins are going to compromise with.

As I mentioned a few days ago, sources say a comfortable number for the Penguins is $1.4 - $1.5 million per season. Some close to the situation speculate on a 3 year deal the Penguins could be willing to give Kennedy an a similar deal they gave Alex Goligoski a few seasons ago ($1.83 million cap hit) but that remains to be seen.

The feeling around the league is that if Kennedy forces his way out of Pittsburgh due to high demands, it will be a mistake by him and possibly hinder his development.

Kennedy is in a very good situation in Pittsburgh where there won't be immense pressure to score 20+ goals on a yearly basis.