Penguins/NHL
LATEST PENS BUZZ
1. A feeling in NHL circles among agents and executives is the Minnesota Wild embarrassed themselves with the nixed Phil Kessel trade. All indications are Wild GM Paul Fenton pushed the trade forward without any inkling or assurances that Phil Kessel would even consider playing in Minnesota.
While the Kessel deal is still on the table if Kesse were to change his mind, Fenton just assumed it was a slam dunk and is said to have been blindsided that Kessel didn’t want to play in Minnesota.
Fenton a year on to the job with the Minnesota Wild has already developed a reputation as being an ego maniac who doesn’t make an attempt to give his hockey operations staff a voice and when you don’t involve your staff like Fenton isn’t, you’ll get leaks and dysfunction which is happening in Minnesota.
Another factor amongst others in Kessel giving little thought to accepting a trade to Minnesota was word getting to the Kessel camp during their information gathering process that the Wild’s hockey operations staff and coaching staff were near unanimous that they didn’t want Kessel.
Yet, Fenton still went through with the deal despite his staff being largely against it.
When it comes to the Penguins still trying to complete a reworked deal for Jason Zucker, I haven’t taken talk from multiple league sources that Fenton ‘loves’ [hide] Patric Hornqvist too seriously because why in the world would the Wild go in that direction, but the more I learn about Fenton, this wouldn’t catch other executives off-guard.
The bigger question I’m told is whether Pittsburgh would go this route.
2.– Industry Buzz is Penguins GM Jim Rutherford remains enamored with making a run at Hurricanes winger Micheal Ferland in free agency and there’s avenues Pittsburgh plans to explore leading up to July 1 to open cap space but time will tell whether that goal ends up being attenable.
Landing one of Zucker and Ferland is certainly at the top of the Penguins off-season wishlist.
3. — In relation to so much talk about Phil Kessel’s no trade list, here’s some info on how the process goes for players being asked or submitting no trade lists.
NHL Players with a limited or modified no trade clauses can submit an updated No Trade List every July when the new league year begins if they want.
Some do, many don’t and I had a source in the league office say it’s about 15-85 among those who do it every year, but when a player submits an updated no trade list at the new league year, he’s not permitted to update the list until the following summer unless the team asks for an updated list (in-season) which can happen at any time.
Another factor why teams don’t make players update their lists each year just for clerical reasons?
Players with a significant no trade lists like Kessel has — pretty much make fake trade lists and you never get an accurate list until they know they’re being traded.–
Well that’s for most……
This is what I understand of the Kessel situation.
After some trade rumblings leading into the draft last July, Kessel made some tweaks to his list and as the Penguins made it crystal clear through conversations with the agent that they planned to trade Kessel and had no interest in having him in a Penguins uniform next season, the team in Mid-May is said to have asked Kessel for an updated list.
The belief is the team hoped for the Kessel camp to submit a list of places he actually wanted to go, similar to an understanding that teams often have with rental forwards at the trade deadline for example where teams will go to the player/agent and ask for an actual trade list.
That didn’t play out and Kessel’s updated list made it even more of a roadblock to trade him without his permission. [/hide]
