Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kukla's Korner Hockey

Thoughts Before The Trade Deadline

03/04/2014 at 12:12pm EST

from Elliotte Friedman of CBC,

1. Someday, I'm going to force enough red wine down Vancouver Canucks general manager Mike Gillis' throat that he'll have no choice but to reveal which teams made serious offers for Ryan Kesler at this deadline. It's one of those situations where everyone asks because you'd be a bad GM not to. But the real interest is in who went beyond an initial call. The Pittsburgh Penguins' lust is barely concealed. But in conversations over the past few days, it became clear that a number of serious Stanley Cup contenders thought some of the teams that concerned them most were making a pitch.

2. There is serious doubt the Canucks would keep Kesler in the Western Conference. But it's impossible to think there were no attempts. Chicago Blackhawks GM Stan Bowman denied any interest via email, writing "I have tried my best to convey that we will not be active but no one seems to want to listen. But I asked because some of his conference rivals clearly believed they were in. As one exec said, "How could he not ask about having Jonathan Toews and Kesler as his top two centres?"

3. Same thing with the Los Angeles Kings. I don't think it's possible now after the Sam Gagner trade fell apart due to salary-cap considerations. But if they were willing to add Gagner, it's inconceivable to think they were unwilling to add Kesler with a cap hit just $200,000 higher....

continued

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Paul Kukla founded Kukla’s Korner in 2005 and the site has since become the must-read site on the ‘net for all the latest happenings around the NHL.

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