from Jason Botchford of the Vancouver Province,

Not exactly thrilled with offers the Canucks have seen so far, general manager Jim Benning sent a rather strong message that his team is willing to wait out the draft, and beyond, before trading Kesler.

In fact, Benning suggested it may be more beneficial to sit on him and hold out until this season’s trade deadline.

“When you’re dealing with a player of his stature, at the trade deadline is when you can really do well because (there are) those teams that feel they’re one player away that makes a difference to win,” Benning said.

“You could possibly get more (then) than you can in the middle of summer when they’re not playing hockey.”

So if Kesler wants out so badly, he may have to expand that precious list of teams to which he’s willing to go. With a no-trade clause in his contract, he has some say.

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