[Speculation] Kesler to remain a Canuck

[Nashi]

Hopefully this is true.

[Baka]

Careful word choices.

He said he did not ask for a trade and loves the city.

But he never said he would decline a trade off the team and was against continuing life in another city.

If Kesler truly had his heart in Vancouver and the Canucks and did not want out he would simply say he is not leaving and will decline all trades to any other team.

[johngould21]

Gillis said theres no way he see's a situation where Luongo returns after the summer, and he did,

Luongo returned, because Gillis didn't want to make a deal that didn't benefit or make sense to make. We're splitting hairs, but.......

[Mackcanuck]

Kesler has an NTC not a NMC

A NMC means no movement, period!

A NTC could mean many different scenarios, depending on the language of the contract.

If Management told Kesler to supply a list, then he is contractually obligated to supply one if it is in his contract.

I believe Kesler when he says he wants to stay.

[Angry Goose]

Kesler may want to stay but at 2 years before he is an UFA, hard to say how much he fits in the Canucks long term plans. Canucks need to transitioning to younger players in their line up

[TOMapleLaughs]

Trading him means this core is done.

[CanucksSayEh]

Kesler is 29, no reason he should walk a UFA, nor any reason we should let it come to that point. Kassian and Tanev are our best young players, will be 24-25 next season. If we wait 3 or 4 years for our next couple draft picks to start contributing, they will be pushing Keslers age... Half or more of their primes wasted while re-building. Same goes for guys like Lack, Stanton, Santa, B-Rad, Matthias ect who are all ready to compete now, or very soon. Injecting some youth is fine and all, but shouldn't take half a decade.

The league is loaded with guys older than Kes that are tearing it up, many of which weren't as good as Kes in his peak 2 years.

[Kanucklehead10]

It's kind of a given that Kesler wouldn't say "I did ask for a trade/I would waive" out in public. Kesler is 30 years old now. He's not getting any younger and he's due to take a fair shot at the championship. Any comment instigating a desired trade would just create unnecessary controversy and ill-feelings between him and his team-mates. If the rumours were true and Kes did have a chance at going to Pittsburgh or Chicago, there is no doubt in my mind that he would've taken it and run. I also wouldn't mind letting him go for the right price.

[Snake Doctor]

Trading him means this core is done.

Exactly. I think the orgainization wants tkeep this core for at least one more season

[Brocklovich]

What I think management has to decide in the coming couple of weeks is what they plan on doing either a) re-build via youth movement sprinkled with some veterans (KB, Twins etc etc) and move some players out or they decide this core needs one more chance.

Its a dicey situation as 2015 could be a draft that turns the franchise around (depending on draft position of course) and landing a potential franchise player to take over from the sedins would be monumental to the team getting back into the playoffs and eventually winning something.

[Chalky]

Kesler for Pouliot and Bennett

Then flip stanton bennett and a 2nd for boone jenner

That seems like a complicated plan with a lot of moving pieces. Basically trade Kesler and a 2nd for Jenner because Pouliot is an unproven D-kid and Stanton seems to be a diamond in the rough. I don't think that would improve the team, we'd be better off keeping Kesler.

[Tearloch7]

If these quotes are true then maybe it wasn't so much the owners who stopped the kes trade but kes himself. Maybe he refused to waive? If this is true I am glad gillis is gone.

And if it isn't true? .. would you wish for Gillis to still be here? .. speculation upon speculation is a risky process

[YEGCanuck]

It is a tough call and that is why Linden is now in charge. If I had a vote Kesler as an asset is likely at his most valuable in the trade market. This is a time to consider major surgery.

[SID.IS.SID.ME.IS.ME]

Careful word choices.

He said he did not ask for a trade and loves the city.

But he never said he would decline a trade off the team and was against continuing life in another city.

If Kesler truly had his heart in Vancouver and the Canucks and did not want out he would simply say he is not leaving and will decline all trades to any other team.

I don't buy this at all.

But it's going to probably take a fairly long post to explain why. Here goes:

I see Kesler as a very sensitive player. He needs to feel like he's wanted. If the team comes to him and asks him to potentially waive for a trade, he's going to take that personally and feel like they don't want him and they think they can be better without him.

You can't overstate how something like that would play on a guy like Kesler.

He's not going to block a trade and stay where he feels he's not wanted.

I think that the whole trade thing came directly from management and Kesler was probably upset that he was approached. Whatever relationship he had with MG and the former regime was likely damaged irreparably (and this is one of the few reasons why Gillis truly needed to go).

You have to consider how Kesler has consistently responded to suggestions that he was the one who started the process of him being shopped. He gets visibly angry and bristles at the idea that he asked for a trade. His denials are extremely strong.

It's clear that the deadline period was very difficult for Kesler and the experience weighed heavily on him emotionally. He's repeatedly talked about needing to lean on him teammates to get through it. How it's something he's never experienced before, never expected to happen, was never part of his life/family plans, and was never something he envisioned for his career with Vancouver.

I do think that his comments today make it pretty clear that he did agree to provide a list and accept a trade (if MG could work one out). I don't believe he ever wanted to leave but I think he also didn't want to stay if it meant that he was forcing management to keep him.

Kesler's a very proud guy and, like I said before, he's extremely sensitive.

I think he's 100% sincere when he says that he loves this city, loves the team, sees himself retiring here, doesn't know any other home (other than where he grew up), doesn't want to leave Vancouver, et cetera.

I just think that being shopped (and asked to waive) was something that probably wounded him deeply and created a situation where he would accept a trade. But he was never going to be happy leaving Vancouver.

I think that firing MG has probably done as much as is currently possible to repair the situation. Where things go in the future will largely depend on how Linden (and the next management team) approaches future dealings with Kesler.

And I think that Torts, if he stays in Vancouver, will very likely ask management to build this team around a core that includes Ryan Kesler. I do not get the sense that Torts sees Kesler as one of the core players that needs to be moved. If anything, I've consistently gotten the sense from Torts that he believes Kesler is the very last player who should be traded.

There's going to be some healing time necessary but if the Canucks decide to take the necessary steps to repair the relationship and move forward with Kesler, I can easily see him re-signing with Vancouver when his current deal expires.

That all said, if Linden decides it's in the team's best interest to try to use Kesler to acquire some of the assets needed for rebuilding the team, then Kesler will almost certainly accept the move.

Like I said before, Kesler is not the type of guy who would force a team to keep him if he feels like he's not wanted. That doesn't mean he doesn't have "his heart in Vancouver." If anything, I'd say it suggests that his feelings for this city and team run very deep.

[Tangelos]

Trading him means this core is done.

Is that supposed to be a bad thing?

Anaheim traded Bobby Ryan and they're doing just fine.

[elvis15]

So basically the same thing he said prior to the deadline (on multiple occasions). Why do we need a new thread to discuss this all over again?

I'll say what I said in the past threads, if we aren't offered fair value then we won't trade Kesler until he forces the issue. It doesn't seem at this point that's the case, so don't bank on him being gone.

I don't buy this at all.

But it's going to probably take a fairly long post to explain why.

...

Oh SID...

But the choice may not be his alone. If there's any truth to some rumours out there then he's not the one that will be forcing a trade on the Canucks and he actually does want to stay. That's not to say the Canucks are telling Kesler he has to go either, but I think the situation is such that they know they can approach him and his agent if a good deal comes along.

[Everybody Hates Raymond]

The Linden factor. Any player who wanted out this season would love to stay, save for Luongo.

[TOMapleLaughs]

Is that supposed to be a bad thing?

Anaheim traded Bobby Ryan and they're doing just fine.

Because they still had Getzlaf and Perry in their prime.

Us trading Kesler is like them trading Getzlaf. (Sadly.)

[JiffyPB]

Kesler is depreciating both in his value to this team and his trade value the longer we keep him. We already have a prospect like him in Bo Horvat and the best thing to do would be get younger by trading him and getting assets that will help this team in the future. He can't set up a winger if his life depended on it and has one whopping assist since January. It's more of a pain in the ass to get a winger for this guy than it is to trade him.

[Tangelos]

Because they still had Getzlaf and Perry in their prime.

Us trading Kesler is like them trading Getzlaf. (Sadly.)

Umm no, they're not even in the same league. Ryan and and Kesler are comparable that's why I bring it up. If you get a return like that for Bobby ryan then it's not all doom and gloom.