Where will Ryan Kesler play in 2014-15? The trade speculation has been raging for quite some time, but to date there haven’t been any solid indications as to where he’ll land. The talk is that he will be traded, but unlike Jason Spezza, there haven’t been many reports as to where he’ll be traded. Ironically, this article from the Ottawa Sun discussing Spezza shines a bit of light on where Kesler wants to go.
Here’s the report:
In the case of Kesler, he requested a trade last fall and only wants to go to either the Chicago Blackhawks or Pittsburgh Penguins.
Kesler is willing to waive his no-trade clause, but he wants to go to a contender. Apparently that list may be as short as two teams, but he may be willing to budge should another top team come calling. If it comes down to staying in Vancouver or going to a team such as St. Louis or Anaheim, two teams which aren’t on his reported list, you have to imagine the 29-year-old will accept.
The Canucks should be able to drum up plenty of interest considering Kesler is a talented center in a fairly slow market with a very manageable contract of $5 million per year through the end of 2015-16. The tricky part is getting a solid return on a Kesler trade while also finding a trade that the center will actually accept.
