Phil Kessel still might get traded this summer.
If he doesn’t, it won’t be because Jim Rutherford suddenly determined that the Penguins can’t survive without him, that he’s as indispensable to the franchise as Sidney Crosby.
Or Mario Lemieux.
Or both.
But since Kessel snuffed a deal that would have sent him to Minnesota a few weeks ago, thanks to the limited no-trade clause in his contract, Rutherford has had few, if any, serious discussions with other teams about moving Kessel.
So few, in fact, that at least for now, Kessel is penciled in on the Penguins’ 2019-20 depth chart.
“As we sit here now, I view it as, he’s coming back,” Rutherford said over the weekend in his office at PPG Paints Arena.
That, of course, can change with a single phone call from one of the eight clubs to which Kessel is willing to accept a trade. So far this offseason, however, the GMs of those teams have shown as much interest in acquiring Kessel as Kessel does in routinely throwing his body in front of slap shots.
Maybe less.
All of which means that it’s entirely possible that Kessel still will be on the Penguins’ payroll when training camp opens. And beyond.
That prospect, Rutherford insisted, doesn’t trouble him nearly as much as some might suspect.
“I don’t worry about how he’ll play,” Rutherford said. “He’s a competitor. When it comes time to drop the puck, he’ll compete. He’s been an impact player here for a while. I believe he still has three or four years left in him that he can do that. I’m not concerned about him.”
While the chances of Kessel sticking around for a while have been enhanced lately, the odds on the Penguins dealing a goaltender and perhaps another defenseman haven’t changed. Unless they’ve gotten even better.
Rutherford sent Olli Maatta to Chicago for versatile, but smallish, forward Dominik Kahun and a fifth-round draft choice Saturday night. That began to break up the logjam on the blue line, but it’s not out of the question that he’ll move another – Jack Johnson remains a leading candidate – to open additional salary-cap space.
“You can never really totally answer that question (about trading multiple defensemen), because you don’t know what ideas other teams might have,” he said.
While it was widely known that Rutherford has been willing, however grudgingly, to part with the likes of Maatta and/or Johnson, the idea that he might consider moving a goalie other than Tristan Jarry might not be.
Oh, Jarry remains the heavy favorite to go – at least in part because he has the potential to be a No. 1 goalie in the NHL at some point – but Rutherford won’t completely rule out parting with Casey DeSmith if the right deal comes along.
“I’ve had inquiries about both of our (backup) goalies,” he said.
How much the Penguins can hope to receive in a deal for either will be determined not only by which goalie they decide to give up but also, to some extent, by factors beyond their control. Such as whether teams seeking a goaltender can plug the hole in their depth chart by relinquishing nothing more than money.
“We’ll have to see how that market plays out,” Rutherford said. “You have some pretty good goalies in free agency, so I don’t know where the goalie market is going to go.”
The three-year, $3.75 million contract DeSmith signed in January doesn’t feature a no-trade clause – backup goalies receive those about as often as they get a hat trick – and it didn’t come with an informal pledge that he’d be with the Penguins until it expired.
Nonetheless, Rutherford sees him as a good fit for the role as the No. 2 goalie behind Matt Murray.
“He is an absolutely perfect backup goalie,” Rutherford said. “Teammates love him. Works hard in practice. Plays really solid when he plays.”
While DeSmith is under contract through the 2021-22 season, Murray’s deal is about to enter its final 12 months.
There have not been any talks about a new deal recently, and Rutherford doesn’t see any urgency to launch serious negotiations. That’s probably because Murray will be a restricted free agent next summer, which limits his leverage in contract talks.
“I don’t have a timetable,” Rutherford said. “It may play itself out right to this time next year. It may happen sooner. I don’t know.”
TOMORROW: Is locker-room leadership an issue for Penguins?
