So there has recently been a lot of talk about the Penguins being interested in trading for Ryan Kesler. If you follow anything we say on twitter, 1 God bless you and 2 you already know we are all in on the Pens acquiring Ryan Kesler. And we are all for giving up Brandon Sutter, Simon Despres/Derick Pouliot and a pick to get him too. "But there is uncertainty about Letang. I wouldn't trade Pouliot." Shero has shown his ability to draft talented you defensemen so losing Pouliot wouldn't be a big deal. Plus. The Pens would still have Samuelsson, Harrington, and Dumoulin as well as Letang, Maatta and Bortuzzo up on the NHL team. The Pens are set on the blue line for years to come. So below are reasons why trading for Ryan Kesler is a better idea than some people realize.
The Penguins need to bring back the big 3 Center model. "But what about Sutter?!?!?!". Sutter is a good player and we are huge fans. BUT. He isn't Ryan Kesler...or Jordan Staal for that matter. Mike Cilligan wrote an excellent piece on this matter. You can read it
HERE. When the Pens had the 3rd like of Cooke-Staal-Kennedy it gave other coaches fits. Not only did you have to worry about Crosby and Malkin but then you had to worry about that 3rd line. It was a pain in the ass to play against. Not looking at their stat lines since being traded the Pens were better off with Jordan Staal at 3rd line Center. Not a knock on Brandon Sutter at all. He's been solid ever since coming here. But the fact is. Staal was better.
Ryan Kesler is once of the more dynamic players in the NHL. He could play 3rd line Center or top line Wing. Obviously by our first bullet point we would want Kesler to play 3rd line Center but say a guy on the top 2 lines goes down during a game with an injury. Kesler can jump up in that spot easily. Now a lot of people might say "We need someone to replace Dupuis!" or "We need someone to play with Sid". Brian Gibbons has had his moments while being on that top line. He's performed well. The fact is, top 6 forward is not the Pens priority this trade deadline. They have Gibbons playing with 87 and 14 now and if Beau Bennett would stop beating off for a second and stop re injuring his wrist he would play with 87 and 14 too. Plus. Jayson Megna has shown ability to play with the big boys as well. So the Pens do not need a top 6 forward....which brings us to our next point.
The Penguins bottom 6 is.....well.....horrible. Dreadful. Atrocious. Whatever adjective of BAD you want to use it would accurately describe the Pens bottom 6. Obviously the salary cap situation played a role in that. You lost Matt Cooke, and Tyler Kennedy. Even though we couldn't stand Tyler Kennedy we would rather have him at the moment than the bottom 6. Kesler would immediately make the bottom 6 better. He is one of the best 2 way forwards in the game and adds a bit of a scoring threat to the bottom 6. He can play on the power play and he can kill penalties. The bottom 6 is where the Pens need to focus on making better at the trade deadline. If you can acquire Kesler and another bottom 6 forward like a Matt Cooke or a Max Talbot you do it. The bottom 6 needs help. Can't tell you the last time someone from the bottom 6 not named Brandon Sutter scored a goal.
OK this obviously isn't a reason to get Ryan Kesler but there is probably someone out there that doesn't want to trade Brandon Sutter because they saw his junk. Well. Here you go. You have this. If there wasn't a joke somewhere in one of our posts you would think something is wrong with us.
- Kesler is signed through 2015-16
Here is the point we really like. Kesler is signed through the 2015-2016 season. "Ok well what is his cap hit?" Kesler makes 5 million dollars "Wait 5 million?!?!? No way. Can't do it. Pens don't have the cap room and they have a lot of big contracts. They just can't do it!" *Cough* Long Term Injured Reserve *cough*. Yes Kesler makes 5 million dollars which is significantly more than Brandon Sutter. It is less than Jordan Staal however. Currently the Penguins have $1,195,000 in cap space. "See the can't afford him! Not enough cap room!" Again I say "Long Term Injured Reserved." The Peguins have no idea when Kris Letang will be back. Paul Martin is out until right before the playoffs. If you put both of those players on LTIR that frees up another $8.5 million giving the Penguins $9,695,000 to work with come trade deadline. So that would give the Penguins more than enough room to not only acquire Kesler but to acquire 1 if not 2 more bottom 6 forwards. Plus. There is no salary cap in the playoffs.
So there you have it. Our take on why trading for Ryan Kesler makes a ton of sense. If you don't like it.....oh well.
Go Pens
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