The Vancouver Canucks didn't want to give up any of their top prospects to add a significant piece at the trade deadline. But they weren't even willing to add a piece at no asset cost at all.
Phil Kessel flew into Vancouver just under a month ago and has been skating with the Abbotsford Canucks in the AHL ever since. It was thought that the Canucks would sign the veteran winger to a one-year, league-minimum deal at the trade deadline to make him eligible to play in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Instead, the deadline came and went with no contract for Kessel, just as there were no trades for the Canucks. They decided not to make any changes whatsoever to their roster.
The three-time Stanley Cup champion was looking for one more kick at the can and the Canucks seemed to represent his best shot. He had plenty of past familiarity with Jim Rutherford, Patrik Allvin, and Rick Tocchet from his time with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The questions for Kessel were about fitness, in two different senses of the word. After eight months without a game, how was his conditioning? Could he get back up to NHL pace?
The other question of fitness was about where he would fit in the lineup. He's not the elite, top-six winger he once was, so his most likely landing spot would have been on the fourth line as a power play specialist. But for a team that has been looking for a hard-forechecking, physical, two-way identity for their fourth line, Kessel would have been the odd man out.
The other role for Kessel, however, would be as injury insurance. If a top-six forward went down in the playoffs, there would be a certain amount of security in bringing the calm and experienced Kessel into the lineup instead of an untested young player.
In any case, it's a moot point: Kessel will not be a member of the Vancouver Canucks.
