Did Phil Kessel's Trade Rejection Save The Wild?

Going into the offseason, there's going to be plenty of attention given to what the Pittsburgh Penguins are planning on doing with Phil Kessel. The Penguins are obviously trying to move on from Kessel and his salary in an attempt to put less expensive players at his position. As a result, we have an attempted trade a few days ago that Kessel himself blocked.

Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet was the first to report that Kessel has vetoed a trade that would have sent him to the Minnesota Wild in exchange of Jason Zucker. Part of this deal also included Jack Johnson going to Minnesota and Victor Rask going to Pittsburgh.

At first point, it would seem that Kessel wouldn't be against this deal. It would put him possibly in a place where he can be a leader and help a Wild team get back to the playoffs. He has local connections and played for the Gophers during his college tenure and is close friends with Ryan Suter. So why the veto? Well, if you look at the state of the Wild, that may be the reason.

The state of the Wild is that they are nowhere near the playoffs and according to my friend Spencer Chute, he doesn't expect them to be competitive in the playoffs until five to seven years down the road. If you are Phil Kessel and you're 31 years old that is used to winning Stanley Cups, going to Minnesota is probably not the best option. This reported veto also doesn't look good for the Wild, because it almost makes them look like a clown show. Almost.

As for Zucker, this is now the second time the team has tried to trade him. They tried it at last year's deadline to Calgary and now this time with Pittsburgh.

The Wild are trying to move on from Zucker before his no-trade list takes effect in July. If the Wild are able to deal Zucker before then, they could get something in return and they would better off for the future. Now, it looks like they're either going to have to hold on for him or find another trade partner with a great star player who wants to play in Minnesota.

The fact that Minnesota would even consider this trade is beyond my comprehension. First off, Zucker is 27, four years younger than Kessel. Secondly, the Rask-Johnson swap would only prove that getting Rask last year was a mistake. What's worse is that they would only get Johnson's onerous contract for nothing, and then possibly lose him.

Kessel may have done the right thing, not just for himself, but for the state of the Wild as well. The Wild are terrible. They have traded off nearly their entire core group just a couple of months ago and now they think about bringing in Phil Kessel? This was not going to sell.

If the Wild want to deal Zucker, they need to get some good, young players in return, even if they are not ready for the NHL level yet. Just look at the trade that sent Charlie Coyle to the Bruins for Ryan Donato. Donato was a young and cheap piece they could pick up for the future while getting rid of Coyle's contract and getting him on a team that is in the Finals right now. If the Wild can do that with Jason Zucker, they could be better off going forward.

Kessel saved the Wild. In fact, Wild fans should thank him for vetoing this trade. Maybe now GM Paul Fenton will think twice before trading for a player that needs to be on a good team with a chance to win right now. Minnesota is not in that position and may not be for years.