Remember the trade deadline rumors about the Flyers and Ryan Kesler? It was mentioned more than once in the days leading up to the 2014 deadline that that Flyers and Penguins were the front-runners to acquire the strong Canucks center, and it was assumed that Kesler would have been willing to come to Philly.
Nope. Via CBC’s Elliotte Friedman:
Canuck rumour II: That ownership blocked Gillis from trading Ryan Kesler at the deadline. Verdict: Don’t believe it. As mentioned above, [owner] Aquilini was well aware of the GM’s plans. It would not be the least bit surprising if an interested team or two told Vancouver it could be involved at the draft, but not now, for cap reasons. Also, when Kesler said no to Columbus, the Rangers and Philadelphia, the Canucks may have pulled back because they didn’t like the situation.
Friedman notes that Kesler was only believed to have interest in six teams: Anaheim, Chicago, Colorado, Detroit, Pittsburgh and Tampa Bay. Ultimately, he wasn’t traded at all.
The Flyers at least seemed to be pretty interested in Kesler, but as we noted at the time, acquiring him would have been a silly decision. It was possible that the Flyers were never truly interested and were only trying to drive the price up for other teams (hey, Pittsburgh), but if Paul Holmgren did have genuine interest, it appears we have Kesler to thank for preventing a bad move.
