STROMBABBLE: The French Bob McKenzie Speaks

The readers of this blog have spoken, and it’s clear that they miss the days of “STROMBABBLE”; in a vote for what we’ll file all updated Ryan Kesler trade talk under, Thomas Drance’s moniker for what we used the last time a star was rumoured to be on his way out of Vancouver narrowly edged out some other potential candidates. The people want what the people want, and in the interest of fairness and transparency, that’s what they’ll get.

More on the latest in terms of Kesler trade talk just past the jump.

It’s been a week or so since the paradigm – at least from the angle of what was being formally reported by people in the know – shifted towards Kesler’s sustained desire to move on from the only team NHL team he has ever suited up for. 

We still don’t exactly have much clarity on the specifics, but what we do know is that the man affectionately referred to as The French Bob McKenzie, Renaud Lavoie, went on the radio and didn’t mince his words on the matter. His track record with this sort of stuff is nothing short of sterling, so we’ll just have to take it at face value.

As we mentioned last time, it’s tough to gauge Kesler’s value on the trade market in a vacuum because of the other viable options down the middle which’ll be available this summer. One of them, Jason Spezza, had his trade request finally confirmed by the Senators yesterday. 

He shares the same natural position and status of being considered a big name, but that’s basically where the similarities between the two end. Spezza, still a force to be reckoned with on the power play, has had his 5v5 play noticeably slip of late. He needs to be sheltered, and even then, he’s not doing much to move the needle. 

While Kesler is losing something off of his fastball himself, he still strikes me as a far more intriguing option for a team like the Anaheim Ducks; a team that’s been routinely linked as a candidate, and one that has had question marks regarding their territorial play taint the regular season success they’ve enjoyed the past two seasons. The Cogliano-Koivu-Winnik line – which did the dirty work for them rather admirably in ’12-’13 – struggled to repeat their success this past year, and will surely be disbanded with two of the three becoming UFAs. 

There’s a natural opening there, which Kesler likely fits more aptly than Spezza on paper. This, to go along with Anaheim’s reported interest back at the trade deadline, and their healthy list of prospects to play with, are why they’re the team we keep circling back to as a prime landing spot. The price tag and comfort in trading partners may be a whole ‘nother story, though.

I’d imagine that the trade chatter will pick up tenfold immediately following the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, which could be any day now. The trade itself could follow suit shortly thereafter; in any event, it’ll surely unfold at an accelerated rate compared to the last time we dealt with “Strombabble” around these parts. Particularly if the Canucks legitimately have a desire to explore bettering their team by using a combination of assets to nab someone that rhymes with “Jam Kindheart” on June 27th.