The RKives: the list of trade destinations is down to what?

Knowing full well that circulating rumours regarding Ryan Kesler’s future would be something that dominated the discussion on this platform until the situation was finally resolved, we set up a poll for our readers to vote on what they’d like all related content to be filed under. 

Showing a good sense of humour, “Strombabble” was the early runaway leader, so we rolled with it. Then “Ryannuendo” leapfrogged it, so we adjusted. Well, now a third option – “The RKives” – have taken a stranglehold of the vote, and we’re reaching the point where this is getting silly.

Which is the picture perfect segue to the latest in Ryan Kesler trade rumours, which have been fluid to say the least. By the time the day transitions tonight this particular line of thinking could become outdated, but for now, there’s a working assumption that Kesler’s list of teams he’d accept a trade to has been whittled all the way down to just two. Oy vey.

This is all of course stemming from a report by Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun, in which he super casually dropped the following bombshell:

As for how much stock you should actually be putting into that — you’ll have to judge for yourself. A skeptic would point to the fact that Garrioch recently brought up a rather unbelievable (and unrelated) rumour in one of his columns, potentially working as something of a mouthpiece here.

With that being said, Elliotte Friedman’s ’30 Thoughts’ from yesterday backed the aforementioned report up to an extent, only adding that he believes Anaheim is also part of the list. Now Darren Dreger has chimed in as well, combining Garrioch’s and Friedman’s sentiments into one. Feel caught up? Good. That’ll last you 24 hours, here, if you’re lucky.

Despite how much it would surely sting many a Canucks fan to see Kesler hoist a Stanley Cup while donning a Blackhawks jersey, there’s no doubt that there’s a fit both in terms of need (Michal Handzus was somehow their 2C for large chunks of last year, and in a perfect world Andrew Shaw is more of a #3) and what they could provide in return (there’s no high draft pick there, but Brandon Saad and Teuvo Teravainen are both electric young talents). Though as far as I know, they seem reluctant to part with either of those pieces.

As for the Ducks, they are supposedly weary of including that coveted 10th overall pick in a package for Kesler, which would likely be a potential deal-breaker. If that’s actually the hold-up, then the idea that the Canucks are really asking for a “king’s ransom” seems somewhat laughable. 

That’s the landscape for now, though of course it goes without saying that a lot will change between now and the time the 1st round of the draft has been completed on Friday night. He has every right to control where he ultimately winds up playing next year, but that sound you’re hearing is Canucks fans gritting their teeth as every last shred of favour Kesler had won over during his 10 years here evaporates. Becoming a member of the Blackhawks would be a pretty fitting way to complete the heel turn, now that you think of it.