Photo Credit: Anne-Marie Sorvin/USA TODAY Sports
After forcing his way out of Vancouver, former Vancouver Canucks centreman Ryan Kesler was dynamic in leading his new team, the Anaheim Ducks, to the Western Conference Final this past spring. And now he’s been rewarded for his stellar work with a massive 6-year, $41.25 million contract extension with no-trade protection.
That’s an awful lot of money for a 30-year-old centre, and Kesler will be 31 by the time his extension kicks in, who has gone under the knife with a good deal of frequency over the past five years. On the other hand, it’s probably market value for a defensive ace and special teams stud with a well-earned reputation for elevating his game in the postseason…
Obviously the Ducks are taking on a significantly level of risk with this deal. Kesler’s effectiveness is, in my opinion, very much tied to his size and speed and ability to play an uninhibited physical game. I’ve rarely watched a more willful player than Kesler at any level of hockey, frankly, but it seems very probable to me that his effectiveness relies enormously on his physical tools.
I’d be very surprised, for example, were he to be as effective into his mid- to late-30s as Henrik Sedin has been.
Kesler is confident that he’ll be able to maintain his form as he ages though, of course.
The cocksure Olympic silver medalist has never lacked in bravado, but one might even argue that Kesler’s best days are already behind him. Though the former Selke winner remains one of the league’s single best special teams players, his effectiveness at 5-on-5 has atrophied in recent seasons. Some have even convincingly argued that the Ducks would be better off with Mathieu Perreault and Nick Bonino at even-strength, than they are with Kesler.
It will also be suggested that Kesler has struggled to stay healthy in recent seasons, but that’s an argument that’s been a little bit overstated in my view. Aside from the lockout abbreviated 2012-13 season – when Kesler broke his foot blocking a shot in his first game back following hip-labrum surgery – Kesler hasn’t missed more than five games in a season since the 2006-07 campaign. The sheer number of surgeries is a concern surely, but Kesler deserves a significant amount of credit for how durable he’s been throughout his career – particularly considering the grinding physical style that he plays.
I have a lot of time for Kesler as a player, but this extension is, like the player himself, tough to like.
Yes, Kesler surely would’ve been able to get this type of contract on the open market next season anyway, so it’s the price of doing business for a Ducks team with designs on winning the Stanley Cup in the next few seasons. It’s a deal that would’ve made no sense for a Canucks team in the midst of a stealth rebuilding project though.
We might quibble over the Kesler return until we’re blue in the face – I still think the Canucks netted poor value in that deal, even though the organization’s hands were tied – but it would appear that the club moved the American-born centre at the right time.
It’s a fact that’s emphasized by Kesler’s new, extraordinarily risky and lucrative contract extension.
