The Penguins Trade Kessel – Are You Serious?

For those loyal Penguin Poop fans that have been diligently following us, please forgive me. After reading a recent article by Tim Bentz of the Tribune Review, my blood pressure just ratcheted up a notch. The piece reported that the Penguins are now actively seeking to trade Phil Kessel. (insert rant here)

It is now officially time to sit down and have a talk with Mike Sullivan. He is a great Coach, a 2 time Stanley Cup winning Coach. However, no matter how good he may be in other phases of coaching, his penchant for alienating players is now starting to cost the team dearly. No Coach, no matter how good they are, can win when they can’t get along with their players and subsequently chase them out of town.

If Ian Cole was the only player with which Sullivan couldn’t get along, the responsibility could be easily be laid at Cole’s feet. Even if Sullivan’s list of players he couldn’t play nice with only contained Cole and Daniel Sprong, I am willing to believe that things aren’t that serious. However, with the news leaking that Sullivan has allowed his relationship with one of the premier Right Wings in the league to deteriorate to the point of dissolving the relationship, no one can convince me that Sullivan needs to be slapped down by GM Jim Rutherford.

Sullivan should not allow players to dictate which players can be on their line be paired with defensively. A Coach is in charge and must, I repeat MUST, be the final word on all strategic and tactical issues, including who plays with whom. Therefore, if Sullivan wants Kessel to play on the third line, that is his right as Coach to make that decision.

I believe a Coach needs to be given full control of “process”, he must be held accountable for “outcome”. In the case of the Penguins this season, Sullivan’s control over process through his antagonistic relationship with Cole (as well as his favoritism of Kris Letang) makes Sullivan accountable for the Penguins’ inability to get the first goal this post-season and to hold leads. Sullivan’s control over process on the offense, his insistence on playing Conor Sheary while keeping Sprong in the press box and not reuniting Kessel with Malkin as a show of dominance makes Sullivan accountable for the lack of scoring this Spring. Sullivan owes his player, fans, and stockholders a mea culpa for the failed 3peat bid.

In a “Sullivan v Kessel” debate over who to believe (as Kessel came into camp in the best shape of his career and went on to have a career year), sorry Sullivan, I don’t think I can believe any argument suggesting Kessel is at fault. Although I, too, liked the idea of Malkin, Crosby, and Kessel playing on 3 different lines and therefore am not arguing the logic of that idea, I do blame Sullivan for not being able to sell the idea to Kessel, quite possibly due to other antagonistic issues.

Fanning the flames further, losing Kessel is compounded by the fact that Sullivan doesn’t seem to get along with Sprong. With the escalation of the Kessel crisis, I may have to revert to prior opinions I have expressed here. If Sullivan can’t get along with Cole, Kessel, or Sprong, who will be on the ice next year? Will Sprong get a fair chance?

Maybe Rick Tocchet really wasn’t the “Kessel Whisperer” (as has been suggested) but instead the “Sullivan Whisperer”. Maybe Tocchet was the true communicator on the Penguins bench. Maybe the Penguins need to find an Assistant Coach that can rein in Sullivan’s personality. When it is one player, the probability is that the problem is the player. When it is now 3 players within one year, the probability is now over 50/50 that the problem is with the Coach.

The questions remain, is the Kessel situation irreconcilable? And if so, where do the Penguins go from here?

Former Atlanta Thrasher and New Jersey Devil, Right Wing, 35 years old, Ilya Kovalchuk is said to be considering coming back to the NHL. Should the Penguins be forced by an abrasive Coach to lose another player, this time a high-end and not a character player, will they take a chance on Kovalchuk? Although long in the tooth, Kovalchuk has always been a consistent goal scorer. Kovalchuk earned 18 goals and 42 assists in the KHL this past season, and scored 8 goals in 8 games during the World Cup this Spring.

Having watched him during his tenure in Atlanta, I am a bit ambivalent toward Kovalchuk. I remember him as being rather selfish. But then again, maybe, if they had at least one selfish player taking the shot (instead of trying to make that one last pretty pass) the team could vault back up to the top. Maybe Kovalchuk could bring the team back to the Cup finals, if they are forced to lose Kessel. That is, assuming he too doesn’t run afoul of Sullivan’s temperament.

Perhaps the most important thing that has to happen this summer is for Jim Rutherford to have a long talk with Mike Sullivan and explain the importance of the players in the equation. A team has to have players — Sullivan can’t run them all off.

Stay tuned, the summer may be just heating up.