Phil Kessel is seemingly okay with being the subject of trade speculation.
"(Trades) happen all of the time. I've been traded before and if I get traded again, it is what it is," the Pittsburgh Penguins winger told TSN on Friday. "It's a business. You've got to look at it like that. If I'm somewhere else, I'll play hard for them."
Kessel's name surfaced in the rumor mill after Pittsburgh Post-Gazette columnist Ron Cook floated the possibility the Penguins could look to deal the winger, particularly in light of former assistant coach Rick Tocchet being named bench boss of the Arizona Coyotes.
Kessel and Tocchet had a close relationship. When Tocchet was believed to be in the running to become the next coach of the Buffalo Sabres, Kessel told Mike Harrington of The Buffalo News, "He is my favorite assistant coach of all time I've ever played for. He understands what it's like to play the game, to be a player, He just gets it.
"He makes it fun. He'd make that transition easily. If he gets that opportunity there, it would be unbelievable for him. I don't want to see him go, right? Because he's a great guy and a great coach."
While Tocchet is off to the desert, the possibility of Kessel joining him seems remote, with a source telling Craig Morgan of Arizona Sports there is "nothing" to the speculation linking Kessel to the Coyotes.
Earlier Friday, Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford mostly ruled out the possibility of a Kessel trade, stating, "I don't want to sit here and say that a certain player's not going to get traded at some point in his career. I mean, Phil already did. But that's not something that I foresee happening right now."
Should Kessel be dealt, it will be the third trade of his relatively short career. In 2009, the Boston Bruins flipped Kessel to the Toronto Maple Leafs. Less than six years later, Kessel was on the move again, this time to the Penguins.
Kessel appeared in all 82 games with the Penguins this season, putting up 23 goals and 47 assists. The high-flying winger was once again invaluable in the playoffs, playing a key role as the Penguins won their second straight Stanley Cup. Over the past two postseasons, only Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby (both 46) have recorded more playoff points than Kessel's 45.
Kessel, 29, has five years remaining on his contract, carrying a $6.8-million salary cap hit. And if Kessel is on the move, he'll have some say on where he's going, as his pact includes an eight-team trade list, per CapFriendly.
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