Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford set the record straight Friday after a reported rift between Phil Kessel and head coach Mike Sullivan was revealed Tuesday.
According to the report from The Athletic's Josh Yohe, Kessel was angry he didn't play on a line with Evgeni Malkin for most of the 2018 postseason. Yohe believes Sullivan and Kessel don't get along, and that the Penguins are "willing to listen" to trade offers for the winger.
In an interview with The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun on Friday morning, Rutherford provided some clarity on the matter.
"This is something that I believe has been blown out of proportion," the GM said. "I don't know where this story started. It's unfortunate. I don't think it's been any secret here for three years that Phil's preference is to play with Gino. But, when Sully looks at our team, he believes balance throughout the lineup is the best way to win, and we won two Cups that way with Phil not playing with Gino. So there's times where they play together, when they're both really going, and there's times when they don't.
"But for someone to suggest it's an issue within our team, that can't be taken care of or resolved, I don't believe that's accurate."
Rutherford came to Kessel's defense, squashing any trade rumors, and said the team being worn down by two Stanley Cup runs - not Kessel's lackluster play - was the main reason they were eliminated in the second round this year.
"So, I don't feel that we have to trade Phil Kessel," he said. "He was a difference-maker when we won the two Cups, he's coming off a year where he had 92 points, and we didn't win the Cup, we didn't three-peat, and now people are trying to come up with ideas why we didn't do that.
"And the reason we didn't do that is because we didn't have the energy to win three championships in a row. I'm not sure anybody has it. To me, that's ultimately what happened to us this year. I don't think pointing the finger at any one guy as the reason we didn't win the Cup is fair at all."
Rutherford admitted that though the 2018-19 Penguins will have new faces, that doesn't mean drastic changes will be made.
"I said it at the end of the season that we wouldn't come back the same team. That doesn't mean that it's going to be a total overhaul," he said. "There's a couple of areas where we'd like to strengthen, and I'll try and do that. But it doesn't necessarily mean that it's any certain player that's going to be part of fixing that."
Kessel has four years left on his contract with a $6.8-million annual cap hit and a no-trade clause in which he can choose eight teams he's willing to be traded to.
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