CHIARELLI: “Yes, yes he will [be back]. I don’t like to talk about negotiations, but he’s a player of impact. [He has] the speed, and he’s still a young player. I can’t dismiss me talking about players to trade because that’s my job. It’s unfortunate that [trade rumors] leak out but Phil’s a good person — a very good person and a very good player — and we fully intend to keep him.”
I suppose the one "caveat" here is that Chiarelli says, "we fully intend to keep him", which to me means, "we really want to have him back". However, "wanting" is different than "doing", so it remains to be seem what actually happens.Should the rumors of Kessel being traded to Toronto, Tampa Bay, Anaheim, FC Barcelona or the Israeli National Basketball team be put to rest? Well, not exactly. If one takes a look back at one of Chiarelli's other promises of safety and returns, that one didn't exact turn out as he had stated. Remember Dave Lewis?
Lewis was told he was "safe" on March 31, 2007. He was fired on June 15 of the same year.
Also, while stating that Kessel will be back quiets rumors of his departure, the idea of Kessel returning means someone else must go. Who? Probably one of either Matt Hunwick, Marco Sturm, Chuck Kobasew, Patrice Bergeron, Marc Savard or Michael Ryder. With the exception of Hunwick, all of those players have contracts in the multi-million dollar level, salary that will have to be cleared if Kessel, expected to net $3-4.5 million a year in a new deal, is to don the Black and Gold again next season.
Kessel is "safe" and his rumors end, but start up a whole other round of rumors involving other B's fan favorites, particularly Patrice Bergeron. So where will it all end? Unknown for now, but it's safe to say that Chiarelli isn't done making moves yet.
Photo credit: BostonHerald.com
(In case you missed the above link, the Chiarelli clip and NESN article can be found here.)
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