It has been pretty well accepted by now that the Penguins' Phil Kessel vetoed a trade to the Wild. But if you needed more evidence, Pittsburgh GM Jim Rutherford went on the radio Monday and confirmed it.
"In Phil's situation, He was just part of a decision … where we were trying to retool and we had a chance to get a good player," Rutherford told 93.7 The Fan.
Though he didn't elaborate, the prevailing report was that Kessel and Jack Johnson were set to be traded to the Wild for Jason Zucker and Victor Rask.
"Minnesota was never on his list," he said. "To that point, he's a player that deserved to get the position he's in where he had a no-trade and pick eight teams that he would go to and otherwise have some say in whether he'd go to other teams."
Kessel remains with the Penguins, while Zucker remains with the Wild. Whether that is the case in two weeks remains to be seen.
Read Michael Rand's blog at startribune.com/randball. michael.rand@startribune.com.
