Phil Kessel trade rumors seem baseless, which makes them pointless for now

This is how it starts.

Without Phil Kessel, the Penguins probably don’t win back-to-back Stanley Cups. Less than two months after that incredible feat, Pittsburgh columnists are floating the idea of a Kessel trade.

Dear, dear readers: don’t fall for this.

The most recent, and most egregious, was this column from Ron Cook of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette titled “Don’t be surprised if the Penguins trade Phil Kessel.” A fascinating premise, no? Cook used Penguins assistant coach Rick Tocchet’s departure for Arizona as a springboard for a “this is the end for Kessel” theory.

The problem? None of it was sourced, and therefore much of it is reckless. With all due respect to Cook and the Post-Gazette, this deserves the Fire Joe Morgan treatment.

Shall we? We’ll start a few paragraphs into it.

I believe Phil Kessel will be traded. It might not happen this week or this month or even this offseason. But I believe it will happen sooner rather than later.

I know “fake news” is all the rage right now, but I think most people would agree that “sources” is more trustworthy than “I believe” when it comes to reporting.

It was clear in June, by the end of the Penguins’ second consecutive Stanley Cup run, that the organization wasn’t thrilled with Kessel.

Oh, wow. That would certainly be something! What makes that clear?

He scored 23 goals in 82 games during the regular season, not nearly enough for a player with his marvelous shooting skills. He had a huge goal — one of the most significant of the postseason — to beat Ottawa, 1-0, in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference final but scored just two more goals in the final 11 playoff games. Even though he had 23 points in the 25 postseason games, it was hard to find anyone in organization to say he was playing well.

Cook has no quotes from “anyone in the organization” to back that up. Even an anonymous quote from a front office source saying “I don’t think he was playing well” would’ve sufficed.

We have yet to find anything here that is not solely Cook’s opinion.

My belief is Evgeni Malkin wasn’t thrilled to play on the same line with Kessel. And Sidney Crosby? Sullivan acknowledged Crosby and Kessel have no chemistry together. None.

There’s that “belief” again. It irks me when columnists write about how a player feels about a teammate without direct quotes or evidence. Are we supposed to believe that Cook FaceTimes Malkin after games?

And if so, why are these not available for public consumption? They would be great!

As for that last point, here’s some actual quotes from Sullivan after Crosby and Kessel started clicking in February 2016. From Cook’s own paper, no less!

“It was more, I think, my gut feeling that maybe this might work,” coach Mike Sullivan said Friday after practice at Consol Energy Center. “Sometimes, when players don’t play together for a while and you put them together there’s a spark. Our hope was that that would occur.

“Phil, obviously, is a goal-scorer. He can really shoot the puck. I think regardless who Sid plays with, he is a guy who is going to make everybody around him better. That’s the nature of his game. So, we felt that the time was probably right, given the fact that we struggled to generate goal-scoring a few games in a row. Maybe if we tweaked it a little bit, we might get a spark?”

Maybe that magic dissipated this season. I’ll grant you that. But Cook saying Sullivan believes the two have no chemistry (NONE!!!!) is intellectually dishonest.

It’s no secret that Kessel often drives Sullivan crazy.

If it’s no secret, where’s the public evidence to back that up? When you’re covering a player or coach, you can’t just toss out what they think of one another into the public sphere without proof. If you’re going to abandon good journalistic faith to serve a narrative, though, at least try to hide it by saying “I’ve heard” or “those close to the team say.”

I’m just trying to help you, Ron.

I’m guessing he has produced the same reaction all the way up the company ladder, from Jim Rutherford to Mario Lemieux.

YOU’RE GUESSING? THEN DON’T PUT IT IN YOUR COLUMN, RON.

It’s no secret that Kessel hates puppies. In fact, I’m guessing Kessel hates all kinds of babies. Human babies. Kittens. Bear cubs. Tadpoles. I wrote this in a column on the internet, so I am to be believed. Share this with many people. Spread my narrative. Vindicate my opinions and sense of self-importance in this market.

Cook goes on to talk about how Rick Tocchet was quite close to Kessel, and how important he was to Kessel’s success in Pittsburgh. And here, he does use quotes. Convenient how he uses actual reporting when it serves his narrative.

And, to be fair, there’s a decent argument in here. If Kessel struggles, it’ll be worth asking him if he misses Tocchet. Then we can hear his answer and let that speak for itself.

Instead, we’re going to judge this whole situation months ahead of actually having results to judge. Cook ends Sullivan’s quote with a note about Kessel and Tocchet as proof he’s onto something here.

“In particular, he has a real good relationship with Phil. They spend a lot of time together.”

Tocchet didn’t just help keep Kessel’s head in the game. He served as a buffer between Kessel and Sullivan.

Don’t underestimate the importance of that role.

I won’t, and neither should fans. But let’s not overestimate it, either. Not without some concrete evidence that Tocchet was the only thing keeping Sullivan and Kessel from butting heads. I see none of that here.

The last part of Cook’s column is actually important. Kessel might be moved because of his contract. That’s a legitimate reason to think about this scenario. It has facts behind it. He makes $6.8 million a season. Malkin and Crosby already take up a ton of cap space, and soon the Penguins will need to sign Matt Murray. GM Jim Rutherford has never been one to hold onto players when he can move them to improve the present and future (see: the James Neal trade).

It is more than likely Kessel doesn’t live out his contract in Pittsburgh (it ends in 2021-22, after all). The only concrete reason to think that, though, is financial roster practicality. Not the personal relationships between Kessel and his team.

That’s nothing but speculation resting on the flimsiest of bases.

Good luck to the Penguins trying to move him.

Good luck to the team continuing to have to deal with him without Tocchet.

I think they’ll be fine on both counts, Ron.

Columnists are different than beat reporters. Beat reporters usually stick to the facts they’ve corroborated with sources. Columnists offer opinions. Sometimes the two professions cross paths, but not often.

I don’t know Cook personally. I’ve never heard of him before now. He might be a nice man who just wrote a bad column. But he writes for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, a reputable newspaper that also employs the likes of Sean Gentille and other reporters who do good work with sources and fact-based analysis. Stuff like this does those people a disservice.

It is, unfortunately, all-too common in the sports world. A quick Google search for “Phil Kessel Toronto media” will show how this exact scenario played out before he was run out of the Leafs’ organization. Or just look at the numerous articles that assassinated Tyler Seguin’s character before the Bruins traded him to Dallas.

The personality sniping as P.K. Subban’s run in Montreal came to an end were arguably worse. “Reports” said Max Pacioretty was basically conspiring against him and a radio host in Montreal cited locker room conversations that were relayed to him as proof Subban was a bad teammate. Just floated out there.

In each of those three examples, you’d find pockets of fandom that stood behind the team’s decision to move on. Many of them fall back on these “reports” about personality, teammate infighting or general drama.

Columnists, beat writers, radio hosts — their voices are wielded as truth by much of their audiences, regardless of the actual reporting behind their words. It takes one column like this from Cook to plant the seed of negative public opinion against Kessel. Whether he intends that or not (and I don’t think he does) is beside the point.

So I (hopelessly) wish these people would wield their words more carefully. Or at least frame their opinions as such instead of shrouding them in phrases like “believe” or “guessing” that kinda-sorta imply you might know something your readers don’t. And if you do, then say so.

Have a little respect for the people you cover and the audience who places their trust in you.