Vancouver Canucks centre Ryan Kesler is firmly denying reports he demanded to be traded away from the team, calling the rumours “completely false.”
The story was first reported Wednesday by Montreal sports journalist Louis Jean on Twitter, who wrote “Sources say Ryan Kesler requested a trade some time ago & wants out of Vcr. Told #Canucks don’t want to trade him but may not have a choice.”
Jean later tweeted that the alleged trade request was made at the start of the 2013-2014 NHL season.
The report sent fans and local media outlets into a frenzy with the NHL trade deadline looming on March 5 and Kesler being one of the goal-starved team’s top offensive talents. Some cited Kesler’s Twitter page – which displays a picture of him in a Team USA jersey instead of a Canucks uniform – as an example he wants out
But in a media scrum at Rogers Arena Thursday, Kesler categorically denied the rumours, bristling when reporters asked him whether he plans on staying or leaving the team that drafted him more than a decade ago.
“I don’t want to talk about this after today and I don’t want my teammates to talk about this,” he said. “I don’t want you guys to ask them, and I don’t want to be a distraction. We have 21 games to make the playoffs, and that’s the main focus.”
Kesler denied commenting to anybody about wanting a trade and said the team’s long losing streak was likely the reason the rumour was sparked.
“I think we were banged up for a bit and that’s probably where it’s coming from,” he said. “It’s coming from our seven-game losing streak and you hear reports that everybody not named Sedin is on the trading block. I think it stems from that.”
Kesler maintained his heart is with the Vancouver Canucks.
“I’m happy. I love my teammates, I love the city. My son was born here,” he said.
Jean acknowledged on Twitter Thursday that Kesler denied asking for a trade, but wrote “That being said, I stand 100% behind what I reported because it is true.”
The 29-year-old currently has 20 goals and 18 assists in 60 games played this season. He missed Wednesday’s game against the St. Louis Blues with a hand injury that he sustained while playing for Team USA at the 2014 Sochi Olympics, but he might suit up Friday against the Minnesota Wild.
