Ryan Kesler opens up on his career's biggest regret

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Cooper Godin
April 23, 2024 (5:56 PM)

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Former Vancouver Canucks forward Ryan Kesler's playing days are now behind him, but in a recent interview, he revealed that he wished he had never left the organization.

On Tuesday, Kesler was a guest on Halford & Brough and said that he wished in 2014 he never got traded to Anaheim to chase a Stanley Cup, and if he had the chance, he'd do it again.

"When you're young, you make mistakes. Looking back at it, I wanted that Cup and thought our time was over, Vancouver.

Saying that, I wish I could do it again. I wish I could do it over again." Kesler said.

The Canucks traded Kesler to the Anaheim Ducks in June 2014, just before the NHL Entry Draft, in exchange for a package that included Nick Bonino, Luca Sbisa and a first-round pick.

It was a bit of a messy exit for Kesler in Vancouver as he wasn't too happy with the direction the team was going in, who were facing a bit of a re-tool, and he wanted to win a Stanley Cup. Meanwhile, then-General Manager Jim Benning added more fuel to the fire by saying "quite frankly we don't want somebody that doesn't want to be here".

It's hard to blame Kesler for wanting to go and win a Stanley Cup. For the most part, the average length of an NHL career is 4.5 years, according to Hockeyanswered.com, so with that in mind, everyone in the league wants to do what's best for them and do what they've always dreamt of doing - winning a Stanley Cup.

However, it is nice to hear that Kesler wishes he could have remained with the Vancouver Canucks, and he could have been a critical player for the team during their first-round series in 2015 against the Calgary Flames.

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