Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford set the record straight Friday after a reported rift between Phil Kessel and head coach Mike Sullivan was revealed Tuesday.

According to the report from The Athletic's Josh Yohe, Kessel was angry he didn't play on a line with Evgeni Malkin for most of the 2018 postseason. Yohe believes Sullivan and Kessel don't get along, and that the Penguins are "willing to listen" to trade offers for the winger.

In an interview with The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun on Friday morning, Rutherford provided some clarity on the matter.

"This is something that I believe has been blown out of proportion," the GM said. "I don't know where this story started. It's unfortunate. I don't think it's been any secret here for three years that Phil's preference is to play with Gino. But, when Sully looks at our team, he believes balance throughout the lineup is the best way to win, and we won two Cups that way with Phil not playing with Gino. So there's times where they play together, when they're both really going, and there's times when they don't.

"But for someone to suggest it's an issue within our team, that can't be taken care of or resolved, I don't believe that's accurate."

Rutherford came to Kessel's defense, squashing any trade rumors, and said the team being worn down by two Stanley Cup runs - not Kessel's lackluster play - was the main reason they were eliminated in the second round this year.

"So, I don't feel that we have to trade Phil Kessel," he said. "He was a difference-maker when we won the two Cups, he's coming off a year where he had 92 points, and we didn't win the Cup, we didn't three-peat, and now people are trying to come up with ideas why we didn't do that.

"And the reason we didn't do that is because we didn't have the energy to win three championships in a row. I'm not sure anybody has it. To me, that's ultimately what happened to us this year. I don't think pointing the finger at any one guy as the reason we didn't win the Cup is fair at all."

Rutherford admitted that though the 2018-19 Penguins will have new faces, that doesn't mean drastic changes will be made.

"I said it at the end of the season that we wouldn't come back the same team. That doesn't mean that it's going to be a total overhaul," he said. "There's a couple of areas where we'd like to strengthen, and I'll try and do that. But it doesn't necessarily mean that it's any certain player that's going to be part of fixing that."

Kessel has four years left on his contract with a $6.8-million annual cap hit and a no-trade clause in which he can choose eight teams he's willing to be traded to.

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Even with John Tavares, John Carlson, Paul Stastny, and James van Riemsdyk headlining a top-heavy free-agent class, the following five players easily provide the most intrigue.

Each of them has enough red flags that teams would ideally want to sign them to one-year contracts, but their upside is high enough that it will almost certainly take a multi-year deal to outbid fellow teams tempted by the ceiling.

Here are the top five boom-or-bust unrestricted free agents set to hit the open market on July 1.

Ilya Kovalchuk

Kovalchuk is set to make his return to North America after spending the last five seasons in the KHL. At 35 years old, the biggest question is if he has anything left in the tank.

The NHL is a different league from when he last played in it in 2012-13. It's faster and filled with youth. At 230 lbs, does he have enough speed to keep up?

He has remained prolific overseas, scoring 31 goals with 63 points in 53 games this past season, but the KHL is a much slower league and easier for an offensive player to put up gaudy numbers.

Also, how would Kovalchuk respond to a lesser role? His entire life, he's been the best player - or one of the best - on every single team he's ever played on. He's a highly competitive, fiery player who always wants the puck on his stick. How would he perform if the offense didn't revolve around him, and he was only playing 15 or 16 minutes a night rather than 20-plus?

Boom: Legitimate top-six winger, power-play dynamo
Bust: Slow-footed, one-dimensional forward, defensive-zone liability

Carter Hutton

If you had to guess who led the NHL in both goals-against average and save percentage this past season, nobody would've thought Hutton. Yet, with sparkling marks of 2.09 and .931, the Blues netminder was indeed the league-leader in both.

Were these numbers a total outlier, or did he figure something out in his age-32 season? In his 106 career NHL games prior to this season, Hutton owned a 2.51 goals-against average and a .910 save percentage.

In all likelihood, Hutton's true form probably lies somewhere between his pre-2017-18 self and his surprising breakout season. Even if it happens to be closer to the latter, can he perform near that level with a full starter's workload? He only played in 32 games last year and his career high is just 40.

As the best unrestricted free-agent netminder available - and the only one with legitimate starter upside - Hutton will be highly sought-after, and will likely sign a contract that will reflect the thin goaltender market.

Boom: True No. 1 goalie
Bust: Above-average platoon/backup netminder

Riley Nash

Nash is in a similar situation to Hutton. He also just had a breakout season, but it came suspiciously late in his career at age 28. Was it a fluke? Or is he just a late bloomer? Coming into the 2017-18 season, his career high in points was 25, but he racked up 41 this past year with the Boston Bruins.

During Patrice Bergeron's 13-game absence in March, Nash filled in adequately, centering the team's top line and tallying 13 points. Was this a product of piggy-backing off Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak? Or proof that a player previously pegged as a "bottom-six guy" can actually produce when given a chance to play between talented wingers?

Even when Nash isn't contributing offensively, he's still helping his team, as he was the only player in the NHL with at least 50 takeaways but fewer than 15 giveaways this past season. As the third-best unrestricted free-agent center behind Tavares and Stastny, he's bound to get paid, but if he reverts back to his 25-point self, the contract will be a huge bust.

Boom: Defensively responsible second-line center who can produce offensively with right linemates
Bust: Offensively-challenged bottom-six center

Mike Green

Green will turn 33 on Oct. 12 and has a long injury history. Since the 2010-11 season, he's missed an average of 19 games, and underwent season-ending surgery on his cervical spine this year.

He's failed to top 36 points in three seasons since joining Detroit, but is the aging and lackluster Red Wings supporting cast to blame? Or has he declined to the point which his offense no longer makes up for his defensive-zone deficiencies?

Right-handed shooting defensemen are in demand in the NHL, so there will be no shortage of interest in Green. He can still effectively quarterback a power play, but whether a strong team around him can revive his 45-point potential remains to be seen.

Boom: 45-50 point D-man, prolific power-play quarterback
Bust: Extreme defensive liability, plateaus offensively

Michael Grabner

Since becoming a full-time NHLer in 2010-11, Grabner has been a productive, yet highly inconsistent goalscorer:

Grabner relies heavily on his blazing speed to create scoring chances for himself. He might get more breakaways than anyone in the NHL not named Connor McDavid. Outside of being a capable penalty killer, he doesn't offer much other than scoring. Playmaking isn't in his vocabulary.

He could be an affordable source of speed and goals for a team in need, but if he starts to lose that explosiveness (he turns 31 on Oct. 5), a multi-year deal could look bad in a hurry.

Boom: 30-goal scorer
Bust: 10-goal scorer

(Photos courtesy: Getty Images)

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If Brian Gionta is going to play in the NHL again, it won't be with the Boston Bruins, as general manager Don Sweeney announced Thursday that the diminutive winger won't be offered a contract.

Sweeney also announced defenseman Paul Postma and forward Kenny Agostino would not return, though he didn't rule out bringing back Austin Czarnik.

The 39-year-old Gionta suited up in 20 games for Boston this season, recording two goals and five assists. He joined the Bruins after a five-game showing for the United States at the Winter Olympics, where he was held without a point.

Postma played 13 games with the Bruins, while Agostino suited up in just five. The latter, however, is coming off four straight productive seasons in the AHL.

Czarnik, 25, had four points in 10 games with Boston, and 69 points in 64 AHL contests.

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Tampa Bay Lightning forward Ryan Callahan is expected to be out for approximately five months after undergoing shoulder surgery Thursday, the team announced.

If Callahan recovers within the expected time frame, he would miss training camp, preseason, and the first month of the regular season.

The 33-year-old is no longer the offensive threat he once was, as injuries, age, and poor footspeed have caught up with him. He was relegated to fourth-line duties for most of the 2017-18 campaign, tallying five goals and 13 assists in 67 games.

Callahan still has two years remaining on his contract with an annual cap hit of $5.8 million.

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Capitals head coach Barry Trotz was not a fan of Brayden McNabb's hit on Evgeny Kuznetsov, which knocked Washington's No. 1 center out of Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final in the first period.

Trotz described the play as a "questionable hit" from the Vegas Golden Knights defenseman, according to TSN's Frank Seravalli. Trotz added that he thought the hit was high, and said "the league will look at it."

The Caps' bench boss may have a point:

Trotz provided no medical update on Kuznetsov after the game.

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Braden Holtby might've been the Washington Capitals' best player in their Game 2 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights, but Lars Eller was the team's best skater, and it couldn't have come at a more crucial time.

Evgeny Kuznetsov, the Caps' No. 1 center and leading point-getter so far this postseason, left the game in the first period after taking a hit from Brayden McNabb and did not return. This bumped Nicklas Backstrom up to the top line and Eller up to the second line, and he did not disappoint.

First, Eller buried Washington's opening goal into the yawning cage after two nice passes from Andre Burakovsky and Michal Kempny. Then, while taking Kuznetsov's spot on the power play, he fed Alex Ovechkin with a cross-crease pass to give the Caps the lead. For an encore, he started the rush on Brooks Orpik's goal, setting him up with a beautiful no-look dish.

That gave Eller three points in the game, making him directly responsible for each of Washington's goals. And this wasn't the first time this postseason Eller stepped up in the absence of a key center.

When Backstrom was out for the final game against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the second round and the first three games of the Eastern Conference Final against the Tampa Bay Lightning, Eller was the team's unsung hero, collecting five points in those four games, three of which were wins.

Eller signed a five-year contract extension in February with an average annual value of $3.5 million. Coming off a career-high 38-point season, he now has 17 points in 21 playoff games. It's safe to say that contract is looking like a bargain now, given the demand for quality two-way centers around the league.

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Properly addressing the middle of the ice has eluded Mark Bergevin since the beginning of his tenure as general manager of the Montreal Canadiens. In a desperation effort to fill a top-line center role last season, the Habs shifted newly acquired Jonathan Drouin from left wing to the middle, and it came with some mixed results.

Drouin finished the season with a minus-28 rating (third-worst on team, 11th-worst in NHL), won just 42.5 percent of his faceoffs at even strength, and his possession numbers hovered around 50 percent despite an offensive-zone start percentage of nearly 60, per Hockey-Reference. His point total also fell from 53 in 2016-17 to 46 last season.

Bergevin admitted the learning curve of playing center was difficult for Drouin at times.

"As we speak today, there is a lack in the middle. (Drouin), well, I would say in the first half he had a hard time adjusting to center," he told NHL.com's Mike Zeisberger. "As the season progressed, well, is he the perfect centerman? Is he Sidney Crosby? Of course not. But can he fill a role at times? Yes he can. We'll have to address some of our needs, sure."

Despite the 23-year-old's turbulent season, Bergevin isn't ready to call the Drouin-at-center experiment a failure.

"At the same time, there is a perception that (Drouin) failed there. I'm not ready to say that. He played some center in junior and he played some (with the Tampa Bay Lightning). Other than goaltending, I think center is probably the hardest position to fill. It takes some time and some mileage to play that position to a degree where you could really help your team win. So I'm not going to write him off there. But we have options we can look at as we speak."

Drouin did show progression manning the middle of the ice as the season wore on, collecting 13 points in his last 15 games, and improving his faceoff win percentage to a respectable 48.7 percent during that span.

Going about improving the center position could once again prove difficult for Bergevin this offseason. Though his team holds the third overall pick, the top end of the draft is filled with wingers and defenseman, not centers. On the free-agent market, John Tavares and Paul Stastny are the only capable No. 1 centers - but both will be highly sought after.

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With one free-agent winger off the board in Evander Kane, another is starting to gain attention.

Ilya Kovalchuk's agent, J.P. Barry of Creative Artists Agency, is "in discussions with teams" interested in bringing Kovalchuk back to the NHL, reports TSN's Darren Dreger.

Kovalchuk came off the voluntary retired list on April 15 - the day he turned 35 years old - officially becoming an unrestricted free agent. He and his camp can negotiate with any NHL team, but can't officially put pen to paper until July 1.

The New York Rangers are just one team that has officially gauged interest in Kovalchuk thus far, as GM Jeff Gorton stated a month ago that the club has "checked in" with him.

Kovalchuk was one of the game's elite talents before bolting for the KHL after the 2012-13 campaign, compiling 816 points in as many games with the Atlanta Thrashers and New Jersey Devils. He continued to be highly productive with SKA St. Petersburg, potting 31 goals and adding 32 assists in 51 games this past season.

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There appears to be a rift between Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan and star forward Phil Kessel, and the latter's displeasure with the former's lineup decisions during the playoffs is apparently at the forefront.

Kessel was reportedly furious that he didn't play on a line with Evgeni Malkin on a regular basis during the playoffs, according to Josh Yohe of The Athletic. Instead, Kessel spent the bulk of his postseason on a unit centered by either Derick Brassard or Riley Sheahan - something he felt was not conducive to team or personal success.

Sullivan believes Kessel's attitude about the lineup was selfish, Yohe wrote, while adding that multiple people in the Penguins organization believe Kessel was "pouty" about the situation.

Kessel had just one goal in 12 playoff games, and while he did notch eight assists, only two of them were at even strength.

Many assumed some sort of ailment had hindered Kessel's production during the postseason, but Sullivan told the media the forward wasn't dealing with a "significant injury" after the Pens were eliminated by the Washington Capitals in the second round. Kessel never commented on the matter.

(Photo courtesy: Getty Images)

Yohe also stated that Kessel is "the first guy off at practice most days and presumably spends more time at Rivers Casino than he does breaking down game film," so it's not surprising that some of his tendencies may drive a coach up a wall, even if he's popular among his teammates.

And Sullivan's power with the Penguins is "almost unlimited," according to Yohe. General manager Jim Rutherford has the final say, but he often defers to Sullivan and has a great amount of respect and praise for his coach.

Yohe believes Sullivan doesn't like Kessel very much, and that the feeling is mutual.

He added that the Penguins aren't "actively seeking a trade involving Kessel, but they're willing to listen if anyone makes an offer."

After a career-best 92-point season with a reasonable $6.8-million cap hit for the next four years (the Toronto Maple Leafs retain $1.2 million annually), there would presumably be no shortage of suitors for the 30-year-old.

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Tom Wilson's hit on Jonathan Marchessault has been one of the biggest talking points in what was a wild Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final, but Wilson himself doesn't understand all the hoopla.

"It's a good hit," he told TVA Sports' Renaud Lavoie. "I don't know why there's so much media attention."

For those who missed it, here's a look at the check.

While Wilson avoided contact with the head, he did catch Marchessault well after he got rid of the puck.

Wilson also avoided supplemental discipline from the hit, as he won't have a hearing for the incident.

Wilson claimed Marchessault told him it was a good hit after he got up, though Marchessault said postgame that he expected the league to "take care" of the situation.

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