Friedman: Kessel discussed at NHL Combine; teams starting to inquire about price

You can only witness so many standing long jumps and Wingate tests before the conversation shifts to Phil Kessel, naturally.

The polarizing forward - and the estimated price to acquire him - was apparently a hot topic for general managers visiting the scouting combine this week, with some perhaps reaching out to the Toronto Maple Leafs to inquire about cost.

Per Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman on Hockey Night in Canada's Saturday "Headlines" segment:

From what I understand out of that, teams are starting to call the Toronto Maple Leafs and say, 'if we're serious about doing this, what is the price going to be?' I don't think this is going to happen - if it happens - for another couple of weeks, but I think we're at the phase now where the serious teams who want to talk about him are going to Toronto and saying, 'what are we looking at if we want to get this done?'

Kessel will once again earn $10 million in real money next season, and cost $8 million against the salary cap.