allegedly the Sharks went after Kessel at the draft

Literally why. The problem with the team is the aging and declining Dmen @7+ mill a yr

So they were selling Meier at draft, but buying Kessel?

Wouldn't be surprised if moving out a Dman was part of the negotiation. Might also be why nothing materialized. Arizona had better offers for less cap on shorter terms.

Has to be... though it would take an arm and a leg and a top 5 pick for me to take on a 7X5, 8X4 or 11X6. God doug wilson screwed this team into atleast a 5 yr rebuild.

I don't see why they don't sell everyone left: Couture, lebanc, meier, hertl.

To make matters worse Kane is unmoveable now too.

Well, if it were Burns for example, he'd help them keep to the floor (as part of the $20M they took on this off season) with less actual dollars.
I think that would have to be temporary however and would probably mean they retain on his contract and flip him (instead of OEL, which was a silly way to use a retention spot).
It's likely that the 9th overall pick was the deciding factor in them taking cap from Vancouver instead. SJ probably could have topped that if they had offered the Eklund pick (and maybe gotten Kane off their books in the process). Steep price for sure.