Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford is in Las Vegas, where the temperature was expected to crest around 110 degrees.

He can only hope trade talks will heat up that much between now and the NHL draft this weekend.

Rutherford is shopping for a top-six winger and, because the Penguins own just one choice in the first four rounds of this draft, at least one more early-round selection.

So far, he has had numerous conversations with other GMs, but nothing to show for it except a lot of used minutes on his cellphone plan.

Indeed, Rutherford hinted Sunday that serious pursuit of a draft choice now might be deferred until the second day of the draft, which will be Saturday at BB&T Center in Sunrise, Fla.

“It’ll probably depend more on how the draft (unfolds),” he said. “If we get to a certain point in the draft and there’s a player who’s still sitting there who we’re surprised is still there, we could possibly look at a move at that point.”

The Penguins aren’t the only team seeking a winger who can produce on the top two lines, and few such players are available at the moment. The resulting seller’s market could complicate any attempt to fill that hole in their lineup at a reasonable price.

“It’s a pretty competitive market right now,” Rutherford said.

Perhaps because there are so few top-six wingers in play now, the Penguins are believed to have at least a kick-the-tires level of interest in Toronto’s Phil Kessel.

Kessel, 27, is one of the NHL’s top goal-scorers - he has 247 in 668 games with the Maple Leafs and Boston - but comes with an $8 million salary-cap hit on a contract that runs through the 2021-22 season.

Absorbing that kind of cap hit for so many years could be difficult for the Penguins, who already have big-money, long-term deals with Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang and Marc-Andre Fleury. Whether Toronto would be willing to retain some of Kessel’s salary, as permitted by the NHL’s current collective bargaining agreement, is not known.

Kessel’s uninspired defensive work and a personality some have deemed unsettling or disruptive in the locker room also are factors that could come into play.

It also is far from certain the Penguins could - or would be willing to - give the Maple Leafs the return they would demand in any trade for Kessel.

Tampering regulations bar Rutherford from discussing any interest he might have in Kessel, as well as any other player under contract to another club.

Although trade talks around the NHL have simmered for a while, they figure to hit a rolling boil as GMs gather Wednesday in Las Vegas for the NHL Awards ceremony, then relocate to Florida for the draft.

“I would think that the next couple of days, with the amount of talk around the league, league-wide, you’ll probably see the start of some movement,” Rutherford said.

Even as Rutherford pursues possible trades, he acknowledged the Penguins might be able to fill at least one top-six slot from inside the organization.

Kasperi Kapanen, who was their first-round choice in 2014 and will turn 19 July 23, is a candidate to work on one of the top two lines, as Patric Hornqvist and David Perron presumably will do.

“Training camp will be big for him,” Rutherford said. “It’s good that he got over and got some experience in North America.”