09/14/23: TSN’s Chris Johnston reports that there is “some percolating interest” from NHL teams in signing Kessel to a contract for this season. Johnston adds that Kessel “isn’t in PTO territory” at the moment, and could end up signing a full NHL contract with a team before the season.
08/31/23: UFA winger Phil Kessel has let potential suitors know he’s open to ending his league-record ironman streak to land a guaranteed deal for the 2023-24 campaign, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports.
Kessel’s consecutive regular-season games played streak of 1,064 set the all-time record this season, passing longtime NHL defender Keith Yandle. The last game Kessel missed was nearly 14 years ago on October 31, 2009, as a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs, the last of 12 games he missed to open the season with a shoulder injury.
Set to turn 36 before next season, however, the end of Kessel’s days as an everyday NHLer is in sight. While he did skate in all 82 games for the Vegas Golden Knights last season, his ice time dropped below the 15-minute average mark for the first time since his rookie season, and he played in just four out of Vegas’ 22 playoff games en route to his third Stanley Cup win.
As Friedman notes, this could dramatically increase Kessel’s likelihood of landing a one-year deal before training camps start. Teams are looking to avoid what transpired between the Yandle and the Florida Panthers at the beginning of the 2020-21 season when the team kept him in the lineup to avoid drawing the ire of its players despite wanting to scratch him for performance-related reasons.
That said, you could do much worse for a 13th forward or even a fourth-line playmaking winger. Kessel still managed 14 goals and 22 assists last season despite a below-career-average 9.4 shooting percentage. He also recorded 44 assists the year prior on an Arizona Coyotes team which won just 25 games and finished dead last in the league in goals.
He’ll likely have to settle for a league minimum cap hit on a one-year deal, regardless. But his age now makes him eligible to sign a bonus-laden 35+ contract, as Friedman points out, allowing him to earn money via performance bonuses that, for cap purposes, would defer to the 2024-25 campaign for the team that signs him if they can’t fit said performance bonuses under the $83.5MM Upper Limit. Last year, he signed a one-year, $1.5MM pact with Vegas late into the summer on August 24.
Patrick Kane and Tomas Tatar are the only two unrestricted free agents left on the market who had more points than Kessel last season.
Would he help the Flames or Oilers I wonder..
Jagr experiment in Calgary al over again
Head back to the Burgh. Get the band back together.
Another guy that just can’t let go.
your player evaluation is just astounding
“Kessel still managed 14 goals and 22 assists last season”
There are players making millions a year in scoring roles who aren’t putting up numbers like this. Kessel still has game, my dude.
Don’t leave out factual.
Wilf, your babbling assessments continue to be spot off. For all the time you seem to spend following the NHL, no knowledge of any substance has cracked the code on getting into your head.
You know I’m right, How many playoff games did Kessel play last season? And explain why as the Knights continued to advance in the playoffs last season Kessel played less and less games and then eventually disappeared. He’s clearly a waste of space on an NHL roster moving forward. Study the facts before you react.
Penguins already have Kessel on the payroll. Amanda.
Hey Chubs, Go take a seat on the end of the bench and take the next few plays off.
“Isn’t in PTO country yet” = “hasn’t signed a PTO.”