Vancouver Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin has announced that winger Phil Kessel will be travelling to Vancouver to work out in Abbottsford this week.
Kessel, 36, is an unrestricted free agent who has yet to sign a contract with a team this season. While there is nothing official, it sounds like this is the start of a potential signing for the Canucks.
Kessel spent last season with the Vegas Golden Knights, where he had 14 goals and 22 assists for 36 points in 82 games, along with two assists in four playoff games on route to the Golden Knights winning the first Stanley Cup in the history of their franchise. His 36 points was actually the second-lowest total of his career, with the lowest being his 29-point rookie season in 2006-07.
Kessel also currently holds the longest iron man streak, which currently sits at 1,064 games and is 75 games clear of Keith Yandle in second. The Madison, Wisconsin product hasn’t missed a game since November 3, 2009. However, he has been on the record saying that he’s open to ending that streak to play with a team this season.
Kessel was a former fifth-overall pick of the Boston Bruins, and spent three seasons in Boston before he was dealt to the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2009. He then spent six seasons in Toronto before he was dealt to the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2015, going on to win two Stanley Cups in 2016 and 2017. After four seasons in Pittsburgh, he was dealt to the Arizona Coyotes, where he spent another three seasons before he went to unrestricted free agency in 2022 and signed with the Golden Knights, where he won his third Stanley Cup.
The Canucks will hope that Kessel can help put them over the top in an already incredible season, as they currently sit in first place in the league with a 35-12-6 record.
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