Free-agent winger Phil Kessel nonetheless totally intends on taking part in in 2024-25 — although whether or not it’s within the NHL stays to be seen, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet mentioned on Friday’s “32 Ideas” podcast (audio link).
As Friedman notes, Kessel was one of many gamers that Main League Hockey, a 3-on-3 league hoping to start out operations later this yr, approached about signing with a group earlier than the league postponed its launch to Oct. 2025. It doesn’t seem an NHL skilled tryout or assured contract is imminent for him, both.
Kessel is a three-time All-Star Sport participant and a three-time Stanley Cup champion however was out of the NHL final season after taking part in with the Golden Knights in 2022-23. He posted 14 targets and 36 factors in 82 video games, his lowest complete offensive output since his rookie season, earlier than going unsigned for all of 2023-24. He was near inking a deal with the Canucks at the trade deadline, but it surely fell via as a result of an absence of cap area.
With a full yr off from the sport, the NHL’s energetic and all-time consecutive video games performed chief is probably going a fringe bottom-six scorer or No. 13 ahead at finest on most groups. If Kessel is prepared to threat shedding his ironman streak of 1,064 video games, which is simply susceptible to being handed by the Hurricanes’ Brent Burns (843), he’ll have a neater time touchdown a deal.
Kessel hasn’t been off the ice since profitable the Cup with Vegas over a yr in the past, although. He’s saved in a regular coaching routine and practiced with the Canucks’ farm membership in Abbotsford within the lead-up to his potential deadline deal.
