Utah HC Signs Michael Kesselring to Multi-Year Deal

The Utah Hockey Club is keeping one of its young defensemen around, as they have signed Michael Kesselring to a two-year, $2.8 million contract ($1.4 million AAV).

✍️ 𝙎𝙄𝙂𝙉𝙀𝘿 ✍️

We have signed defenseman Michael Kesselring to a two-year contract.

More: https://t.co/3SKHXABVJ7 pic.twitter.com/Cv6x2w6leF
— Utah Hockey Club (@utahhockeyclub) June 28, 2024

Kesselring was one of Utah's most notable restricted free agents, but now they have gotten him locked up for the next two years. The right-shot defender broke out in a big way for the Arizona Coyotes in 2023-24, posting five goals, 21 points, 106 hits, and a plus-11 rating in 65 games. Overall, he proved that he is an NHL-caliber defenseman, and he has earned this nice new deal because of it.

At just 24 years old, there is a clear reason to believe that Kesselring still has not reached his ceiling. The 2023-24 season was his first full campaign in the NHL, as he only previously played nine games for the Coyotes during the 2022-23. Now, the hard-nosed defenseman will be looking to build off his breakout 2023-24 season and have an even stronger campaign from here.

As the 2023-24 season campaign continued, Kesselring gained the confidence of head coach Andre Tourigny, as he played top-four minutes and handled them well. He will now look to build off this momentum by continuing to work on his all-around game.

We will need to wait and see how well Kesselring performs from here, but this looks like a pretty solid deal for both parties.