NHL iron man and free-agent forward Phil Kessel wants to play during the 2024-25 season. After taking a year off, Kessel has been actively contacting teams, looking to sign on for training camp or at least land a PTO.
Kessel is only eight points away from 1000 and 13 games away from 1300. He last played for the Vegas Golden Knights during the 22-23 season and scored 14 goals and 36 points in 82 games. Sportnet's Elliotte Friedman mentioned Kessel on the most recent episode of 32 Thoughts and had this to stay, “he’s legitimate about it. That three-on-three league that was supposed to start up but didn’t, I heard Kessel was one of those guys they were really talking to about playing there. He wants to play, he loves hockey and he wants to play. I don’t know if this is going to happen, but it’s very, very legitimate that he wants to play.”
Here's three teams to keep on the radar as Kessel looks for work:
Columbus Blue Jackets
GM Don Waddell admitted he would like to sign a couple of veterans up front to round out his training camp roster, so Kessel could very well be in the mix. It would be curious to see if James van Riemsdyk could be joining him also. The two spent several seasons together in Toronto and could be exactly the type of veterans the Blue Jackets are interested to bring in and boost their offense.
Boston Bruins
The Bruins were interested in Kailer Yamamoto before he landed a tryout with Utah, so perhaps the Bruins circle in on a familiar face. Kessel back to Boston would create some buzz and could take off some pressure on Elias Lindholm's shoulders and also distract away from Jeremy Swayman's situation. The Bruins aren't as deep as they need to be up front, Kessel certainly helps.
Anaheim Ducks
It will be curious to see if Kessel is open to playing for a rebuilding team, but at the end of the day, that may be all that's offered. The Ducks tried to sign Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault this offseason, so it's obvious GM Pat Verbeek wants to win sooner than later. Kessel would give the room a boost and would be a great side-kick to watch Trevor Zegras follow around. Off the ice it would be entertaining, now it's up to Verbeek to decide if Kessel will be a fit on the ice.
Photo credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-Imagn Images
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