Phil Kessel has landed.
The 36-year-old former Toronto Maple Leafs and Pittsburgh Penguins star has arrived in Vancouver to meet with the Canucks, as first reported by The Athletic’s Rick Dhaliwal and subsequently confirmed by the team. With a Vegas Golden Knights hockey bag in tow, watchful Canucks fans spotted the durable scoring winger at the Vancouver airport on Tuesday evening.
Confirmed pic.twitter.com/mlmTQFyBAY
— rs24 (@RSFort24) February 14, 2024
“Phil has made his way to Vancouver and will be working out in Abbotsford this week,” said Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin in a statement the club released on X.
Canucks General Manager Patrik Allvin on Phil Kessel:
“Phil has made his way to Vancouver and will be working out in Abbotsford this week. “
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) February 14, 2024
Kessel appeared in all 82 games for Vegas last season, but hasn’t appeared in an NHL game yet this season. Accordingly, it would seem that the team and player are taking a gradual approach before agreeing to a contract, as Kessel will meet with the club and skate with their American League team in Abbotsford before formally inking a standard player contract.
Believe the plan is to work out Kessel, skate him and go from there, if all good and then sign.
— Rick Dhaliwal (@DhaliwalSports) February 14, 2024
One of the NHL’s most prolific rush goal scorers in his prime, Kessel has retained value as a power-play contributor capable of contributing supporting offence in the bottom-six. The Canucks freed up about $650,000 in cap space when they traded Andrei Kuzmenko for Elias Lindholm and have the space to bring Kessel in on an affordable deal, although given their cap and roster spot limitations, the fit is a bit curious.
One of the strengths of this Canucks team this season has been their ability to manufacture offence with their third and fourth lines on the ice, with wingers Conor Garland and Nils Höglander providing that spark plug offensive input from the third and fourth lines. Kessel showed last season with the Golden Knights that he’s still capable of filling a similar role, but one wonders if he could be a bit redundant given the current composition of Vancouver’s forward group.
Kessel and Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet have a close relationship, as Kessel played for the Vancouver boss in Pittsburgh and Arizona. He also has a lot of familiarity with Canucks brass. It was Canucks president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford who traded for Kessel during his Penguins tenure in the summer of 2015.
(Photo: Jeff Vinnick / NHLI via Getty Images)
