Phil Kessel not ready to retire: actively looking to sign with an NHL team

If the last game was the final one for Phil Kessel on NHL ice, the memory would be a little sweet, hoisting the Stanley Cup with the Vegas Golden Knights in 2023. In their championship season, he played all 82 games of the regular season but only four in the playoffs.

Now more than a year removed from professional hockey, Phil Kessel, the NHL's Ironman with the most consecutive games played, finds himself at a crossroads. At 36, the fifth overall pick from the 2006 draft remains firm in extending his career, even though retirement might be well within sight.

Elliotte Friedman reported on the latest episode of '32 Thoughts' that Phil Kessel is still working to try and land a spot with a team in the NHL this year. The accomplished forward has tallied 992 points in 1,286 games for five different franchises thus far into his career: the Boston Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs, Pittsburgh Penguins, Arizona Coyotes, and most recently, the Golden Knights.

Notably, he has twice won the Stanley Cup with the Penguins in 2016 and 2017.

Despite Phil Kessel not playing a single game in the 2023-24 season, the Vancouver Canucks were highly rumored to be in his sights late last season but passed. With the NHL regular season starting on October 4th, it will be interesting to see if Kessel finds a new team to finish his career with.

Source:
hockey forever's Instagram

Source: HockeyDB
Phil Kessel Stats