Kessel working out with Canucks, could sign ‘if all goes well’: Report

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Phil Kessel’s pursuit of 1,000 NHL points might be resuming on the West Coast.

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The former Toronto Maple Leafs sniper is in B.C. to work out with the Pacific Division-leading Canucks, according to Vancouver-based broadcaster Rick Dhaliwal, and possibly sign with the team “if all goes well.”

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“Last week, I said the Canucks were poking around (on) Kessel,” Dhaliwal said in a post on his X account. “Well, there’s a great relationship there with (Canucks head coach) Rick Tocchet, (hockey operations president) Jim Rutherford and (general manager) Patrik Allvin as well.”

The Canucks confirmed the news minutes later in a post on X. 

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“Phil has made his way to Vancouver and will be working out in (nearby) Abbotsford this week,” Allvin said, according to the Canucks’ X account.

Vancouver (35-12-6 heading into Tuesday’s game against the Chicago Blackhawks) decided to go with younger players after taking an interest in Kessel during the summer, Dhaliwal said, but have since emerged as a Stanley Cup contender thanks to a league-best 76 points and .717 points percentage.

A three-time Stanley Cup champion, Kessel would provide even more scoring depth to a team that boasts all-stars Quinn Hughes, J.T. Miller, Elias Pettersson and Brock Boeser and just welcomed former Calgary Flames playmaker Elias Lindholm to the lineup.

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The Canucks are not the only team interested in Kessel either, Dhaliwal said, adding that “three to four teams have kept in touch with Kessel’s agent Wade Arnott throughout this entire process, obviously including the Canucks.”

Kessel hasn’t played an NHL game since winning his third Cup last season with the Vegas Golden Knights, with whom he scored 14 goals and added 22 assists in 82 regular-season games.

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A two-time Cup winner with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Kessel needs just eight more points to reach 1,000 for his career after stops in Boston and Arizona as well. The Wisconsin-born winger has amassed 413 goals and 579 assists in 1,286 regular season games since being picked fifth overall by the Bruins in the 2006 NHL draft.

Kessel also owns the NHL’s ironman streak, having played in 1,064 consecutive regular-season games. He passed the retired Keith Yandle’s mark of 989 games in the 2022-23 season.

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