NHL veteran Phil Kessel is not looking to call it quits on his career just yet.
Despite Kessel not playing since the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs, he’s still seeing an opportunity in the league, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman told Kyle Bukauskas on 32 Thoughts: The Podcast.
“He wants to play, I’ve heard this,” Friedman shared.
“So, Paul Bissonnette had a tweet this week about ‘How come Kessel can’t get a job?’ and I was looking at it because I had heard, and I was gonna check, that Kessel was calling teams and really wanted to play. That seems to confirm it, and then I heard from a couple of people that he’s legit about it.”
The 36-year-old Kessel was not able to land a spot on an NHL roster for the 2023-24 season. He worked out and skated with the Vancouver Canucks‘ AHL affiliate ahead of the NHL trade deadline, but ultimately did not get signed by the team.
Kessel, a three-time NHL All-Star, last played with the Vegas Golden Knights, scoring 14 goals and 36 points in 82 games. He would go on to win his third Stanley Cup with Vegas, although in a limited role where he had two assists in four playoff games.
His 992 career points (413 goals, 579 assists) in 1,286 games are the 12th-most all-time among American players. He also holds the NHL record for the longest Ironman streak, having played 1,064 consecutive regular-season games.
Prior to his time with Vegas, Kessel previously played for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Pittsburgh Penguins, Arizona Coyotes and Boston Bruins.
According to Friedman, Kessel was also in talks at one point to potentially play in a proposed 3-on-3 league that was set to be launched by Major League Hockey. The start of that league has since been postponed to October 2025.
“That 3-on-3 league that was supposed to start up but didn’t, I heard Kessel was one of the guys they were really talking to about playing there,” said Friedman.
However, when it comes to the NHL, interest seems to be lacking. Given his age and the fact that he missed an entire season, taking on Kessel would be a gamble for any team. But, perhaps we’ll see him land a professional tryout before the start of the season.
“He wants to play. He loves hockey and he wants to play,” added Friedman.
“I don’t know if this is going to happen, but it’s very, very legitimate that he has put it out there that he wants to play.”
