The 22-year-old had six goals and 10 assists in 48 games in 2006-07 before a hip injury knocked him out of the club's final 34 regular-season games.
He returned in time for the playoffs but suffered a hand injury in Game 1 of the first-round series with Dallas that ended his year.
Last summer as a restricted free agent, Kesler signed a $1.9-million, one-year offer sheet from the Philadelphia Flyers that the Canucks matched.
Kesler was Vancouver's first-round pick, 23rd overall, in 2003.