A return to the NHL appears on the cards for this former Bruin as he heads north to Vancouver.
A return to the NHL appears on the cards for this former Bruin as he heads north to Vancouver.
The Phil Kessel return to the NHL appears to be a go.
The former Boston Bruins forward has traveled to Vancouver and will begin working out in Abbotsford, British Colombia, in preparation to join the Canucks.
Kessel, 36, was drafted #5 overall by Boston in the 2006 NHL Draft. He spent the first three years of his career with the Bruins and followed that with six years with the Toronto Maple Leafs, two Stanley Cups in four years with the Pittsburgh Penguins and three years with the Arizona Coyotes. Last season he won the third Stanley Cup of his career with the Vegas Golden Knights.
The winger has amassed 413 goals in his excellent career and is #100 on the NHL all-time points list. With the Penguins on their playoff runs, Kessel was an essential piece to Pittsburgh's success as a dominant power play scorer. Kessel is considered the Ironman of the NHL, holding the longest consecutive games played streak with 1,064 games. Last year with the Golden Knights, Kessel had 14 goals so there is certainly some upside and scoring ability that can be unlocked.
It has been a bit of surprise that Kessel has remained a free agent this far into the year. It is no surprise, however, that a contender like the Canucks could be scooping him up and taking a chance on him. Vancouver has already made moves to acquire center Elias Lindholm and defenseman Nikita Zadorov. It remains to be seen how much Kessel has left in the tank, but should the former Bruin perform well, it'll be another huge add for the Canucks.
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