Penguins Quarter-Century Second Team: Phil Kessel

The NHL announced that Phil Kessel was named to the Pittsburgh Penguins Quarter-Century Second Team. Here's a look back at his career in black and gold.

The NHL announced the Pittsburgh Penguins Quarter-Century team on Jan. 9, featuring several memorable names in franchise history.

Today, we want to examine Phil Kessel's tenure with the club and his credentials for being honored on the Penguins' second team.

Initially drafted fifth overall by the Boston Bruins at the 2006 Draft, Kessel debuted in 2006-07, scoring 29 points in 70 games to finish 11th in the Calder Trophy voting. 

He played with the Bruins for three seasons, scoring 36 goals in 2008-09, before being traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs. The deal landed Boston Tyler Seguin and Dougie Hamilton through the draft picks acquired.

In six seasons in Canada, Kessel never scored fewer than 20 goals. He finished his tenure with 181 goals in 446 games, producing an average of .88 points per game.

Eventually, Kessel came to Pittsburgh on July 1, 2015, in a complicated trade that included three draft picks and five other players. 

During his first season with the Penguins, Kessel won the Stanley Cup, scoring 26 goals and 59 points in the regular season and ten goals and 22 points in 24 playoff games.

In the following campaign, when Pittsburgh repeated as champion, he scored another 23 goals and 70 points, with an additional 23 points in 25 playoff games.

At 31 in 2018-19, Kessel recorded the best statistical season of his career, with 34 goals, 58 assists, and 92 points, the only time he had scored more than 90 points in a single season.

Despite a point-per-game pace in 2018-19, with 82 points in 82 games thanks to 34 goals and 55 assists, the Penguins traded Kessel to the Arizona Coyotes on June 29, 2019, along with Dane Birks and a fourth-round pick for Alex Galchenyuk and Pierre-Olivier Joseph.

During Kessel's four seasons with Pittsburgh, these were his totals and ranks among players over the past 25 years:

In the desert, Kessel lost his streak of 20-goal campaigns, finishing with 14 in 70 games in 2019-20, but rebounded the following year for his final 20-goal season in 2020-21. At 34, he recorded just eight goals, the lowest total of his career, his final year with the Coyotes.

As a free agent in 2022, Kessel signed with the Vegas Golden Knights, where he would go on to break the NHL Iron Man Streak, and win the Stanley Cup for third time. Unable to land a contract in 2023, Kessel has yet to skate in an NHL regular season game since Apr. 13, 2023, keeping his Iron Man Streak intact at 1,064 games.