On February 12, 2024, the Vancouver Canucks had their fans on the edges of their seats as they brought one of the NHL’s most notable thrills to Vancouver — 36-year-old Phil Kessel. The near-1000 point forward had almost joined the Canucks on their playoff run last season, but ended up not doing so after contract negotiations fell apart. He remained unsigned by last year’s Trade Deadline.
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Prior to arriving in Vancouver, Kessel won the Vegas Golden Knights in 2023. This was the third Stanley Cup he’d won of his 1286 NHL game career, during which he scored 413 goals and 579 assists. Prior to his third championship, Kessel played with the Arizona Coyotes, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Boston Bruins. He won his first two Stanley Cups with the Pittsburgh Penguins, notably alongside current Canucks management — General Manager Patrik Allvin, President of Hockey Operations Jim Rutherford, and Head Coach Rick Tocchet. Given that the Canucks’ front office staff have historically targeted players and staff with whom they have connections to, Kessel’s potential signing wouldn’t have been a complete shock.
A veteran and character in the locker room, Kessel started the 2023–24 season without a contract. As time passed, and the Canucks found success leading up to the deadline, management made the decision to try and improve their forward group by inviting Kessel to train in Abbotsford.
“He’s going to go down there and skate for two or three days. We’ll see how he is down there and reevaluate from there,” Tocchet said of Kessel’s situation at the time.
Kessel trained with the Abbotsford Canucks for nearly a month as both he and the team awaited the Trade Deadline. As a potential addition to Vancouver’s depth, it’s still uncertain whether Kessel would have dressed for every game come playoff time, as he didn’t skate in every game with Vegas the year prior. Regardless, even after adjusting to the speed of training with the Abbotsford Canucks, Vancouver elected to not sign Kessel.
"With roster complications and how we want to play, unfortunately at this point it wasn’t a fit for us,” Allvin explained after the window to add Kessel to the roster had passed.
Without Kessel, Vancouver went on to beat the Nashville Predators in round 1 of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs, and even took the Edmonton Oilers to seven games before ultimately being eliminated in a 3–2 loss at home. Since then, the Canucks have faced struggles in generating offense, and should look to add to their lineup if they choose to pursue the playoffs over accumulating assets for the future.
Kessel, on the other hand, has yet to make his return to the NHL. Despite reports that he “wants to play,” it appears that Kessel has set off on a different career path. In October 2024, he announced via Instagram that he has joined WPT Global. It’s yet to be determined whether Kessel will attempt another return to the NHL or not.
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