Earlier this evening, the Vancouver Canucks General Manager Patrik Allvin announced that Phil Kessel will be working out with the Canucks organization in AHL Abbotsford this week.
Prior to the announcement, Rick Dhaliwal reported that Kessel would meet with the team, skate with the team, and likely sign a contract with the organization.
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The 38-year-old Kessel has 1,286 games played and a whopping 992 career points. But his success doesn’t stop there; he has played in 100 playoff games and scored 83 points. With the Left Wing position up for grabs in the middle-six for the Canucks, could Kessel bring some veteran experience and point production to push players like Suter, Joshua, or Di Giuseppe to perform at a higher level? Of course, Kessel is extremely familiar with Rutherford and Allvin from his Pittsburgh days, and Rick Tocchet is essentially the Phil Kessel whisperer. It seems like a perfect fit.
It will be intriguing to see if Kessel does, in fact, sign in Vancouver. If so, will it be an NHL minimum contract, or will it include some bonuses? Whatever the contract, we will be here for Kessel to hit the 1,300 NHL Games milestone and possibly 1,000 NHL Points.