The Vegas Golden Knights announced that they have signed veteran forward Phil Kessel to a one-year, $1.5 million contract. Kessel was an unrestricted free agent after spending the previous three seasons with the Arizona Coyotes.
Kessel was introduced as the newest member of the Golden Knights and even took a little bit of a jab at his former team.
“It’s going to be nice playing on a team that wants to win,” Kessel said during a press conference on Thursday.
Over the past three seasons, Kessel has tallied 42 goals and 91 assists for a team that went 82-105-21. The Coyotes have only qualified for the Stanley Cup Playoffs once over the last 10 seasons.
Kessel is coming off of a season in which he scored a career-low eight goals, but did dish out a team-high 44 assists in 82 games with the Coyotes. He had recorded double-digit goals in each of his first 15 NHL seasons.
During his 16-year NHL career, Kessel has recorded 956 points (399 goals and 557 assists) in 1,204 career games. The veteran winger currently ranks 11th among active NHL players in points while also sitting just one goal from becoming the 13th American-born player to score 400 goals.
In addition, Kessel has played in 982 consecutive games, which is only seven behind defenseman Keith Yandle’s NHL record. He is currently on pace to tie the consecutive games played record on Oct. 24 against the Toronto Maple Leafs and could break it the very next day against the San Jose Sharks.
Kessel also comes to the Golden Knights as a two-time Stanley Cup champion (2015-16 and 2016-17) as a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins. The 34-year old registered 45 points throughout Pittsburgh’s two Stanley Cup-winning runs, including leading the team in scoring with 22 points (10 goals and 12 assists) during the 2016 postseason.
Kessel began his career with the Boston Bruins (2006-09) while also playing for the Toronto Maple Leafs (2009-15) in addition to the Penguins and Coyotes.
