The Vancouver Canucks stood pat at Friday’s trade deadline. On top of that, no contract was signed by free agent Phil Kessel before the deadline, and therefore, he will not join the Canucks.
This could mean the end of his NHL career.
Last month, the Canucks had announced that Kessel had arrived in Vancouver and would be training with the team’s AHL affiliate Abbotsford Canucks. He had not received any other contract offers in the NHL as a free agent. The Canucks needed to respect the deadline on Friday and be cap compliant to add Kessel to their roster, but failed to do so.
Selected fifth overall by the Boston Bruins in 2006, Kessel has played for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Pittsburgh Penguins, Arizona Coyotes and Golden Knights, recording 413 goals and 579 assists over 1,286 games. He was hoping to add more NHL games to his resume and possibly a fourth championship before he hangs up the skates.
Kessel, who played in all 82 games with the Vegas Golden Knights last season, put up 14 goals and 22 assists. He only played four games in the playoffs and the Knights went on to capture their first Stanley Cup in franchise history, making it the third championship in his career.
Kessel, who owns the NHL’s iron man streak with 1,064 consecutive regular-season games played, might have played his last game in NHL…
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