Phil Kessel’s ironman streak in jeopardy!

When the Vegas Golden Knights signed free agent Phil Kessel to a contract this summer, they never expected him to rack up over 23 goals like he did when he was a Stanley Cup champions in 2016 and 2017 with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

But they expected more than what he’s been producing in 34 games this season. Sure, Kessel has put up six goals and 12 points, but he’s struggled in other areas. He’s been on on the ice for more goals against than any forward on the roster (23) and his team-worst minus-9 is a pertinent indicator of his struggles. It prompted team insider Jesse Granger of The Athletic to wonder if his ironman streak in jeopardy of coming to an end with a healthy scratch designation.

“Right now — missing three forwards in [Jack] Eichel, [Brett Howden and [Paul] Cotter — it seems relatively unlikely that Cassidy would scratch Kessel from the lineup. That would mean pulling yet another forward up from the AHL’s Silver Knights and inserting them into the lineup.”

But what about when they return, Jesse?

Granger wonder if despite his experience and leadership - and that Ironman streak - head coach Bruce Cassidy could scratch him out of the lineup for a different approach up front.

“Kessel is a fantastic teammate and has had an incredible career, but at his current level of play, he doesn’t seem to fit what Cassidy and the Golden Knights are looking for.”

On Tuesday night’s Insider Trading on TSN, Chris Johnston also hinted at the possibility of the streak coming to an end.

“Eyebrows are certainly raised when he only got a handful of shifts in Monday’s loss against the Buffalo Sabres. And, really, this is a trend that’s followed Kessel. That was among the lowest, fewest minutes he’d seen in the game in his entire career. And normally we wouldn’t chart this, but normally players don’t play over 1,000 straight games, which is where Phil Kessel is at. Where the Vegas Golden Knights are at this moment, is that they don’t have a lot of extra bodies around, Jack Eichel is currently out with an injury. But when he gets healthy and Kessel is still not getting more time under Bruce Cassidy it certainly becomes more of a possibility.”

Let’s see what happens when players come off the injured reserve and what Cassidy’s choice turns out to be…

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