Reason exposed on why Phil Kessel wasn’t signed by Vancouver

On Trade Deadline, fans weren’t only excited about possible transactions happening around the league, but also by ongoing reports that veteran free agent forward Phil Kessel was about to sign with the Vancouver Canucks. He too had until the 3ET pm deadline to put pen to paper, and fans awaited for the beloved player to get a chance at playing in the 2023-24 season and postseason.

But then, nothing happened. The Canucks didn’t sign three-time Cup champion despite him practising with their AHL affiliate in Abbotsford. When asked about why Vancouver did not come to terms with Kessel, this is what general manager Patrik Allvin finally managed to say:

“I think Phil is a great person and a well-respected player,” Allvin said later on deadline day. “What he has done in the league, a three-time Cup winner, he wanted to come back to play.”

“With being in LTIR and roster complications and how we want to play, unfortunately, at this point it wasn’t a fit for us,” he then added.

I guess the hope that Allvin would find a way to fit Kessel was high since he had managed to engineer six trades in the first five months of the regular season.

Kessel could still be signed by an NHL team, though he would not be allowed to take part in the postseason. I cannot come to terms with Kessel’s career being over and would love to see him at least get a tryout in September to crack a roster and get back in the league.

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.

Who knows when that will be, if he will make this announcement during the summer…

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. He also owns the NHL’s iron man streak with 1,064 consecutive regular-season games played, but there is a possibility he might have played his last game in NHL…