If you haven’t been paying attention, anything Michael Russo or Joe Smith — the two Minnesota Wild beat reporters for The Athletic — say has merit as a real possibility. So when they’re diving in offseason speculation and a specific player’s name is mentioned, you must consider it a possibility.
Enter Phil Kessel, the longtime pro with Minnesota ties who remains a free agent. Talking about pro tryouts and signing veteran forwards, Russo and Smith speculate that Kessel’s connection with Wild general manager Bill Guerin could come into play ahead of the 2023-24 season.
The one player available who likely would intrigue Guerin is right wing Phil Kessel, who is thus far unsigned and saying he accepts at this stage in his career that he may no longer be an everyday player. Guerin likes and knows Kessel from their Pittsburgh days, so it wouldn’t be shocking if he’s considered or is considering it.
The 35-year-old Madison, Wisconsin native played for the Gophers in college and has put together an incredible 17-year career in the NHL, playing for the Boston Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs, Pittsburgh Penguins, Arizona Coyotes and the Vegas Golden Knights.
Kessel has more than 1,200 games under his belt, including 82 last season with the Golden Knights when he had 14 goals and 22 assists. He averaged 12 minutes, 49 seconds of ice time per game last season, having spent most of his career playing upwards of 19-20 minutes a game.
Minnesota’s forwards are basically set for the upcoming season, with the projected lines, which are subject to change, looking something like this…
- L1: Kirill Kaprizov – Ryan Hartman – Mats Zuccarello
- L2: Marcus Johansson – Joel Eriksson Ek – Matt Boldy
- L3: Marcus Foligno – Marco Rossi – Frederick Gaudreau
- L4: Pat Maroon – Conor Dewar – Brandon Duhaime
If Kessel doesn’t sign, the likes of Sammy Walker and Adam Beckman are the most likly forwards with the Iowa Wild who could replace any of the forwards if someone goes down with an injury.
The Wild open the regular season in just under a month, Oct. 12 at home against the Florida Panthers. The first preseason game is Sept. 24 at Colorado.
