NHL star Phil Kessel psyched about joining ‘good team that wants to win’

NHL veteran Phil Kessel will enter his 17th season in the league with the Vegas Golden Knights, and he’s excited about the potential of winning his third Stanley Cup title.

Kessel spent the last three seasons with the Arizona Coyotes. The team only made the postseason in the coronavirus-impacted 2019-20 season. Other than that, the team floundered. His 52 points last season were the most he produced since his final year with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2018-19, when he had 82.

“When you get a chance to play on a good team that wants to win, you’re always looking forward to it,” Kessel said. 

“Over the last couple years, you get lost here, and people don’t view you any more like you used to be viewed. And I don’t think that’s the case. I’m very motivated to come in here and help this team and try to contend. I’m very motivated, and I think I’m going to have a great year.

“When you want to win, and everyone on the team wants to win, it’s a different feeling, a different vibe. Arizona, they had great guys. All the players, they’re great kids and a lot of good people there. But when you don’t want to necessarily win and contend, it becomes difficult as a player, especially when you came from Pittsburgh, and I wanted to win.”

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Kessel, with an upstart Golden Knights team, could get back to the playoffs. Vegas missed the playoffs for the first time in franchise history last season.

Kessel is one goal away from the 400-goal milestone. He’s also poised to break Keith Yandle’s consecutive games played mark. He has played in 982 consecutive games. Yandle’s record is 989.

He signed a one-year deal with Vegas Wednesday.

“Phil’s an established NHL veteran who has enjoyed great success,” Vegas general manager Kelly McCrimmon said Thursday. “He’s been consistently productive over his entire career. 

“He’s been a Stanley Cup champion on two occasions. He has a high-end skill set, probably unique in some respects to the rest of our forwards, which is a little bit of where the appeal was for us.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.