Rumour: Phil Kessel could be heading back to Canada as a rental at the trade deadline
Former Toronto Maple Leafs winger and two-time Stanley Cup winner Phil Kessel could be on his way back to Canada this season, according to a report from long-time NHL reporter Jim Matheson.
Matheson isn't exactly one to break a lot of trade rumours, so take this with a grain of salt, but he believes that the Edmonton Oilers could have significant interest in bringing Kessel in to upgrade at the 2nd line RW position, provided that the Arizona Coyotes would eat 50% of his contract.
Kessel, 34, is a pending UFA and carries a $6.8M cap hit for this season, with the Leafs currently paying $1.2M of his $8M AAV as a part of the original trade that sent Kessel to the Pittsburgh Penguins, where the Madison, WI native won his two championships.
If the Coyotes are willing to retain $3.4M of Kessel's deal, it would certainly provide Phil "The Thrill" with a pretty solid opportunity to chase his third career Stanley Cup, alongside Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and the Oilers.
Kessel may be on the downslide in his career, but if there's one thing we know about Kessel from his 1151-game NHL career, it's that he knows how to generate offense. His 921 career NHL points are evidence of that.
Kessel currently sits just 4 goals shy of the 400 mark, sitting at 396. He has 5 goals and 17 points in 29 games with the Coyotes this season.
