Philip Joseph Kessel Jr. (born October 2, 1987) is an American professional ice hockey winger who is an unrestricted free agent. Nicknamed "Phil the Thrill", he has previously played for the Boston Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs, Pittsburgh Penguins, Arizona Coyotes, and the Vegas Golden Knights of the National Hockey League (NHL). Kessel is a three-time Stanley Cup champion, winning back-to-back championships with the Penguins in 2016 and 2017 and with the Golden Knights in 2023.
Kessel is a product of the USA Hockey National Team Development Program as an identified elite player under the age of 18. He finished his amateur career playing collegiate hockey in the NCAA for the University of Minnesota in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA). He was then selected fifth overall in the 2006 NHL entry draft by the Boston Bruins. After his rookie season, 2006–07, he was awarded the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy for overcoming testicular cancer while continuing his professional career. In 2009, Kessel was traded from Boston to the Toronto Maple Leafs where he spent six seasons before being dealt to the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2015. Kessel won his first and second Stanley Cup championships with the Pittsburgh Penguins in back-to-back seasons with wins over the San Jose Sharks and the Nashville Predators, respectively; he then won a third Stanley Cup championship with the Vegas Golden Knights in 2023, over the Florida Panthers.
Kessel is known as a natural goal scorer, having totaled 400 goals over the course of his career, and for holding the all-time NHL ironman record for the most consecutive games played, with 1,064; during the 2020–21 season, he became the fifth player ever to record 900 consecutive games played. During the 2022–23 season, Kessel passed Keith Yandle's streak as the longest in NHL history on October 25, 2022, after playing his 990th consecutive game; several weeks later, on November 17, Kessel became the first player in NHL history to play 1,000 consecutive games. Kessel's streak spanned 1,064 consecutive games from the onset of the 2009–10 season. As of the 2024–25 season, the streak stands as the NHL record.
Kessel plays internationally for the United States, and has played at three World Championships and the 2010 and 2014 Winter Olympics, winning a silver medal in 2010 and being named the top forward in 2014.
Kessel played youth hockey with the AAA Madison Capitols in his hometown of Madison, Wisconsin. An offensive standout from a young age, Kessel put up 286 points (176 goals and 110 assists) in 86 games with his AAA bantam squad in 2001–02. He followed up on that effort the next year with the Capitols under-18 team where, during the 2002–03 season, he produced 158 points (113 goals and 45 assists) in 71 games. Kessel credits former Capitols coach and 1980 U.S. Olympian Bob Suter for becoming the player he is today.
For the 2003–04 season, Kessel moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan, to join the United States National Team Development Program's U17 squad. He set NTDP records for goals (52) for a U17–18 players. During the 2004–05 season, Kessel played full-time on the U18 team scoring 52 goals and 98 points, both of which were, at the time, records for an U18 player. His points record was surpassed by Patrick Kane who recorded 102 points and the same 52 goals in the next 2005–06 season. Almost 15 years later, on March 15, 2019, another Wisconsin phenom Cole Caufield scored a career-high six goals to reach 105 and pass Kessel's career 104 goals from 2003–05 for the NTDP lead.
Kessel graduated from Pioneer High School in 2005. However, because his birthday falls after September 15, he was not eligible for the NHL entry draft that year. After finishing his two years at NTDP, Kessel enrolled at University of Minnesota on a sports scholarship and played for the Golden Gophers men's ice hockey team for the 2005–06 season. His first collegiate goal came on a penalty shot, marking the first time in team history that a player scored his first career goal on a penalty shot. As a rookie freshman, Kessel finished second on the team in scoring with 51 points (18 goals and 33 assists) in 39 games, behind Ryan Potulny. He was named the 2005–06 WCHA Rookie of the Year and named to the 2005–06 All-Rookie Team.
Kessel was drafted fifth overall by the Boston Bruins in the 2006 NHL entry draft. He subsequently signed an entry-level contract with the team on August 17, 2006, thereby forgoing his final three years of college eligibility.
On August 17, 2006, the Bruins announced that they had signed Kessel to a three-year, entry-level contract worth the rookie maximum of $850,000.
Kessel made his NHL debut on October 6, 2006, in an 8–3 loss to the Florida Panthers. On December 11, Kessel's family announced that he was hospitalized for a reason unrelated to hockey, and WBZ-TV reported that Kessel was diagnosed with a form of testicular cancer. On December 16, Kessel was pronounced cancer-free. On January 5, 2007, he was assigned to the Providence Bruins, Boston's American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, for conditioning purposes and then recalled on January 7. Kessel returned to the Bruins lineup on January 9, against the Ottawa Senators, after missing only 11 regular season games following cancer surgery.
Kessel was named to the 2007 NHL YoungStars Game in Dallas on January 23, 2007. He recorded a hat-trick (including a powerplay goal, plus the game-winner) and an assist during a 9–8 Eastern Conference victory. While Kessel was not among top rookies in goals or assists, for the 2006–07 season he was second among rookies with four shootout goals (in seven attempts). Each was a game-deciding goal.
At the conclusion of the season, Kessel was voted by Boston sports writers as the team's candidate for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy after battling testicular cancer.
At the 2007 NHL Awards Ceremony at the Elgin Theatre in Toronto, Kessel was officially selected as the recipient of the 2007 Masterton Trophy.
For the 2007–08 season Kessel led the league with 5 game-deciding shootout goals (out of 13 attempts in shootouts). He set a Bruins career record with 9 shootout-deciding goals, surpassed by Patrice Bergeron seven years later.
Kessel scored the first Bruins goal of the 2008–09 season, in a 5–4 Bruins victory against the Colorado Avalanche. Kessel ended the regular season on a high note, scoring his second career hat-trick in the April 12, 2009, 6–2 visitors' victory against the New York Islanders, and amassing the highest number of NHL regular season goals so far in his career with 36, the most on the Bruins that season. He also tied Ed Olczyk for longest point streak by an American-born NHL player (18 games, 14 goals and 14 assists for 28 points during streak) in late 2008. It is now the third-longest such point streak after Patrick Kane's 26-game streak in late 2015 and 20-game streak in the beginning of 2019.
Kessel played an integral role in Boston's run during the 2009 Stanley Cup playoffs, leading the Bruins with six goals before losing to the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference Semifinals in seven games. After the playoffs, it was reported that Kessel needed off-season shoulder surgery to repair an injury most likely incurred during a 2–0 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on March 10. The surgery was successfully performed during the off-season, with recuperation forcing Kessel to miss the start of the 2009–10 season.
Toronto Maple Leafs (2009–2015)
On September 18, 2009, the Bruins traded Kessel to the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for a 2010 first-round pick (Tyler Seguin), a 2010 second-round pick (Jared Knight) and a 2011 first-round pick (Dougie Hamilton). Immediately afterward, the Leafs signed him to a five-year, $27 million contract.