Report: Phil Kessel To Play For Pittsburgh Penguins Rival?

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Tyler Ball
September 5, 2023 (1:26 PM)

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The Pittsburgh Penguins and Phil Kessel have a long history together. His biggest successes of his career have mostly come when in a Penguins jersey. Now one report is suggesting that Phil would fit in with one of Pittsburgh's biggest rivals.

Kessel In Pittsburgh

Phil Kessel spent four seasons with the Pittsburgh Penguins. He recorded his career high in points at 92 while in Pittsburgh. Kessel also won 2 of his 3 Stanley Cups while in the Steel City.

Kessel's prime was spent in Pittsburgh helping the city bring its most recent championships but now the 3-time champion might be on his way to one of Pittsburgh's biggest rivals.

Kessel To Columbus

According to a new report written on 1st Ohio Battery by Dan Dukart the Columbus Blue Jackets are potentially a perfect for Phil Kessel.

Kessel of course has the longest Iron Man streak in the NHL at 1,064 games. While he recently told Elliotte Friedman that he would be open to ending the streak to continue playing Columbus could potentially give him the best opportunity to continue the streak.

The Blue Jackets are looking to get back into the playoffs after a disappointing 2022-23 season. With a core built around players like Johnny Gaudreau, Kent Johnson, and Patrik Laine among others the Blue Jackets are very young.

The Blue Jackets also have enough cap space to comfortably fit Kessel in. Columbus currently has over 4 million in cap space. Plenty to bring in Kessel but still have flexibility for other moves.

Adding in Kessel could bring some veteran leadership that could potentially be needed. Along with this Kessel would likely be a good option to play on a third line as a pure offensive creator.

This would allow Kessel to continue his games played streak in the early part of the year. If he struggles he can go to the press box and still continue to be a leader and build a good culture in Columbus.

As Read On - 1st Ohio Battery - SPORTSNET'S ELLIOTTE FRIEDMAN REPORTS THAT UFA PHIL KESSEL WANTS TO CONTINUE HIS CAREER; COULD HE FIT WITH THE BLUE JACKETS?