Phil Kessel Is Heading Into Season 17 Looking Like An Absolute Snack
PHIL! Looking like a skinny betch!
Buddy decided he was going to gamble on himself this year. He took a $6.5M pay cut to sign a 1-year deal with the Vegas Golden Knights this season. Sure, he might be 34-years-old but The Thrill still has a lot of good years left in the tank. This wasn't meant to be the final contract of his career. This was Phil Kessel signing on to join a forward group that can score at will, and rack up as many assists as humanly possible so he can sign one more massive ticket next summer.
So he goes out and turns himself into a lean, mean, point scoring machine. Maybe he ends up on a line with Eichel this year, maybe he ends up on a line with William Karlsson, maybe he's got Jonathan Marchessault on the other wing, maybe he's got Reilly Smith. Either way, if you slot Phil Kessel into this top 6 in Vegas, he's putting up numbers. 20 goals, 45 assists. He might have to lay off the cola for the rest of the season, but clearly it is working. Handsome little devil.
The only thing I'm worried about here is his durability now that he's shed a few lbs. Phil Kessel is just 7 games away from tying Keith Yandle's NHL all-time Ironman streak. I just hope that Skinny Phil can take the carnage from those first 8 games of the season. It's like going from a Chevy Silverado to a Corvette. Either way, big year for the Thrill coming up here. Legend.