We are less than a month away from the 2022 Trade deadline and its going to be a busy time for Coyotes GM Bill Armstrong. He already has most of the league inquiring about defenceman Jakob Chychrun, but Phil Kessel is now flying under the radar and undervalued in the NHL.
Kessel has proved time and time again that he deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as some of the leagues best, after putting up 80+ points on multiple occasions, winning back to back stanley cups, and leading the playoffs in scoring during one of those cup runs.
Before he was traded to Arizona, Kessel had a 82 point season for Pittsburgh. His point production has dipped quite a bit while playing for the Coyotes, but that can be expected as he has went from teams who are known to produce offence to the Coyotes who are known for the exact opposite. While on this team last season he still managed to score 20 goals in only 53 games, and this season he currently has 33 points in 50 games, while playing for the bottom of the standings Coyotes.
This is the final year of a contract that pays Kessel $8,000,000, but his currently salary cap is only $6,800,000 because the Leafs are eating some of the cap hit after trading him to Pittsburgh.
According to David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period, the Boston Bruins, Pittsburgh Penguins and Minnesota Wild are all interested in the services of Phil Kessel.
