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Phil Kessel

#8 · Right wing · Vegas Golden Knights

Born Oct 2, 1987 in Madison, Wisconsin, USA · 5'11", 208 lb · Shoots right · Drafted 5th overall in 2006 by BOS (round 1)

Trophy case

Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy Perseverance, Sportsmanship and Dedication 2006-07

Compare with a similar player

The forwards closest to him in points in 2015-16. Pick one to see the two side by side, or choose someone else.

Brayden Schenn PHI · 59 P in 80 GP Mike Hoffman OTT · 59 P in 78 GP Jonathan Huberdeau FLA · 59 P in 76 GP Matt Duchene COL · 59 P in 76 GP Aleksander Barkov FLA · 59 P in 66 GP

Career

Regular season games only. Pick a season to see its game log below. Cap hit is what he counted against the salary cap that season, where it is known.

0204060802006-07: 29 points2906-072007-08: 37 points372008-09: 60 points6008-092009-10: 55 points552010-11: 64 points6410-112011-12: 82 points822012-13: 52 points5212-132013-14: 80 points802014-15: 61 points6114-152015-16: 59 points592016-17: 70 points7016-172017-18: 92 points922018-19: 82 points8218-192019-20: 38 points382020-21: 43 points4320-212021-22: 52 points522022-23: 36 points3622-23

Points by season. The darker bar is the season shown below.

Season Team GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP Cap hit
2006-07 BOS 70 11 18 29 -12 12 170 12 0.41
2007-08 BOS 82 19 18 37 -6 28 213 11 0.45
2008-09 BOS 70 36 24 60 23 16 232 6 0.86
2009-10 TOR 70 30 25 55 -8 21 297 13 0.79 $5.4M
2010-11 TOR 82 32 32 64 -20 24 325 11 0.78 $5.4M
2011-12 TOR 82 37 45 82 -10 20 295 12 1.00 $5.4M
2012-13 TOR 48 20 32 52 -3 18 161 16 1.08 $5.4M
2013-14 TOR 82 37 43 80 -5 27 305 25 0.98 $5.4M
2014-15 TOR 82 25 36 61 -34 30 280 18 0.74 $8M
2015-16 PIT 82 26 33 59 9 18 274 9 0.72 $8M
2016-17 PIT 82 23 47 70 3 20 229 12 0.85 $8M
2017-18 PIT 82 34 58 92 -4 36 261 10 1.12 $8M
2018-19 PIT 82 27 55 82 -19 28 215 12 1.00 $8M
2019-20 ARI 70 14 24 38 -21 22 153 11 0.54 $8M
2020-21 ARI 56 20 23 43 -17 12 115 8 0.77 $8M
2021-22 ARI 82 8 44 52 -24 40 175 6 0.63 $8M
2022-23 VGK 82 14 22 36 -7 30 149 10 0.44 $1.5M
17 seasons Career 1286 413 579 992 -155 402 3849 202 0.77

Playoffs

Playoff games only. Pick a season to see that year's bracket.

Season Team GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP
2007-08 BOS 4 3 1 4 1 2 13 4 1.00
2008-09 BOS 11 6 5 11 7 4 38 1 1.00
2012-13 TOR 7 4 2 6 3 2 29 1 0.86
2015-16 PIT 24 10 12 22 5 4 98 9 0.92
2016-17 PIT 25 8 15 23 12 2 68 8 0.92
2017-18 PIT 12 1 8 9 -5 2 18 1 0.75
2018-19 PIT 4 1 1 2 -1 2 14 3 0.50
2019-20 ARI 9 1 3 4 -1 4 22 6 0.44
2022-23 VGK 4 0 2 2 2 2 5 3 0.50
9 seasons Playoffs 100 34 49 83 23 24 305 36 0.83

2015-16 season totals

GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP Shooting % Avg TOI
82 26 33 59 9 18 274 9 0.72 9.5 18:23

Contract

$8MCap hitends in 2022, then UFA
$136KCap dollars per point59 points in 82 games
$1.491MCap dollars per goal above replacement5.4 goals above replacement
$4MWorth at the going ratewhat teams paid for a season like his
-$4MValueworth minus cap hit; below zero is overpaid

His cap hit for the whole season, set against what he did in the regular season. Lower is better value. In a season still being played the cost per point starts high and falls as the games add up. Value is coloured by where it ranks among the 668 ranked skaters whose contract is known. How value is worked out.

The contract

Who signed him to it, and when, are not on record. It runs through 2021-22, with 6 seasons left after this one, and he is then an unrestricted free agent.

Season Cap hit
2015-16 $8M
2016-17 $8M
2017-18 $8M
2018-19 $8M
2019-20 $8M
2020-21 $8M
2021-22 $8M

Each season left on the contract. Only its cap hit and its end are known: how the pay is split by season, and any signing bonus, are not.

Contracts he has signed

Signed Signed by Kind Seasons Years In all Cap hit
2022-23 to 2022-23 $1.5M
2020-21 to 2021-22 $8M
2018-19 to 2021-22 $8M
2016-17 to 2017-18 $8M
2014-15 to 2021-22 $8M
2012-13 to 2013-14 $5.4M
2009-10 to 2013-14 $5.4M

Every contract on record for him, newest first, with the team that signed him to it and the day it was signed. The one covering 2015-16 is marked. An extension is signed while the contract before it is still running, often a year ahead. A row with no team or date is a contract known only by its cap hit, most often one signed since October 2024.

2015-16 analytics

Regular season Playoffs

Rating

+5.4Goals above replacement195th of 675 skaters, 135th of 445 forwards
+0.9Wins above replacementgoals above replacement divided by six
+1.2Goals above averagethe five parts below added up

Each number is coloured by where it ranks among the 445 ranked forwards: green is in the top fifth and red the bottom fifth, with paler shades in between and amber for the middle. Hover over a tile for its percentile.

Even-strength offence+3.5 86th percentileEven-strength defence-3.9 1st percentilePower play+0.9 87th percentilePenalty kill-0.1 23rd percentilePenalties+0.8 70th percentile

The goals he added to his team's goal difference, compared with a spare-part player given the same ice time. Each part is measured against the league, so zero is an average skater, and the rank beside it is among forwards. A full season is about two-thirds the player and one-third chance. Before 2023-24 the NHL timed events less exactly, and differently from rink to rink, so expected goals for this season are rougher than for recent ones.

-10-50510152010-112012-132014-152016-172018-192020-212022-23Goals above replacementGoals above replacement, by season

On the ice

What happened at five-on-five while he was on the ice. What these numbers mean

53.7Corsi for %1153 attempts for, 993 against
+1.4CF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
54.2Expected goals for %49.6 expected for, 42.0 against
-2.8xGF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
52.7Fenwick for %unblocked attempts
58.1Goals for %54 for, 39 against
101.4PDO8.3% shooting + 93.1% saves
315Attempts takenhis own shot attempts

Each share is coloured by where it ranks among the 561 skaters who played enough to be ranked: green is in the top fifth and red the bottom fifth, with paler shades in between and amber for the middle. Hover over a tile for its percentile. PDO and attempts taken are left plain, since neither is good or bad on its own.

Who he played with

Forward lineGPTimeCF%xGF%Goals
Evgeni Malkin · Phil Kessel · David Perron29264:4051.552.810-13
Phil Kessel · Nick Bonino · Carl Hagelin16144:0360.461.112-3
Chris Kunitz · Sidney Crosby · Phil Kessel33124:2448.146.15-5
Evgeni Malkin · Phil Kessel · Carl Hagelin12121:1159.660.710-5

The lines he spent the most time in at five-on-five, with the team's share of the shot attempts and expected goals, and the goals for and against, while they were out. The two shares are coloured as above, against the league's lines that played a fair amount together. Hover over one for its percentile.

Chances and finishing

Expected goals adds up how likely each of his shots was to go in, judged by where it came from, what kind of shot it was and whether it was a rebound. All situations, leaving out shots at an empty net. Before 2023-24 the NHL timed events less exactly, and differently from rink to rink, so expected goals for this season are rougher than for recent ones.

25Goalsnot counting empty-netters
25.0Expected goalsfrom 353 unblocked attempts
0.0Goals above expectedgoals minus expected goals
Chances created 1.00 expected goals per 60 minutes91st
Shot quality 7.1% chance per attempt40th
Finishing 0.0 goals above expected58thOne season of finishing is mostly luck.

Each bar shows the share of forwards he is ahead of, among the 412 who played 300 minutes or more this season.

01020Game 20Game 40Game 60Game 80Goals 25Expected 25.0

His goals and his expected goals as the season went on. When the goals line pulls away above, he is scoring more than his chances were worth; below, less.

Where he shot from

Every attempt he took this season, in all situations, attacking the net on the right. Darker red means more attempts from that spot, and each dot is a goal. "Show every shot" switches to a dot for each attempt, bigger for a better chance. Click a goal for its details.

Game log

Date Opponent Result G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits TOI
Apr 9, 2016 @ PHI L 1-3 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 14:22
Apr 7, 2016 @ WSH W 4-3 (OT) 0 0 0 -1 0 5 0 21:45
Apr 5, 2016 @ OTT W 5-3 0 0 0 1 0 4 0 15:34
Apr 3, 2016 vs PHI W 6-2 0 1 1 0 0 5 0 16:47
Apr 2, 2016 @ NYI W 5-0 1 0 1 0 0 4 0 15:56
Mar 31, 2016 vs NSH W 5-2 2 0 2 3 0 5 0 17:57
Mar 29, 2016 vs BUF W 5-4 (SO) 0 0 0 -1 0 4 0 16:55
Mar 27, 2016 @ NYR W 3-2 (OT) 1 1 2 2 0 5 0 17:45
Mar 26, 2016 @ DET W 7-2 1 4 5 3 0 6 0 14:10
Mar 24, 2016 vs NJD L 0-3 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 21:32
Mar 20, 2016 vs WSH W 6-2 0 0 0 -1 0 2 0 15:55
Mar 19, 2016 @ PHI W 4-1 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 17:52
Mar 17, 2016 vs CAR W 4-2 1 1 2 1 0 7 1 14:39
Mar 15, 2016 vs NYI W 2-1 (SO) 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 20:23
Mar 13, 2016 @ NYR W 5-3 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 13:57
Mar 11, 2016 @ CBJ W 3-2 0 2 2 1 0 2 0 15:32
Mar 8, 2016 @ NYI L 1-2 0 0 0 0 2 7 0 21:06
Mar 6, 2016 @ NJD W 6-1 0 1 1 1 2 4 0 17:57
Mar 5, 2016 vs CGY L 2-4 0 0 0 -2 2 3 0 19:59
Mar 3, 2016 vs NYR W 4-1 1 1 2 2 2 4 0 19:23
Mar 1, 2016 @ WSH L 2-3 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 17:26
Feb 29, 2016 vs ARI W 6-0 0 1 1 0 0 3 0 18:14
Feb 27, 2016 vs WPG W 4-1 0 1 1 2 0 3 0 16:46
Feb 24, 2016 @ BOS L 1-5 0 0 0 -1 0 4 0 15:54
Feb 21, 2016 @ BUF W 4-3 1 0 1 1 0 4 0 17:23
Feb 20, 2016 vs TBL L 2-4 0 0 0 -2 2 4 0 19:51
Feb 18, 2016 vs DET W 6-3 2 0 2 1 0 4 1 19:11
Feb 15, 2016 @ FLA L 1-2 (SO) 0 0 0 -1 0 3 0 18:53
Feb 12, 2016 @ CAR W 2-1 (SO) 1 0 1 1 0 7 0 19:20
Feb 10, 2016 vs NYR L 0-3 0 0 0 0 0 6 0 19:52
Feb 8, 2016 vs ANA W 6-2 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 12:55
Feb 6, 2016 @ FLA W 3-2 (OT) 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 16:25
Feb 5, 2016 @ TBL L 3-6 0 1 1 -4 0 4 0 18:21
Feb 2, 2016 vs OTT W 6-5 0 1 1 -2 0 2 0 19:00
Jan 26, 2016 vs NJD W 2-0 1 0 1 1 0 4 0 15:07
Jan 23, 2016 vs VAN W 5-4 0 1 1 1 0 6 0 21:08
Jan 21, 2016 vs PHI W 4-3 2 0 2 1 0 6 0 18:22
Jan 18, 2016 @ STL L 2-5 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 20:03
Jan 17, 2016 vs CAR W 5-0 0 2 2 1 0 1 0 16:55
Jan 15, 2016 @ TBL L 4-5 (OT) 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 20:51
Jan 12, 2016 @ CAR L 2-3 (OT) 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 19:19
Jan 9, 2016 @ MTL W 3-1 0 1 1 0 0 4 0 17:27
Jan 6, 2016 @ CHI L 1-3 0 1 1 -1 0 1 0 17:55
Jan 5, 2016 vs CHI L 2-3 (OT) 0 0 0 -2 0 4 0 22:00
Jan 2, 2016 vs NYI W 5-2 1 0 1 1 0 2 0 17:53
Dec 31, 2015 @ DET W 5-2 0 1 1 1 2 2 0 15:52
Dec 30, 2015 vs TOR L 2-3 (SO) 0 0 0 0 0 6 0 22:08
Dec 27, 2015 @ WPG L 0-1 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 21:52
Dec 26, 2015 @ MIN W 3-1 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 15:23
Dec 21, 2015 vs CBJ W 5-2 2 0 2 2 0 4 0 18:19
Dec 19, 2015 vs CAR L 1-2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 20:31
Dec 18, 2015 vs BOS L 2-6 0 0 0 -2 0 3 0 17:14
Dec 16, 2015 @ BOS L 0-3 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 18:53
Dec 14, 2015 vs WSH L 1-4 0 1 1 0 0 2 0 17:01
Dec 11, 2015 vs LAK L 2-3 (SO) 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 20:41
Dec 9, 2015 @ COL W 4-2 0 0 0 -1 0 1 0 15:11
Dec 6, 2015 @ ANA L 1-2 0 0 0 -1 0 3 0 21:17
Dec 5, 2015 @ LAK L 3-5 0 0 0 -3 0 1 1 19:08
Dec 1, 2015 @ SJS W 5-1 2 0 2 2 0 4 0 17:58
Nov 28, 2015 vs EDM L 2-3 (SO) 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 20:58
Nov 27, 2015 @ CBJ L 1-2 (OT) 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 21:39
Nov 25, 2015 vs STL W 4-3 (OT) 0 1 1 0 0 2 0 17:52
Nov 21, 2015 vs SJS L 1-3 1 0 1 -1 0 6 0 19:30
Nov 19, 2015 vs COL W 4-3 0 1 1 -1 0 3 0 16:33
Nov 17, 2015 vs MIN W 4-3 0 1 1 1 2 5 0 18:35
Nov 14, 2015 @ NJD L 0-4 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 19:31
Nov 13, 2015 vs CBJ L 1-2 0 0 0 1 0 4 0 20:50
Nov 11, 2015 vs MTL W 4-3 (SO) 0 1 1 1 0 7 0 19:07
Nov 7, 2015 @ CGY L 2-5 1 0 1 0 0 3 0 18:52
Nov 6, 2015 @ EDM W 2-1 1 0 1 0 0 4 0 18:47
Nov 4, 2015 @ VAN W 3-2 0 2 2 1 2 2 0 14:49
Oct 31, 2015 @ TOR W 4-0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 18:07
Oct 29, 2015 vs BUF W 4-3 0 1 1 -1 0 3 0 16:21
Oct 28, 2015 @ WSH W 3-1 1 0 1 1 0 2 0 16:41
Oct 24, 2015 @ NSH W 2-1 (OT) 1 0 1 0 0 6 0 19:20
Oct 22, 2015 vs DAL L 1-4 0 0 0 -1 0 3 0 22:28
Oct 20, 2015 vs FLA W 3-2 (OT) 1 0 1 0 0 3 0 21:00
Oct 17, 2015 vs TOR W 2-1 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 20:47
Oct 15, 2015 vs OTT W 2-0 0 0 0 0 0 4 2 18:29
Oct 13, 2015 vs MTL L 2-3 0 1 1 0 0 3 0 20:46
Oct 10, 2015 @ ARI L 1-2 1 0 1 1 0 3 0 19:09
Oct 8, 2015 @ DAL L 0-3 0 0 0 0 0 6 0 19:40