With the opening of NHL training camps soon to be on the horizon, the Vegas Golden Knights announced Wednesday that the club had signed one of the last remaining, high-profile unrestricted free agents.
“The team has signed forward Phil Kessel to a one-year contract worth an average annual value of $1,500,000,” the team said in a post on its website.
With the contract, the 34-year-old winger has an opportunity to set a new NHL record for most consecutive games played, a benchmark often referred to as the “iron man record.”
READ MORE: Keith Yandle sets NHL record by playing in 965th straight game
Kessel, who originally hails from Wisconsin, has appeared in 982 consecutive games, just seven shy of Keith Yandle’s all-time record.
Yandle broke the previous record of 964 straight games played by Doug Jarvis in January.
Kessel began his NHL career with the Boston Bruins in the 2006-07 season. He went on to play for the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Pittsburgh Penguins where he would be a member of two Stanley Cup winning teams. He spent the last three seasons with the Arizona Coyotes.
READ MORE: Toronto Maple Leafs trade Phil Kessel to Pittsburgh Penguins
In 1,204 career regular-season NHL games, Kessel has scored 399 goals and accumulated 956 points.
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