Fantasy Take: Phil! Kessel Heading to Vegas
Michael Clifford
2022-08-25
There were a handful of notable names still on the free agency board once Nazem Kadri was signed, among them Paul Stastny, P.K. Subban, and Phil Kessel. In a bit of serendipity, Stastny was signed just hours after I posted a Ramblings discussing what these guys could bring to the fantasy game when (if) whey were signed.
Fast forward two days, and another was taken off the board as Vegas has signed Kessel to a one-year deal:
He carries a $1.5M cap hit. Let's get into it.
What Vegas Gets
To save some time, it's probably best to go just read that Ramblings linked above. We discussed what Kessel did in Arizona, the skills and deficits he can bring to a team, and what we might be able to expect from him moving forward.
When it comes to Vegas specifically, it's a matter of where he ends up in their line combinations. They have Mark Stone and Reilly Smith as right wingers that would likely be ahead of Kessel on the depth chart. That would push Kessel to the third line and with the likes of Nicolas Roy or Chandler Stephenson, rather than up the lineup with Jonathan Marchessault or Jack Eichel. Or they could move Smith to his strong side and put Kessel on the second line, which would be great for his fantasy value.
What I will say is that skating with Roy may not be a bad thing. He is a very underrated centre, coming off a 39-point season on what was just a mess of a Vegas team last year. He has good playmaking skills which could mesh well with Kessel, it's just the ice time is a factor here. Skating in the top-6 could see 17-18 minutes a night for Kessel, and 2-3 minutes fewer if he's on the third line.
The power play is the crux of all of this. Vegas was in the bottom-10 of the league in goals/60 minutes at 5-on-4 last year as they worked through all their injuries and underperformance. If Kessel can get run on the top PP unit, he's a guy they could use on his off-wing. Skating on the third line wouldn't be ideal but combine that with a top PP role, and there's fantasy value here in points-only leagues.
It will all hinge on his power-play role. His fantasy value can't survive with third-line, second PP duties. Vegas, however, needs more scorers and playmakers, and that is what they got here. Bad luck for guys like Keegan Kolesar and Michael Amadio, though, as they're now fourth liners until (if) injuries pile up.
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