Phil Kessel’s bonus for 2021-22 was paid out today (or at least due to be paid), as Dave Pagnotta points out.
With that bonus out of the way, the entirety of Kessel’s financial cost for the season is his $1 million in base salary. This makes him a lot more attractive to budget conscious teams who could fit his cap hit in.
Pagnotta wonders if the Coyotes could eat half of his $1 million in salary and $6.8 million in cap hit–I imagine they would. The $500,000 cash commitment would greatly increase the number of suitors they have for Kessel, and they likely won’t spend to the cap themselves this year. Arizona will be looking to have a big summer in picking up draft picks and prospects as they might potentially trade Kessel, Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Darcy Kuemper.
