Phil Kessel may be without a team for now, but the 36-year-old is determined to return to the NHL in 2024. Hockey insider Pierre LeBrun said as much on TSN's ‘Insider Trading' on Tuesday.

“I’ve checked in on that over the last day and the answer is that [Kessel] still absolutely hopes to catch on with an NHL team,” LeBrun said. “He has not given up hope. His camp is still in contact with a couple of teams. One of the things in consideration here is that, because he hasn’t played since last year, is that there might be a team or two that says, ‘Hey come and skate with us for a bit so we can take a look at you and see where things are.' He’s been skating and trying to stay ready. After Zach Parise and Corey Perry found homes, could it be a hat trick with Phil Kessel finding a home before March 8? We’ll see.”

Phil Kessel: Hockey's ‘iron man'

Phil Kessel, Vegas Golden Knights, NHL

Kessel last played for the Vegas Golden Knights in the 2022-23 season, during which he scored 14 goals and 36 points while playing every regular-season game for the 13th consecutive and 14th total season of his career. His end-of-season goal total was tied for his third-lowest in a season. He also logged the lowest average ice time of his career of 12:49. He averaged 16:41 the season prior with the Arizona Coyotes.

In the first round of the playoffs, Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy healthy scratched Kessel for Game 5 against the Winnipeg Jets. This was the first playoff game since April 2008 in which Kessel did not play. Kessel did not play any more games in the postseason, although the Golden Knights still charged their way through the Western Conference to win the franchise's first Stanley Cup. It was Kessel's third, having won back-to-back with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2016 and 2017.

By being unsigned, Kessel's ‘iron man' streak of consecutive games played, which only includes regular-season games, remains active and frozen at 1,064, an NHL record. The last regular-season hockey game Kessel was eligible to play in and did not was Oct. 31, 2009, when Kessel's Toronto Maple Leafs lost to the Montreal Canadiens 5-4.

In addition to his games-played streak, Kessel is the closest active player to the 1,000-point mark. In his career, he has scored 413 goals and 992 points. Earlier this season, Toronto captain John Tavares became the 98th player in NHL history to surpass 1,000 career points.