Vegas Teammates Surprised at Fitness Level of Phil Kessel

Phil Kessel has never been the most "in shape" guy during his NHL career and at one point, when he was asked what he does during the off-season, he simply said "skate, and a lot of leg days."

As Kessel enters the twilight of his career at the age of 34 however, he's realized that he needs to take better care of himself. Kessel came into Vegas training camp 15 pounds lighter than he was listed at last season. Kessel is just 8 games shy of setting a new ironman record for consecutive games played of 990, (currently at 982). That would surpass the record of 989 set by Keith Yandle just last season.

From what he had heard about Kessel, Mark Stone was expecting to see a guy "way out of shape" but was surprised at the strength and fitness level of Kessel. Kessel joined Vegas on a one-year, $1.5M deal and is looking to rebound after scoring just 8 goals all of last season in Arizona.