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Ice Lab

Defence · #7

Michael Kesselring

Arizona Coyotes Utah Mammoth Buffalo Sabres San Jose Sharks(traded during the season)
Age
26
Shoots
Right
Height
196 cm
Weight
98 kg
Born
Florence, USA
Draft
2018, round 6, #164 (EDM)

Career · 2022–23 to 2026–27

Games
74
Goals
5
Points
24
TOI per game
15:57
xGF% (5v5)
47.3%
Goals above expected
+0.6
ShowAll teamsArizona CoyotesUtah MammothBuffalo SabresSan Jose Sharks

Season by season

The regular-season line for each season, with the total, by team for traded players.

2022–23ARI9033−117:0680.0%00.544.7%
2023–24ARI6551621+1115:48766.6%03.947.6%
2024–25UTA8272229+417:411504.7%37.554.4%
2025–26BUF34022013:24460.0%02.151.5%
2026–27SJS5000−219:3450.0%00.129.0%
Total4 teams195124355+1216:202854.2%314.050.6%

Form

Rolling averages smooth out single games so the trend shows.

Form, ten-game rolling

Points and individual expected goals per game (left scale), averaged over the previous ten games. Ice time is on the second chart.

Points per gameixG per gameTOI per game (minutes)
00.20.40.60.810203040506070
13m14m15m16m17m18m19m10203040506070Game

Player card

Model-based

How 2022–23 to 2026–27 compares with everyone else at the position over the same seasons, and the players with the most similar profile.

Overall rating

1st pair

75th percentile among qualified defencemen, blending scoring 30%, play-driving 50%, usage 20%.

  1. 1st pair
  2. 2nd pair
  3. 3rd pair
  4. Extra / AHL

Scoring

1st pair
  • Goals /600.2365th pct
  • Assists /600.8171st pct
  • ixG /600.2680th pct
  • Shots /605.3787th pct

Play-driving

2nd pair
  • xGF% (5v5)50.6%63rd pct
  • CF% (5v5)51.8%78th pct
  • Relative xGF%+0.968th pct
  • xGA /60 (lower is better)2.5054th pct

Usage

3rd pair
  • TOI per game16:2037th pct
  • PP time share9.2%58th pct
  • PK time share11.3%23rd pct
  • Quality of competition24.5%58th pct

Percentiles among defencemen with 200+ minutes at 5-on-5 and 20+ games. Ratings rank each column's average percentile among the same players and read it as a role on a depth chart (how).

Most similar players this season

  1. Nils LundkvistDAL0.85
  2. Mike ReillyNYI/CAR0.79
  3. Brad Hunt0.77
  4. Charle-Edouard D'AstousTBL0.75
  5. Marc Del GaizoNSH0.70
  6. Pierre-Olivier JosephPIT/STL0.70

Finishing

Model-based

Did the goals match the chances?

Goals against expected goals

Cumulative goals (solid) and individual xG (dashed) through the season. The gap is finishing: above the dashed line, the player scored more than an average shooter would from the same chances.

+0.6 goals above expected

01234510203040506070Game

Goals above expected, everyone at the same position with 20+ games

−15−10−50+5+10+15+20+25

Speed and tracking

From the NHL's EDGE tracking system (2021–22 on): skating speed, shot speed, distance and zone time, for the selected seasons and then every tracked season, to show improvement or decline.

Tracking data (NHL EDGE)

Values from the NHL's puck and player tracking, with the NHL's own league percentile for each. Missing values mean the player wasn't tracked enough.

Tracking

  • Top skating speed34.6 km/h89th pct
  • Speed bursts over 20 mph125th pct
  • Hardest shot137.4 km/h66th pct
  • Distance skated14 km59th pct
  • Offensive-zone time37.3%15th pct
Tracking, season by season

Each season against the other defencemen that season with 20+ games. A season in progress appears once half its games are played, as provisional: season bests only grow. Bursts and distance are per 60 minutes of ice time, so seasons with fewer games still compare. Percentiles are on these rates, so they can differ from the NHL's, which are on season totals.

This playerMedian defencemanMiddle half (25th–75th percentile)Hollow dot: too few games to rank, or a season in progress (*, dashed). Dotted line: no NHL games that season.

Top skating speed

34.9 km/h35th pct

▼ −1.0 km/h since 2024–25

3434.53535.53636.522–2323–2424–2525–262022–23: 35.9 km/h, 69th percentile (9 games, too few to rank reliably)2023–24: 35.5 km/h, 58th percentile (65 games)2024–25: 35.9 km/h, 67th percentile (82 games)2025–26: 34.9 km/h, 35th percentile (34 games)

Bursts over 20 mph per 60

3.490th pct

▼ −1.3 since 2024–25

024622–2323–2424–2525–262022–23: 2.3, 79th percentile (9 games, too few to rank reliably)2023–24: 4.1, 95th percentile (65 games)2024–25: 4.8, 97th percentile (82 games)2025–26: 3.4, 90th percentile (34 games)

Distance skated per 60

14.2 km85th pct

▼ −0.5 km since 2024–25

12.51313.51414.51522–2323–2424–2525–262022–23: 13.8 km, 66th percentile (9 games, too few to rank reliably)2023–24: 14.5 km, 93rd percentile (65 games)2024–25: 14.7 km, 98th percentile (82 games)2025–26: 14.2 km, 85th percentile (34 games)

Hardest shot

152.2 km/h68th pct

▼ −14.8 km/h since 2024–25

13014015016017022–2323–2424–2525–262022–23: 157.5 km/h, 83rd percentile (9 games, too few to rank reliably)2023–24: 153.3 km/h, 67th percentile (65 games)2024–25: 167.0 km/h, 99th percentile (82 games)2025–26: 152.2 km/h, 68th percentile (34 games)

Offensive-zone time

41.0%41st pct

▼ −0.7 points since 2024–25

34%36%38%40%42%44%46%22–2323–2424–2525–262022–23: 36.8%, 3rd percentile (9 games, too few to rank reliably)2023–24: 40.9%, 38th percentile (65 games)2024–25: 41.7%, 49th percentile (82 games)2025–26: 41.0%, 41st percentile (34 games)