Kessel had a fantastic 2004-05 season, one in which many NHL scouts ranked him as a prospect comparable to Sidney Crosby. Born in October, Kessel missed the 2005 NHL Entry Draft cutoff by only one month. However, in 2005-06, Kessel experienced several setbacks that hurt his ranking as a prospect. Considered the most talented player on the favoured United States team in the 2006 World Junior Championships, he scored only one goal and the team finished in fourth. His college performance was worse than expected; by season's end he was only playing third-line minutes. Than, a Minneapolis news team performed a sting operation against a local bar serving underage athletes, and Kessel was one of those caught.
However, Kessel was still viewed highly enough that he was drafted 5th overall in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft by the Boston Bruins. Prior to the draft he dropped in ranking from first to second place among the North American skaters and in the final ranking he was ranked fifth among the North American skaters.
On August 17, 2006, The Bruins announced that Phil signed a multi-year entry-level contract, reportedly worth the rookie maximum of $850,000.
On December 11, 2006, his family announced that Kessel was hospitalized for a reason unrelated to hockey. Later during the day, Bob Lobel, a sportscaster in the region of Boston, confirmed that Phil was diagnosed with a form of testicular cancer.
On December 16, 2006, Phil was announced cancer-free. On January 5, 2007, he was assigned to Providence for conditioning purposes and then recalled on January 7. Kessel returned to the Bruins line-up on January 9, against the Ottawa Senators, after missing only 11 regular season games following cancer surgery.
Phil was named to the 2007 NHL YoungStars game which took place in Dallas, Texas on January 23, 2007. He recorded a hat trick (including a unique powerplay with a game-winning) and an assist during this game in a 9-8 Eastern Conference victory.
While Phil is not among top rookies in goals or assists, he became second among rookies with four shootout goals (4 of 7). Each goal was a game-deciding one, that brought his team a win.
On March 31, 2007, Boston Herald's author Stephen Harris reported that Phil Kessel was voted by Boston writers as the B's candidate for the Masterton Trophy. Later, on June 14, at the Elgin Theatre in Toronto, NHL announced that Phil was selected as the recipient of the 2007 Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy (for perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey).
His first shootout goal of the 2007-08 NHL season came on October 20, 2007, playing in Boston against the New York Rangers, and was the only goal scored in that game.
Phil has a cousin that plays in the NHL, David Moss, Calgary Flames
