Michael Kesselring headshot

Michael
Andrei Kuzmenko Aydar Suniev Beckett Sennecke Brett Harrison Brian Dumoulin Bryce McConnell-Barker Conor Geekie Corson Ceulemans Daniil But Dmitri Simashev Frank Vatrano Ilya Protas Isak Rosen J.T. Compher Jacob Melanson Jonathan Drouin Jordan Spence Joseph Veleno Leo Carlsson Luke Schenn Mason Appleton Matthew Schaefer Michael Kesselring Nick Leddy Noah Ostlund Oscar Fisker Molgaard Oskar Back Paul Ludwinski Pontus Holmberg Reilly Smith Ryan Graves Ryan Johnson Ryan Strome Sandis Vilmanis Sasha Pastujov Simon Nemec Tristan Luneau Vladislav Kolyachonok William Stromgren Yanni Gourde Yegor Sidorov Zach Benson Jack LaFontaine Matthew Murray Samuel Ersson Yaroslav Askarov
No match

D · Colorado Avalanche Avalanche · USA
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Status
Pro 100%
Age / YOB
26 (2000)
Contract
$3,250,000 × 2y
Expires
RFA 2028
Waivers
Eligible
Acquired
Free Agent · Aug 2025
Drafted
2018 Rd 6 (#173) NYI
Vitals
6'5" · 215 lb
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Ratings

Percentile vs 258 d-men
CK 69 37th
FG 84 93rd
DI 61 3rd
SK 75 52nd
ST 84 89th
EN 62 14th
DU 56 13th
PH 60 20th
FO 25 98th
PA 45 14th
SC 47 30th
DF 80 38th
PS 25 69th
EX 62 33rd
LD 62 31st
OV 64 20th

Contract

Cap hit $3,250,000 3.1% of cap
Year 2 of 3
2025-26
2026-27
2027-28
Expiry Status
RFA
2028 age 28
Clauses —

Stats

OTHL Career
Season Team GP G A P P/GP +/- PiM GW PPG SHG S S% Hit
2024-25 COL 36 3 7 10 0.28 -25 56 1 1 0 16 18.8% 81
2025-26 COL 82 5 21 26 0.32 -35 158 2 1 0 81 6.2% 217
CAREER 2 yrs 118 8 28 36 0.31 -60 214 3 2 0 -- 8.2% 298
2026-27 Regular Season
XtraStats →

No regular-season games played yet.

Season Team GP G A P +/- PiM GW PPG PPP S TOI
2026-27 SJS 12 0 2 2 -4 11 0 0 0 12 19:18
On Pace - 82 0 14 14 -27 75 0 0 0 82 -
NHL Career Stats
Season Team GP G A P P/GP +/- PiM GW PPG PPP S% TOI
2022-23 ARI 9 0 3 3 0.33 -1 6 0 0 0 0.0% 17:06
2023-24 ARI 65 5 16 21 0.32 +11 66 2 0 0 6.6% 15:48
2024-25 Utah Hockey Club 82 7 22 29 0.35 +4 89 1 1 3 4.7% 17:41
2025-26 BUF 34 0 2 2 0.06 0 50 0 0 0 0.0% 13:24
2026-27 SJS 12 0 2 2 0.17 -4 11 0 0 0 0.0% 19:18
Career NHL 202 12 45 57 0.28 +10 222 3 1 3 4.1% -

History

Overall, season by season

Above the band is elite. Inside it, above average. Below it, below average.

OV Defensemen, average to top 10%

Attributes

Season Age Pos Team CK FG DI SK ST EN DU PH FO PA SC DF PS EX LD OV
2023-24 23 D COL 75 74 78 58 74 73 78 56 25 42 55 63 52 44 44 60
2024-25 24 D COL 81 64 72 75 73 68 86 62 25 59 49 70 25 53 53 65
2025-26 25 D COL 76 86 70 77 84 72 99 65 25 61 50 69 25 60 60 68
2026-27 26 D COL 69 84 61 75 84 62 56 60 25 45 47 80 25 62 62 64
Season Age Pos Team CK FG DI SK ST EN DU PH FO PA SC DF PS EX LD OV
2023-24 23 D COL 75 74 78 58 74 73 78 56 25 42 55 63 52 44 44 60
2024-25 24 D COL +6 −10 −6 +17 −1 −5 +8 +6 · +17 −6 +7 −27 +9 +9 +5
2025-26 25 D COL −5 +22 −2 +2 +11 +4 +13 +3 · +2 +1 −1 · +7 +7 +3
2026-27 26 D COL −7 −2 −9 −2 · −10 −43 −5 · −16 −3 +11 · +2 +2 −4
Starting Team Salary Length Cap % Age Signed as
2023-24 COL $950,000 2 yr 1.1% 23 RFA Rookie
2025-26 COL $3,250,000 3 yr 3.4% 25 RFA CURRENT
No trades on record