Before high school, Kessel played boys' youth hockey for the Madison Capitols, winning state and regional championships in the 2005–06 season.

They repeated as national champions in her junior year, which saw her score 44 goals and 100 points in 34 games.

[13] Skating for Team New Hampshire during the 2020–21 PWHPA season, Kessel participated in a PWHPA Dream Gap Tour event at New York's Madison Square Garden on February 28, 2021, the first women's ice hockey event at the venue.

[14] Playing for a team sponsored by the Women's Sports Foundation, Kessel recorded a goal and an assist in a 4–3 win,[15] earning the Second Star of the Game.

In the 2008 Under 18 World Championships, she played in five games with Team USA and tallied 11 points, ranking third among all players in scoring.

[17] On April 20, 2022, the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League (NHL) announced that Kessel would be the first member of their Executive Management Program,[18] a one-year fellowship designed to give women and minority groups administrative expertise in preparation for a job in NHL management.

[19] She earned a promotion on August 4, 2023 when she was named as a Special Assistant to the Penguins President of Hockey Operations and General Manager, Kyle Dubas.