Clayton Keller has been a silver lining for the Arizona Coyotes in their recent seasons. A “we might suck, but at least we have Clayton Keller” beacon of hope. Now, with their transition to the Utah Hockey Club, Keller has become the face of the young club.
Early Career
Clayton Keller was drafted 7th overall in the 2016 NHL Draft by the Arizona Coyotes and has been with the organization until its end.
Heading into his draft year, Keller was seen as a “speedster” with great offensive awareness and a goal-scoring ability. In early scouting, Keller was compared to Mitch Marner in regards to what he brings to the ice despite being a center, not a winger.
Keller was a product of the USNTDP playing with them for two years after finishing prep school at Shattuck St. Mary’s. He played for the National Team on the U17 and U18 teams as well as three World Junior Championship appearances.
The center also played one season with Boston University with 45 points in 32 games. He would then play three games with the Arizona Coyotes to finish his season, tallying two assists and no goals.
NHL Career
In his first full season with the Coyotes, Keller held his own, putting up 65 points in 82 games on a 29-win, 29th-place Arizona team.
Over the next couple of years, the center would begin to trend in the wrong direction, missing more games and recording fewer points. In 2020, Clayton Keller signed an 8-year, $57,200,000 contract with the Arizona Coyotes, including a $10,000,000 signing bonus, $57,200,000 guaranteed, and an average annual salary of $7,150,000.
2021-2022 was a bounce-back year for Keller, his only positive +/- season, which again, is more impressive on a 25-50-7 Coyotes team, a record that put them in 31st place in the league.
The recurring theme of Keller being a bright spot on a rather dim Arizona team is not lost on anyone. Known for his hard shot and offensive prowess, the center has become the face of the franchise for a reason. As the Coyotes kept performing worse and worse, they secured higher draft picks, finally building a young core around Keller.
2022-2023 was Keller’s career year. He hit a career-high in goals (37) and assists (49), recording 87 points in 82 games, contributing to nearly 40% of the Coyotes goals that season. This was his first and so far, only season above a point-per-game.
This season was Barrett Hayton‘s first full season in the league where he played alongside Keller and Nick Schmaltz. It is no surprise that once surrounded by high-end talent, Keller was able to have a break-out year.
Future
The now not-so-young forward is heading into his eighth full season in the league. With the recent transition from Arizona to Utah, there is high hope for this organization. The Coyotes faced their share of roster, attendance, and location troubles, so maybe a clean slate is what everyone, including the players, needs.
There is a high ceiling for Keller and a new arena with more fans may be just what he needs to have another career season. He’ll be first-line-center alongside Schmaltz and a (hopefully) healthy Hayton as well as eating up power play minutes. This is a better roster than what he’s had in recent years and Utah has a lot of strong prospects in their organization thanks to Arizona’s lackluster recent history.
Since he’s come into the league, Keller has been the selling point of this Arizona/Utah team and the team will continue to lean on him, now more so than ever.
In his early years, Keller was a young talent. However, as Arizona continued to draft new young talents like Logan Cooley and Dylan Guenther, Keller became more of a leader on this team. The new Hockey Club is still without a captain and given his experience and individual success, Keller would be a strong candidate for the position.
He can relate to players like Cooley, Guenther, Tij Iginla, and Cole Beaudoin and continue to be the face of this franchise, just under a new name, of course. Giving Keller the “C” would also signify that they want to keep him around in the long term. Keller’s deal doesn’t expire until 2027-2028, but naming him captain would help the new club send the right message.
The future is uncertain for Clayton Keller and his new Utah Hockey Club, but there is no doubt this season is crucial for both.
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