The Utah Hockey Membership has anointed Clayton Keller as the primary captain in franchise historical past, the group introduced Friday.
It’s a becoming honor for the group’s first star. However courting again to this roster’s time in Arizona because the Coyotes, it’s been Keller’s group ever since former captain Oliver Ekman-Larsson was traded to the Canucks within the 2021 offseason. The 2016 seventh-overall decide has damaged out as an simple first-line risk since then, averaging simply shy of a degree per recreation during the last three seasons.
The 26-year-old winger took a career-high 228 photographs on objective final season whereas averaging 19:15 per recreation, scoring 33 occasions and including 43 assists for 76 factors in 78 contests. It was the second time Keller hit the 30-goal mark in as a few years.
He’ll be the focus of Utah’s offense in 12 months One, however it’ll now not relaxation solely on his shoulders. The work that common supervisor Invoice Armstrong did to assemble a roster rebuild in Arizona ought to begin coming to fruition this season in Salt Lake Metropolis. Names like Josh Doan and Dylan Guenther are slated to be full-time NHLers for the primary time, and 2022 third-overall decide Logan Cooley is primed for a step ahead after hitting 20 targets and 44 factors in his rookie season.
Keller exceeded the point-per-game mark as soon as throughout his 86-point exhibiting in all 82 appearances in 2022-23. Utah will seemingly be within the wild-card combine for lengthy whereas this season with John Marino and Mikhail Sergachev now in tow on the again finish, but when they’re set to carry postseason hockey to Salt Lake Metropolis in 2025, they’ll seemingly want new career-highs from their new captain.
