The Utah Hockey Club has anointed Clayton Keller as the first captain in franchise history, the team announced Friday.
It’s a fitting honor for the team’s first star. But dating back to this roster’s time in Arizona as the Coyotes, it’s been Keller’s team ever since former captain Oliver Ekman-Larsson was traded to the Canucks in the 2021 offseason. The 2016 seventh-overall pick has broken out as an undeniable first-line threat since then, averaging just shy of a point per game over the last three seasons.
The 26-year-old winger took a career-high 228 shots on goal last season while averaging 19:15 per game, scoring 33 times and adding 43 assists for 76 points in 78 contests. It was the second time Keller hit the 30-goal mark in as many years.
He’ll be the focal point of Utah’s offense in Year One, but it’ll no longer rest entirely on his shoulders. The work that general manager Bill Armstrong did to construct a roster rebuild in Arizona should start coming to fruition this season in Salt Lake City. Names like Josh Doan and Dylan Guenther are slated to be full-time NHLers for the first time, and 2022 third-overall pick Logan Cooley is primed for a step forward after hitting 20 goals and 44 points in his rookie season.
Keller exceeded the point-per-game mark once during his 86-point showing in all 82 appearances in 2022-23. Utah will likely be in the wild-card mix for a good long while this season with John Marino and Mikhail Sergachev now in tow on the back end, but if they’re set to bring postseason hockey to Salt Lake City in 2025, they’ll likely need new career-highs from their new captain.
PyramidHeadcrab
Have they announced a timeline for giving this club a proper name, or are they just gonna roll with Utah HC?
Josh Erickson
They said multiple times over the offseason it’s only for year one. Had a fan vote on a permanent team name that will roll from 2025-26 onward
Palehosed85
I’ve heard talk over the past year on NHL radio of them being called the Utah Yeti. According to Bill Armstrong, it has been an extremely popular name, especially with kids.
Roidville Slugger
Utah Football Team, I thought they were going with…
RipperMagoo
Kids are idiots and Yeti is gimmicky garbage.
Utah Americans, Utah 96’s, Utah Cimarron, Utah Summits.
PyramidHeadcrab
Reminder that we literally have a team called the “Maple Leafs” and your gatekeeping is pointless in consideration of that reality.
RipperMagoo
As a Canadian, the maple leaf is a symbol for the country. No different than Americans loving the stars and stripes.
“… gatekeeping is pointless in consideration of that reality.” sounds like something from a 12 year old’s book report written by Chat GPT the night before its due.