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Clayton Keller

Utah Names Clayton Keller Captain

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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.

List Of Players Getting Trade Protection On July 1st

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In the current Collective Bargaining Agreement between the NHL and NHLPA, the league players can procure three types of No-Move Clauses in their contracts. The only stipulations to these clauses are that the player in question must be 27 years of age or older and must have accrued seven years of service time at the NHL level. The three types of No-Move Clauses are as follows: No Movement Clause (NMC), No Trade Clause (NTC), and Modified NMC or NTC.

Per the current CBA, an NMC means that a player cannot be waived, assigned to minors, or traded without their consent, and they also must be protected in the event of an Expansion Draft. An NTC is straightforward — giving the player protection from being traded without their approval. Lastly, a modified NMC or NTC sets an arbitrary number of teams and a time frame when a player can use this protection. In just over a week, an assortment of players will receive trade protection on their current contracts, and CapFriendly has broken it down.

 

No Movement Clauses
D Charlie McAvoy (Boston)
F Sebastian Aho (Carolina)
D Devon Toews (Colorado)
F Roope Hintz (Dallas)
D Gustav Forsling (Florida)
F Kirill Kaprizov (Minnesota)
F Joel Eriksson Ek (Minnesota)
F Jesper Bratt (New Jersey)
F Timo Meier (New Jersey)
G Ilya Sorokin (NY Islanders)
F Pierre-Luc Dubois (Washington)

No Trade Clauses
F Ross Colton (Colorado)
D Nick Seeler (Philadelphia)
D Vince Dunn (Seattle)
F Clayton Keller (Utah)
D Erik Cernak (Tampa Bay)
D Mikhail Sergachev (Tampa Bay)

Modified No Trade Clauses
F Jordan Greenway (Buffalo) – eight-team no-trade list
F Tage Thompson (Buffal0) – five-team no-trade list
D Rasmus Andersson (Calgary) – six-team no-trade list
D Samuel Girard (Colorado) – nine-team no-trade list
F Miles Wood (Colorado) – six-team no-trade list
F Alex DeBrincat (Detroit) – 16-team no-trade list
F Adrian Kempe (Los Angeles) – 10-team no-trade list
F Nico Hischier (New Jersey) – 10-team no-trade list
D John Marino (New Jersey) – eight-team no-trade list
D Jonas Siegenthaler (New Jersey) – 10-team no-trade list
F Mathew Barzal (NY Islanders) – 22-team no-trade list
D Thomas Chabot (Ottawa) – 10-team no-trade list
F Tanner Jeannot (Tampa Bay) – 16-team no-trade list
F Kyle Connor (Winnipeg) – 10-team no-trade list

Afternoon Notes: Keller, Blackwood, Lyubushkin

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Star Arizona Coyotes forward Clayton Keller could be back soon, per general manager Bill Armstrong, who designated Keller as day-to-day with an upper-body injury suffered in the team’s February 25th game against the Winnipeg Jets. Keller will miss the team’s Sunday game against the Washington Capitals, marking his fourth absence with this injury.

Alexander Kerfoot has slotted into the team’s top-line center role in Keller’s absence, scoring two points in his last three games. That brings Kerfoot’s totals up to 35 points in 60 games – the second-most he’s scored in the last five years. But it pales in comparison to Keller, who leads the Coyotes in scoring by nine points, with 22 goals and 52 points in 56 games. He and winger Matias Maccelli are the team’s only players to break 40 points so far this season, through Arizona’s first 60 games.

Keller’s upgrade to a day-to-day designation is exciting progression for a Coyotes team that’s lost 16 of their last 19 games, getting outscored 49-to-76. Keller continues to be a major piece of Arizona’s offense, averaging over 19 minutes of ice time this season, and will likely slot immediately back into their top forward role when he’s healthy.

Other notes from around the league:

  • San Jose Sharks goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood traveled with the team to face the Minnesota Wild and is trending towards making a return this week, per Sheng Peng with NBC Sports. Blackwood has been facing an undisclosed injury since the team’s Tuesday night loss to the New Jersey Devils, missing San Jose’s last two games. The injury earned Blackwood a spot on injured reserve on Wednesday, making San Jose’s upcoming Tuesday matchup against the Dallas Stars the earliest that he could return. He’s faced a string of injuries this season but has still operated as San Jose’s starter, recording nine wins and a .899 save percentage in 35 games.
  • Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin has a head injury, according to head coach Sheldon Keefe, after receiving a hit to the head from New York Rangers forward Matt Rempe. Keefe had some choice words for Rempe’s hit, slamming the rookie winger for leaving his feet and taking a player out of the game. There is currently no timetable for Lyubushkin’s return. He was in his first game with the Leafs this season, after joining the team via trade from the Anaheim Ducks earlier in the week.

Injury Notes: Johnson, Keller, Acciari, O’Connor

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Columbus Blue Jackets forward Kent Johnson is out indefinitely with an upper-body injury suffered in the team’s Wednesday night game against the New York Rangers. Johnson didn’t miss any time in the game, playing until the final minute and assisting on Columbus’ only goal. Johnson is in the midst of an extended scoring drought, with his last goal coming on January 2nd. He’s managed three assists in the 19 games since.

Johnson has gone through a sophomore slump of sorts this season, recording just 16 points in 42 games after scoring 40 in 79 games last season. His struggles have resulted in a healthy scratch and even the first AHL assignment of his career. Johnson spent most of November in the minors, scoring 15 points in 10 games with the Cleveland Monsters. He’s totaled 13 points in 34 NHL games since getting called back up to the Blue Jackets roster on December 1st. He now joins top rookie Adam Fantilli and star winger Patrik Laine on the team’s inactive list, with Fantilli battling a lower-body injury and Laine currently in the NHLPA’s Players Assistance Program.

Other injury notes around the league:

  • Arizona Coyotes top forward Clayton Keller is set to miss the team’s next two games, per team reporter Patrick Brown. Keller is battling an upper-body injury suffered in the team’s Sunday loss to the Winnipeg Jets. He’s already missed one game with the injury, and is now set to miss two more, though head coach Andre Tourigny designated Keller as day-to-day.  Keller has an emphatic lead on Arizona’s scoring title, with 22 goals and 52 points in 57 games. He’s the only Coyote to break 40 points this season.
  • Pittsburgh Penguins forwards Noel Acciari and Drew O’Connor are both expected to play on Thursday, after getting banged up in the team’s Tuesday night win over Vancouver, per team reporter Matt Vensel. Acciari injured his forearm while blocking a shot and O’Connor got hurt after taking a hit from Filip Hronek.

NHL Names Western Conference All-Stars

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Sportsnet is reporting that the NHL has named the first 16 selections from the Western Conference who will appear in the NHL All-Star Game that will take place February 3rd in Toronto.

The game will be held in Canada for the first time since 2012, when it was held in Ottawa. Toronto hasn’t hosted the game since 2000 and this year will be the first time that the NHL uses a four-team, three-on-three format in combination with the fantasy draft format that was used from 2011-2015. The league will name four captains, one for each team, who will take part in a draft to select their teams on February 1st.

The initial players named from the Western Conference are as follows:

Central Division

Arizona: LW Clayton Keller (4th appearance)
Chicago: C Connor Bedard (1st appearance)
Colorado: C Nathan MacKinnon (3rd appearance)
Dallas: G Jake Oettinger (1st appearance)
Minnesota: LW Kirill Kaprizov (3rd appearance)
Nashville: C Filip Forsberg (1st appearance)
St. Louis: C Robert Thomas (1st appearance)
Winnipeg: G Connor Hellebuyck (3rd appearance)

Pacific Division

Anaheim: LW Frank Vatrano (1st appearance)
Calgary: C Elias Lindholm (1st appearance)
Edmonton: C Connor McDavid (7th appearance)
Los Angeles: G Cam Talbot (1st appearance)
San Jose: C Tomas Hertl (1st appearance)
Seattle: RW Oliver Bjorkstrand (1st appearance)
Vancouver: D Quinn Hughes (1st appearance)
Vegas: C Jack Eichel (1st appearance)

The initial announcements of 32 players (one player to represent each team) tonight will be followed by the naming of the final 12 all-stars in the coming weeks. Those 12 players will be decided by a fan vote on NHL.com as well as several of the NHL’s social media platforms.

2023 NHL Awards Winners

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2023 The NHL Awards were given out tonight in Nashville. The ceremony kicks off what should be a busy week as teams continue to prepare for the NHL Entry Draft and free agency, which begins on July 1st.

Here is the full list of winners, with the top two runners-up in each category:

Calder Trophy – Top Rookie

Winner: Matthew Beniers (Kraken)

Runners-Up: Owen Power (Sabres), Stuart Skinner (Oilers)

Voting Results

Norris Trophy – Top Defenseman

Winner: Erik Karlsson (Sharks)

Runners-Up: Adam Fox (Rangers), Cale Makar (Avalanche)

Voting Results

Ted Lindsay Award – Most Outstanding Player (as voted by the players)

Winner: Connor McDavid (Oilers)

Runners-Up: Erik Karlsson (Sharks), David Pastrnak (Bruins)

Lady Byng Trophy – Most Gentlemanly Player

Winner: Anze Kopitar (Kings)

Runners-Up: Jack Hughes (Devils), Brayden Point (Lightning)

Voting Results

Hart Trophy – Most Valuable Player

Winner: Connor McDavid (Oilers)

Runners-Up: David Pastrnak (Bruins), Matthew Tkachuk (Panthers)

Voting Results

Vezina Trophy – Goaltender Of The Year

Winner: Linus Ullmark (Bruins)

Runner-Ups: Connor Hellebuyck (Jets), Ilya Sorokin (Islanders)

Voting Results

Selke Trophy – Best Defensive Forward

Winner: Patrice Bergeron (Bruins)

Runners-Up: Mitchell Marner (Maple Leafs), Nico Hischier (Devils)

Voting Results

Jack Adams Award – Coach Of The Year

Winner: Jim Montgomery (Bruins)

Runners-Up: Dave Hakstol (Kraken), Lindy Ruff (Devils)

Voting Results

Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy – Perseverance, Sportsmanship, and Dedication

Winner: Kris Letang (Penguins)

Runners-Up: Clayton Keller (Coyotes), Alex Stalock (Blackhawks)

King Clancy Memorial Trophy – Humanitarian

Winner: Mikael Backlund (Flames)

Runners-Up: Anders Lee (Islanders), Darnell Nurse (Oilers)

Mark Messier Leadership Award

Winner: Steven Stamkos (Lightning)

E.J. McGuire Award – Prospect Commitment to Excellence

Winner: Connor Bedard (Regina Pats, WHL)

 

Congratulations to all the winners and the nominees.

Kris Letang Wins 2023 Masterton Trophy

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Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Kris Letang has won the Bill Masterton Trophy as the NHL player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey. The long-time Penguins rearguard was awarded the trophy over Clayton Keller of the Arizona Coyotes and Alex Stalock of the Chicago Blackhawks.

Letang suffered through a tumultuous season as he suffered a stroke in late November 2022, and in an incredible feat, he returned to the Penguins lineup just 12 days later, missing a total of five games. Unfortunately, after just eight games, Letang suffered a lower-body injury that forced him out of the lineup once again. When he returned to the Penguins lineup, he and the club were preparing for the Winter Classic when his father sadly passed away.

Letang returned to the club and posted a four-point game, including an overtime winner in a game that just felt like a storybook. Unfortunately, despite his best efforts, the Penguins fell short of the playoffs. However, Letang was still one of the Penguins’ best defensemen despite being 36 years old and being forced through the gauntlet. Letang finished the year with 12 goals and 29 assists in just 64 games.

West Notes: Toews, Keller, Brown

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As the Chicago Blackhawks get set to welcome the new face of their franchise, Connor Bedard, at the draft later this month, they’re also preparing to say goodbye to the face of their most successful era in franchise history: Jonathan Toews. As we have previously covered, Toews is expected to make an announcement in the next few weeks regarding whether he’ll be retiring on choosing another team to sign with, and given Toews’ recent health issues it would be no surprise to see the Selke and Conn Smythe Trophy winner hang up his skates.

But if he does choose to continue playing, he could go the way of another famous Blackhawk, Duncan Keith, and choose to play for the Edmonton Oilers. Sportsnet’s Mark Spector connects Toews to the Oilers, writing that “there is some talk” in Edmonton about signing Toews to be the team’s fourth-line center, allowing recent signing Derek Ryan to take a preferred role as a right winger. In scoring 15 goals and 31 points this past season Toews showed he was still very much a valuable NHL player, but the main question for Edmonton would be availability and cost. Regardless, it seems should Toews continue his career the Oilers could be a team interested in acquiring him.

Some other notes from the Western Conference:

  • While the Arizona Coyotes rebuild will continue into the future and the team will likely be open to hearing trade offers for its established players, the player teams are likely to be most interested in is also the one seemingly least likely to be traded. Bally Sports Midwest’s Andy Strickland reports that the Coyotes aren’t “looking to move” star forward Clayton Keller and that they don’t have “any real interest” in parting with their franchise face. Keller, 24, continued his breakout season from 2021-22 into this campaign, finishing with 37 goals and 86 points in 82 games. He’s signed to a bargain $7.15MM AAV deal through the 2027-28 season, and according to Strickland’s report he’s unlikely to be on the move anytime soon.
  • One player who is going to be on the move is St. Louis Blues center Logan Brown. Eligible to become a restricted free agent, Strickland reports that Brown won’t receive a qualifying offer from the Blues and will therefore become an unrestricted free agent at the start of the new league year. The 25-year-old 2016 11th-overall pick didn’t quite take the step forward in St. Louis that many might have hoped he would, and while he remains an effective AHLer he hasn’t found a way to leverage his combination of size and skill to reliably make an impact at the NHL level. With his time in St. Louis coming to an end, he’ll hit the open market where there will likely be some teams interested in seeing what their staff can do with Brown’s skillset.

NHL Announces 2023 Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy Nominees

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Following up on the announcement of the 2023 King Clancy Memorial Trophy nominees, the NHL also released the list of the 2023 Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy nominees, which will include Clayton Keller (Arizona), Kris Letang (Pittsburgh), and Alex Stalock (Chicago). The award is annually given out to the player that “best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey”.

At the end of last season, Keller suffered a broken leg in a game against the San Jose Sharks, an injury that would take six months to fully rehabilitate. He managed to start this season on opening night for the Arizona Coyotes, and played in all 82 games, scoring 37 goals and 49 assists, tying a long-time single-season point record for the Coyotes set by Keith Tkachuk in 1996-97.

In one of the most incredible stories of the 2022-23 season, Letang suffered the second stroke of his life in November of 2022, and also mourned the passing of his father, all within the span of one month. Miraculously, Letang would return in early December, scoring 29 points in 43 games after the fact. One of the long-time leaders for the Pittsburgh Penguins, Letang recovered, and continued to play a high level when many players may have called it a career.

Lastly, after only playing one game since the start of the 2020-21 season, Stalock made his return to professional hockey at 35 years old with the Chicago Blackhawks. In 27 games played in the Windy City, Stalock would produce a record of 9-15-2, carrying a .908 SV% and a 3.01 GAA. Stalock made his return to the NHL after suffering from myocarditis during the 2019-20 season, and although suffering multiple injury setbacks this year, was able to produce a quality season in Chicago.

The 2023 NHL Awards will take place at the home of the Nashville Predators, Bridgestone Arena, on Monday, June 26th at 8:00 PM ET.

Nominees Announced For 2023 Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy

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The Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy is given out annually to the NHL player who exemplifies perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey. The Professional Hockey Writers’ Association has voted on the award since 1968, and today they announced their nominees for 2023.

Past winners of the award include Carey Price (2022), Oskar Lindblom (2021), Bobby Ryan (2020), Robin Lehner (2019), Brian Boyle (2018), Craig Anderson (2017), and Jaromir Jagr (2016).

Below are the nominees from each team:

Anaheim Ducks – Jakob Silfverberg

Arizona Coyotes – Clayton Keller

Boston Bruins – Nick Foligno

Buffalo Sabres – Craig Anderson

Calgary Flames – Mikael Backlund

Carolina Hurricanes – Jordan Martinook

Chicago Blackhawks – Alex Stalock

Colorado Avalanche – Andrew Cogliano

Columbus Blue Jackets – Boone Jenner

Dallas Stars – Jamie Benn

Detroit Red Wings – Robby Fabbri

Edmonton Oilers – Derek Ryan

Florida Panthers – Patric Hornqvist

Los Angeles Kings – Pheonix Copley

Minnesota Wild – Mason Shaw

Montreal Canadiens – Alex Belzile

Nashville Predators – Cody Glass

New Jersey Devils – Dougie Hamilton

New York Islanders – Zach Parise

New York Rangers – Jimmy Vesey

Ottawa Senators – Derick Brassard

Philadelphia Flyers – Nick Seeler

Pittsburgh Penguins – Kris Letang

San Jose Sharks – Nikolai Knyzhov

Seattle Kraken – Brandon Tanev

St. Louis Blues – Sammy Blais

Tampa Bay Lightning – Pierre-Edouard Bellemare

Toronto Maple Leafs – Mark Giordano

Vancouver Canucks – Brock Boeser

Vegas Golden Knights – Phil Kessel

Washington Capitals – John Carlson

Winnipeg Jets – Sam Gagner

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