Utah’s first captain
Like Tkachuk was in Arizona, Keller is the first captain in Utah Hockey Club history. There were some analysts who felt it should have happened sooner, and Keller always welcomed the responsibility when asked about it in Arizona, but it never bothered him that Tourigny and his staff waited to bestow the honor while also naming Lawson Crouse the NHL’s only “associate captain.” Keller understood why Tourigny delayed laying that pressure on his shoulders.
“I’ve used these last couple seasons or whatever it’s been where we haven’t been in the playoffs — where we’re in a bit of a rebuild — to really hone in on my game,” Keller said. “I saw that as a time to get better as a player; to gain edges on guys.”
When the team moved to Utah, however, the coaching staff felt that the timing was right to make Keller the face of the franchise. All that was left was for ownership to sign off. So they did some homework.
Keller flew to Salt Lake City last summer to play golf with owner Ryan Smith, Jazz executive Danny Ainge and PGA golfer Tony Finau, and the team reached out to others in Keller’s life, almost as if they were researching a draft prospect.
“They even leaned on us as agents to understand kind of what makes this group tick, or what makes Kells tick,” said Scott Bartlett, who represents both Keller and Logan Cooley. “They did a nice job of trying to learn the personalities quickly.”
On Oct. 4, the team made Keller’s captaincy official. Six months later, the reviews are in.
“I think he has done a tremendous job,” said housemate and frequent linemate Barrett Hayton. “The most important thing is he’s continued to be himself and do what has got him to this level of play, and also got him to this level of influence on the [dressing] room. He’s definitely a lead-by-example captain. His intensity, his commitment to the game, his desire to win just drives the group. Guys see that and it’s contagious.
“But there’s definitely times to speak up, too, and he’s definitely at the peak of that. I think in game situations is probably where he shows it the most. He’s just so into the game; so dialed in. But one thing about our group is we have a lot of leaders so that responsibility can be taken on by a bunch of voices.”
Tourigny had a lot of talks with Keller before and after the “C” was awarded. In fact, he talks to him nearly every day.
“It can be about nothing or very important things, it can take anywhere between five seconds and five minutes, and it can be scheduled or it can be at practice,” Utah’s coach said. “It can be about intensity. It can be the mood of the team. It can be about his game or other guys on the team.
“I never approached him about being a captain. I approached him about being a leader and the responsibility of being a leader, the responsibility towards his teammates, the responsibility to react under pressure, under tough situations. If you look at our past few seasons, he certainly had the opportunity to practice it a lot under some tough situations.”
Keller has always played with a chip on his shoulder — a likely product of those youth days Tkachuk referenced when critics constantly told him he was too small to become an NHL player. Maturity and the captaincy haven’t taken away that internal drive, but they have softened the outward expression of it.
“I think that’s something I’ve gotten tremendously better at — that aspect of being a lot more vocal, but saying the right things,” Keller said. “How I address something or someone has just gotten so much better. There’s times where you are frustrated. It’s going to happen in games or in a season, but I’ve done a better job of making sure that when that happens, we’re all focused on the right things. That’s something that I can honestly say I’m proud of.”
What’s ahead
Keller loved his life in Arizona. He built a spectacular house in Paradise Valley that he elected to keep despite the move to Utah. His parents also have a place in Arizona.
But it didn’t take long for Keller to settle into his new life in Utah. Once he had secured a house from a private equity firm, his mom, Kelley, arrived to oversee significant renovations. When Clayton is on long road trips, she comes to Utah to housesit and dog-sit Keller’s Bernedoodle, Lucky.
“His house is really cool,” Bryan Keller said. “It’s like 5,000-feet elevation and it’s built right into the mountains with big balconies that wrap all the way around the house so he’s overlooking the city and can see Delta Center.
“I think it’s safe to say he has settled in nicely in his new life in Utah, and I don’t think there was much adjustment because of the way Ryan Smith onboarded them. Clayton always says they do everything first class, but it just amazes me that Ryan Smith was able to do everything in such a short time period, and really pull this off.”
This Friday will mark the one-year anniversary of the NHL’s official announcement of the Coyotes’ relocation to Utah. In that short span of time, Keller is close to pulling off a major feat of his own. He has managed to remake his life, seamlessly assume the captaincy, and maybe, if things go well in Nashville and St. Louis, set a new career high for points.
“I’ve loved every second of it,” he said. “With this being the franchise’s first season, I’m just super thankful that they chose me as their captain. I love being here and I love everything about it.”
Although Utah didn’t achieve its preseason goal of making the playoffs this season, Keller vowed to keep pushing himself and his team to reach that level in the seasons to come.
“I think we have turned the page on the rebuild,” he said. “Guys are getting a little bit older, and our younger players have had a great transition. The playoffs are definitely our expectation now, every single year, and I think we’re only going to get better as we go on.
“I still feel super young. I mean, I’m 26 so I am still young, but I still feel like I’m coming out of college where I have that same excitement. I’m super pumped for what we can do next season and after that.”