Utah Hockey Club, formerly the Arizona Coyotes, have big news to announce today. The news is that they named Clayton Keller as their captain. This announcement makes Keller the first-ever captain in franchise history, given that this will be Utah’s inaugural season. Now, there is only one team in the NHL that remains without a captain, the Seattle Kraken.
Introducing: 𝗖layton Keller pic.twitter.com/N2Z1ZbUZ8G
— Utah Hockey Club (@utahhockeyclub) October 4, 2024
That’s Captain Keller to You
Clayton Keller has been through a lot in the past with the Coyotes franchise. They’ve been at the bottom of the pack for several, exhausting years. In fact, for the last ten seasons, the Coyotes only qualified for the playoffs once. That was during the qualifying round of the 2020 playoffs when the format was changed due to the global pandemic. However, there is no surprise for Keller to be named team captain. He is one of the longest-tenured players in the organization. Lawson Crouse has been there the longest.
Keller has been a star in Arizona and will continue to show signs of brilliance as the captain of Utah.
Leaving the Ugly in the Past
As mentioned, history has shown that the Coyotes franchise hasn’t been very good in the past. However, since relocating to Utah, there have been many changes within the team apart from the location and team name. Even though management is the same and is still led by general manager Bill Armstrong, they have a new owner. Under new club owner Ryan Smith, it seems that the team wants to be more competitive, unlike in previous years.
It all started at the 2024 NHL Entry Draft when they selected Tij Iginla sixth overall. In past years, the Coyotes have had some shaky drafts. For example, in the 2023 draft, they selected Dmitriy Simashev instead of Matvei Michkov. It’s only been one year since then, but ahead of preseason, it looks like Michkov is a Calder Trophy favourite. Also, at the draft, they made two big trades, acquiring defencemen Mikhail Sergachev and John Marino.
They also locked down a cornerstone player in Dylan Guenther. They signed him to an eight-year deal at just over $7M AAV. This, among many other things, proves that Utah will be different than the Coyotes. And making Keller captain is a statement of that.
Main Photo Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel – USA TODAY Sports
