{"id":465558,"date":"2025-03-31T09:12:09","date_gmt":"2025-03-31T13:12:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=465558"},"modified":"2025-03-30T20:24:26","modified_gmt":"2025-03-31T00:24:26","slug":"clayton-keller-utah-captain-playoff-hopes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2025\/03\/31\/clayton-keller-utah-captain-playoff-hopes\/","title":{"rendered":"Utah Hockey Club Captain Pushes Forward as Playoff Hopes Dwindle"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2025\/03\/25\/nick-schmaltz-utah-playoff-hunt\/\" target=\"_self\">Utah Hockey Club<\/a> has fallen behind in the race for the NHL&#8217;s Western Conference wild card. With that, the odds are very much against them now. However, that has not stopped their captain from setting a pace that will most likely result in a career season. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/k\/kellecl01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-03-28_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Clayton Keller<\/a> was named the first captain in franchise history and the league\u2019s fourth-youngest captain ever. After moving from Arizona to Utah, expectations were not high, but Keller\u2019s play helped change that. Utah is still in the mix, but only by a very thin thread.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Utah Hockey Club Captain Performing Despite Slim<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0Playoff Hopes<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For Utah, it has been a long season. Inconsistent play and battling injuries up and down the lineup certainly has not helped. Key injuries included top forwards <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/g\/guentdy01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-03-28_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dylan Guenther<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/c\/coolelo01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-03-28_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Logan Cooley<\/a>, while defencemen <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/d\/durzise01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-03-28_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sean Durzi<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/m\/marinjo01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-03-28_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">John Marino<\/a> missed most of the season. Despite these setbacks, the team barely remains in the hunt for a playoff berth thanks to Keller\u2019s outstanding season.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Power play goal for Utah!<\/p>\n<p>Scored by Dylan Guenther with 16:14 remaining in the 1st period.<\/p>\n<p>Assisted by Clayton Keller and Logan Cooley.<\/p>\n<p>Utah: 1<br \/>Detroit: 0<a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/DETvsUTA?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#DETvsUTA<\/a> <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/UtahHC?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#UtahHC<\/a> <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/LGRW?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#LGRW<\/a> <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/ttqHSNLNnY\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/ttqHSNLNnY<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/nhl_goal_bot\/status\/1904342857869082926?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">March 25, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Keller\u2019s goal scoring dipped a little bit from the previous two seasons, but he is still just nine points away from breaking his career-high of 86 in the 2022-2023 campaign. The 26-year-old winger has 79 points (24 goals, 55 assists) and 192 shots on goal in 73 games this season. Keller recently recorded 15 points in 13 games during what has been a tough month for Utah. They will surely need contributions from other areas of the lineup.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Team Effort<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In Thursday\u2019s game, Utah suffered a dominating 8-0 defeat against the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/category\/lightning\/\" target=\"_self\">Tampa Bay Lightning<\/a>. They did not seem to have the same level of effort from recent games, it was actually the worst loss in Utah\u2019s history. The defence failed to protect goaltender <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/v\/vejmeka01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-03-28_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Karel Vejmelka<\/a>, who has started in 17 consecutive games. Vejmelka is doing everything in his power to keep the team\u2019s slim playoff hopes alive, going 9-5-3 in the span.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Clayton Keller\u2019s message to the team:<\/p>\n<p>&quot;There\u2019s never going to be any quit in this room ever. We\u2019re going to fight all the way until the end. We\u2019re going to try to win every single game from here on out.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou never know what can happen. We\u2019re going to stay motivated.&quot; <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/K3OfimoYgM\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/K3OfimoYgM<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Cole Bagley (@BagleyKSLsports) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BagleyKSLsports\/status\/1904385617611620794?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">March 25, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Utah recently ended a three-game losing skid, but lost in four of their last seven games. This includes a 7-1 defeat to the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/category\/oilers\/\" target=\"_self\">Edmonton Oilers<\/a> as well. Keller believes there will not be any quitting mentality in the team, however, getting outscored 17-7 in the previous few games is not a good sign. In Tampa, Utah was completely outworked, not getting much offensively, and forcing backup Jaxson Stauber in after Vejmelka gave up four goals on seven shots. Utah will need strong efforts from everyone to even come close to the wild card.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Playoff Chances<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Utah now sits nine points behind the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/category\/blues\/\" target=\"_self\">St. Louis Blues<\/a> for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. The Blues pulled ahead further in the standings after winning their eight straight game. It was always going to be a tall task, but Utah&#8217;s overall play has contributed to their current situation. According to <\/span><a  href=\"https:\/\/moneypuck.com\/predictions.htm\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Moneypuck<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, Utah has a 0.7% chance of clinching a post-season berth.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With nine games left in the season, Utah has a big hill to climb. They have upcoming dates with the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/category\/flames\/\" target=\"_self\">Calgary Flames<\/a>, a team they are fighting with for the wild card. In addition to some of the best teams in the league, the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/category\/kings\/\" target=\"_self\">Los Angeles Kings<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/category\/jets\/\" target=\"_self\">Winnipeg Jets<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/category\/stars\/\" target=\"_self\">Dallas Stars<\/a>. With Utah&#8217;s hopes quickly dwindling, there is now very little room for error and every point matters even more. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They are unable to control how the Blues play, but Utah commands their own fate. At this point, a big significant win streak is necessary to make the playoffs. While it sounds improbable, Keller still needs to continue leading the charge.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Main Photo Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Utah Hockey Club has fallen behind in the race for the NHL&#8217;s Western Conference wild card. With that, the odds are very much against them now. However, that has not stopped their captain from setting a pace that will most likely result in a career season. Clayton Keller was named the first captain in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5373,"featured_media":457543,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"1","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[21,4547,4548],"tags":[1063,7025,8030],"class_list":["post-465558","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mammoth","category-hockey","category-nhl","tag-clayton-keller","tag-karel-vejmelka","tag-utah-hockey-club-analysis"],"modified_by":"Levi Pike, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/465558","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5373"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=465558"}],"version-history":[{"count":40,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/465558\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":465735,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/465558\/revisions\/465735"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/457543"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=465558"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=465558"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=465558"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}