Clayton Keller

Clayton Davis Keller (born July 29, 1998) is an American professional ice hockey player who is a forward and captain for the Utah Mammoth of the National Hockey League (NHL). The Arizona Coyotes selected him seventh overall in the 2016 NHL entry draft. He is described as a versatile forward who can play both as a center and winger at a high level and has filled both roles for the Coyotes and Mammoth organizations.

Born in Chesterfield, Missouri, and raised in Swansea, Illinois, Keller was part of a group of skilled young hockey players around his age growing up in the St. Louis area. He spent two years attending Shattuck-Saint Mary's before joining the USA Hockey National Team Development Program in 2014, where he set a program record with 189 points in two seasons. While the Windsor Spitfires of the Ontario Hockey League selected him in the 2014 OHL Draft, Keller attended Boston University to play college ice hockey for the Terriers in 2016. In his one season there, he was named the Hockey East Rookie of the Year and won the Tim Taylor Award for the top NCAA Division I rookie. He left Boston University after one season, joining the Coyotes for the end of the 2016–17 season.

Playing in every game during his first two seasons of professional ice hockey, Keller led the Coyotes with 65 points in 2017–18 and 47 points the following season, and he was an NHL All-Star in 2019. Keller made his postseason debut with Arizona in the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs, where they were eliminated by the Colorado Avalanche in the first round (after winning the best-of-five qualifying round versus the Nashville Predators). He recorded his 200th career point and received his second All-Star Game selection during the 2021–22 season, but suffered a season-ending leg injury at the end of March. He played all 82 games in the 2022–23 season and tied the Coyotes single-season points record with 86 points, along with earning his third All-Star Game selection. Following the Coyotes' folding and transfer of hockey assets to the Utah Mammoth, Keller was named the first captain in Utah franchise history ahead of the 2024–25 season.