Keller Continues to Evolve After 500 Games, 'Time Flies'

Clayton Keller is in his eighth season with the Arizona Coyotes, having played in 505 games while amassing 158 goals and 239 assists – all while appearing in a team-record four All-Star games.

As far as the 25-year-old forward is concerned, he’s just getting started.

Keller is in the midst of yet another special season for the Coyotes, leading the team in both goals (26) and points (57), just one year removed from a career-best 86 points. A Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy finalist in 2022-23, the dynamic winger played in his 500th career game against the Chicago Blackhawks on March 5, and has three goals and an assist over his last three games.

“It still feels like I’m really young, and I’ve been playing here eight years now,” Keller said. “It’s pretty crazy.”

He credited family and friends who have “sacrificed a lot” for him to reach the NHL, but Keller has also put in the time, work, and focus to climb the rankings in Coyotes team history with arguably his best hockey still in front of him.

Keller ranks ninth in team history with 505 games played, but is just 54 shy of leapfrogging the list to fifth overall (Radim Vrbata – 509, Derek Morris – 544, Teppo Numminen – 551, and Keith Yandle – 558). His 240 assists rank fourth (Yandle – 246, Oliver Ekman-Larsson – 260, Doan – 560), his 159 goals rank third (Keith Tkachuk – 179, Doan – 395), and his 399 points are second, behind Doan’s 955.

He has always been known as a wildly talented forward – Maple Leafs star Auston Matthews called him an “unbelievable player” when he selected him for his team at the 2024 NHL All-Star Game – but Keller said he’s working on unlocking a whole new element of his game – all in an effort to help the team progress towards its goal of becoming a perennial playoff contender.

“There are so many things,” Keller said. “Defensively, I need to be better. That’s one thing that will help us win, being good on both sides of the puck, and also continuing to play on the inside while being around the net a little bit more.”

Coyotes head coach André Tourigny has been with Keller for 211 of those 505 games, and said the forward’s drive to continuously improve is what will truly help him evolve his game.

“He’s really competitive,” Tourigny said. “He looks to get better every day, and he wants to get better. He went through adversity with an injury and then he came back really strong last year. This year, he improved a lot of areas of his game.”

Keller and Tourigny, along with the rest of the Coyotes’ coaching staff, consistently have discussions on the evolution of his game – “chats, not meetings,” as Tourigny called them – and Keller said those are the opportunities that truly allow him to evaluate what he can do to help make both himself and the team better.

There’s a mutual respect that transcends the sport, and it’s also setting an example for teammates like Logan Cooley, Dylan Guenther, and Michael Kesselring, and all of his other young teammates who are in the beginning stages of their respective NHL journeys.

Keller works hard both on and off the ice, and never dwells on the mistakes – he simply learns from them.

“I’ve played quite a while now, I know how to be successful, I know what to do, so sometimes it can kind of slip away from you,” he said. “That’s what the coaches are there for, to raise things, and watch video, and you turn the page and get better at it.”

As the Coyotes look to finish strong in 2023-24,, Tourigny said that effort can’t be the end-all heading into the offseason.

Instead, it can be used as a springboard heading into next year, and it presents an opportunity to take the next step in the rebuild: to begin challenging for a playoff spot.

“We have the end of the season to keep getting better to prepare for our next season,” Tourigny said. “It’s not about, ok, just play those games; we need to have desperation as a team. It’s the same thing for Keller … What’s the expectation in their game for us to get to where we want to be, which is a playoff team?”

With that goal in mind, Keller has his eyes on the future, all without taking a moment for granted in the present.

“Time flies, it’s crazy,” Keller said. “I’m looking forward to 500 more.”