Capitals prospect Keller ready to build on international experience

ARLINGTON, Va. -- Antoine Keller’s assignment could not have been more difficult.

With France trailing Canada 6-1 in their preliminary round game at the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympics and looking for a spark, Keller took over in net to begin the third period. Just 20 seconds in, the 21-year-old Washington Capitals prospect found himself facing Edmonton Oilers superstar Connor McDavid on a breakaway.

“That’s not easy to go in,” Keller said at the Capitals development camp earlier this month. “But I tried to do my best.”

McDavid pulled the puck to his backhand and tucked it around Keller’s left pad to increase Canada’s lead to 7-1. Keller ended up stopping nine of the 13 shots he faced in the 10-2 loss.

Regardless, Keller, a seventh-round pick (No. 206) in the 2023 NHL Draft, looks back on his Olympic experience as the highlight of his season and a potential important step in his development. In his three appearances (one start), he was 0-1-0 and stopped 69 of 78 shots for a 4.58 goals-against average and .885 save percentage. 

“I loved it,” Keller said. “It was crazy to be in the Olympic Village, to play against the best players in the world. That was maybe the best Canada team they’ve had for years, so I was pretty excited about it.”

Keller also played for France at the Division 1A World Championship, helping it finish third by going 1-1-0 with a 1.96 GAA and.911 save percentage it two games to cap off a whirlwind second professional season that began with a brief stint with Washington’s ECHL affiliate in South Carolina. He played only four games for South Carolina, where he was 2-2-0 with a 3.54 GAA and .881 save percentage, before getting permission from the Capitals to move to Ajoie of the National League, the top professional league in Switzerland, to be closer to home because of “family matters.”

“I just asked (the Capitals) it was possible and they told me, ‘Yes,’” Keller said. “So, I just took the opportunity. I was like two hours away from where I live in France, so I was able to spend time with my family as much as I could.”

Keller was 4-7-1 with a 3.05 GAA, .905 save percentage and one shutout in 14 games with Ajoie last season. Although he is signed to play there again this season, he hopes to return to North America next season.

“I’m 21. That’s pretty young for a goalie,” Keller said. “It’s going to be third pro season and I’m playing in a very, very competitive league. So, I’ll take some time to develop myself over there and I hope I will get another shot.”

Olie Kozlig, the former Capitals goalie who now works in player development, stressed how the team is, “patient with our goalies” and, obviously, understood Keller’s family situation. Kolzig believes that the best thing for Keller’s development would be to come back to North America to play, though, so he can adjust to narrower rinks, which is particularly important for goalies playing the angles on shots.

“We have to work on some things with his technical game and we need for him to be here for us to do that,” Kolzig said. “Unfortunately, last year he had some family circumstances that came up, and he left South Carolina early, so we could only watch him from afar.

“But he's only 21 years old and there’s a lot of good things to like about him.”

The Capitals did see some growth in Keller’s game last season. After he missed the NHL training camp because of a work visa issue, he attended training camp with Hershey of the American Hockey League and worked there with goalie coach Juha Lehtola.

“He did apply a lot of the stuff that Juha was telling him, and he was having success with it,” Kolzig said. “That's why it was a little disappointing to see him leave just because of the short amount of time we had and the progression he was making. But, again, he's still young.”

Attending development camp allowed Keller to reconnect with Lehtola and Capitals goalie coach Scott Murray, who each kept in touch with him via text throughout last season. The Capitals also brought Ajoie goalie coach Vladimir Hiadlovsky to development camp so they could build a relationship with him and communicate with him this season.

Keller is trying to follow Cristobal Huet, who played seven seasons in the NHL (2003-2010) with the Los Angeles Kings, Montreal Canadiens, Capitals and Chicago Blackhawks, and become the second goalie born in France to play in the League. The Dijon native knows he has a lot of work ahead, though, and needs to remain patient.

“The last two years, playing pro hockey, seeing how it works and everything, I think it's a big step as a player,” he said. “A lot of players don't make it to pro hockey, so now I’ve got to prove that I belong here and have a good season, add some consistency and see what happens.”

Keller also has a distant eye on potentially playing for France again when it hosts the Olympic Winter Games French Alps 2030. Maybe he’ll get a chance to face McDavid on a breakaway again, either in the Olympics or, if he can make it, in the NHL.

He’s not sure how he’d change his approach, though.

“For me, it was just another player coming in,” Keller said. “I just tried to focus on how he skates, how he's moving with his (stick) blade and everything with his stick and try to stop it. I guess it didn't work, but I hope I'll get another chance to do that.”