The Arizona Coyotes are consistently one of the worst teams in the National Hockey League. They don’t have a building for the long term right now as they currently play in a college rink and they barely ever make the playoffs.
In terms of the product on the ice, regardless of what building the ice may be in, they are getting better. A lot of it has to do with a few different players but one sticks out above the rest.
Yes, there are plenty of prospects there to be excited about as well. However, those kids are just prospects until they truly prove it in the NHL (although all signs point to them being awesome too).
The one player that comes to mind (that is already in the NHL) is Clayton Keller. This kid is magnificent and is only getting better. When he was a prospect, he was highly touted and earned his spot as a 7th overall pick out of Boston University.
The Arizona Coyotes are lucky to have Clayton Keller on their team right now.
He has lived up to the hype and is only going to get better as the years go on. He should be one of the leaders on this Coyotes team for many seasons ahead.
It wasn’t always without adversity for Keller though. Near the end of the 2021-22 season, Keller had an injury that threatened his hockey-playing career.
Keller broke his femur which is obviously very scary. He rehabbed it hard and made it back for the 2022-23 season. From there, he came back better than ever.
For the first time in his career, Keller had a point per game season in the NHL as he scored 37 goals and added in 49 assists for 86 points. That tied Keith Tkachuk’s record for the most points in franchise history.
It was a great year for him. Coming back from his injury to have a season like that made him a nominee for the Masterton Trophy. He should be very proud of his career up to this point.
Now, you can expect him to dominate in 2023-24. There won’t be any holding back now that he played 82 games following his broken femur. You can expect him to chase sole possession of the Coyotes’ record for points in a season.
We could be talking about a Coyotes all-time great if he keeps it up. The team is only going to get better from here which should benefit him as well. He is going to be fun to watch for years to come.