Despite being named an All-Star, Clayton Keller also feels that Connor Ingram is fully deserving of that same status due to his fantastic play.
It’s official. Clayton Keller is an NHL All-Star for the fourth time in his career as he will represent the Arizona Coyotes in Toronto, Ontario on February 1.
Keller has been having a fantastic season, tallying 13 goals, 18 assists and 31 points. He is fully deserving of being awarded this high honor.
However, the 25-year-old forward feels that there are a couple players on the team that also deserve an All-Star nod and one in particular that has been the Coyotes' best player all season long.
“I think Ingram has been our best player all season,” Keller said about goaltender Connor Ingram. “I think he has won us a lot of games and like you said, those other guys have played well too Maccelli, Crouse, Durzi, the list goes on and on. They could have easily been there as well.”
There is no doubt that Ingram has been fantastic all season long. The 26-year-old currently holds a 13-8 record, .916 save percentage and 2.61 goals against average to go along with four shoutouts.
Ingram really stood out through the end of November and beginning of December when he went on to win five straight games, a big reason why the Coyotes are still in the playoff hunt today.
Keller has become a strong leader for this Coyotes team, so for him to go out and say that Ingram is not only deserving of All-Star status but has been Arizona’s best player shows a lot about Keller’s team first approach.
There is still a chance for Ingram to be voted in through the fan vote and based on the fact he is top-10 amongst every NHL goalie in wins, goals against average and save percentage, he still very possibly can earn his first All-Star selection.