It's a new year for Clayton Keller who is feeling fully healthy heading into a critical season for the Arizona Coyotes.
If there is any player under the most pressure going into the 2023-24 season for the Arizona Coyotes, it’s Clayton Keller.
The 25-year-old forward is coming off a career year where he had 37 goals, 49 assists and 86 points.
Health has been a concern for Keller in the past. On Mar. 30, 2022, Keller fractured his leg which resulted in season ending surgery. That summer, he went through a grueling rehab process which did not allow him to fully prepare for the season ahead.
All that didn’t matter for Keller as he made a full recovery playing all 82 games. It's worth noting however that going into this season, Keller is 100 percent healthy and feeling much better than he did just one year prior.
“I look at last season as an injured season, I guess you could say,” Keller said about last offseason. “I mean, I didn't really skate or play at all, so I definitely feel much more comfortable than I did last season.
“Just with the training, I got a full summer training, I worked on the things that I wanted to work on, I got stronger, so it's just great mentally for me as well to kind of take some time away at the end of the season, with months and months of rehab and focusing on getting better every single day. It's definitely exciting.”
With a full offseason to work on his game as opposed to last offseason where he couldn’t, we may see an even better version of Keller which is hard to believe just based on the way he played during the 2022-23 campaign.
It's not only on the ice though where Keller is looking to improve but as one of the returners on the team, it’s important for Keller to find his voice and become more of a leader.
“I’m definitely more of a quieter, shyer guy, but I think as I've gotten older and been in the league longer, I can relate to all of the young players coming in,” Keller said. “It’s so much different than anything you have ever gone through, long seasons, you're away from home and family. I think I've been able to have their back and anything that they need to reach out about they know that I'm there for them in that sense, and I think it's something that can really go a long way.”
Through all the years Keller has been in Arizona, there have been some distractions out of his control when it comes to arena issues as well as the rebuilding state the team has been in. Keller is not concerned about the outside noise and is just hungry to play hockey.
“I think obviously we want to push for the playoffs this year and while there's gonna be doubters, people saying whatever they want to say about our rink situation and things like that,” Keller said. “I think our group has done a good job the last couple of years, just keeping our heads focused and I think we're all excited for that challenge in not many people believing in us.”
This team will go as far as Keller goes so all eyes will be on the young rising star leading into a critical year for the Coyotes.