18-year-old Keller grateful for stint with Coyotes.
The average age of the Coyotes’ forward group dropped to 22 on Tuesday, with the four lines going up against the Stars including a pair of teenagers, one 20-year-old and two at 21.
Winger Jamie McGinn, who turns 29 in August, was the eldest of the bunch.
“That had to be the youngest lineup I’ve ever coached in the league by far,” coach Dave Tippett said.
Arizona’s forwards bumped their average up Thursday, albeit just to 25, with the return of captain Shane Doan and winger Radim Vrbata. Both were sidelined Tuesday with lower-body injuries, and each expects to be healthy enough to also skate Saturday in the team’s season finale against the Wild.
Whether or not 18-year-old winger Clayton Keller will play in that game remains unclear.
Keller was a healthy scratch against the Canucks, with Tippett preferring to let the veterans and those who have spent most of the schedule with the Coyotes take to the ice as the season nears a conclusion.
It’s still possible, though, Keller draws in Saturday, as Tippett said he hadn’t made a definite decision.
But even if Keller sits and ends up logging just three NHL appearances, the rookie is grateful for the nearly two weeks he’s been with the team after leaving college.
“You don’t know how hard it is until you play in it,” Keller said. “It’s good to get this experience and realize how hard I have to work this summer and things I have to work on. It’s great that I got this experience. I really learned a lot and got to be around great veteran guys. It’s been a lot of fun.”
After finishing his freshman season at Boston University last month, Keller turned pro by signing an entry-level contract March 26.
He immediately joined the Coyotes, making his NHL debut the next day in St. Louis against the Blues – the team he cheered for as a kid growing up in nearby Swansea, Ill. Keller also played the ensuing game back in Glendale, which was also against the Blues, but has appeared only once (Tuesday in Dallas) since.
The Coyotes have monitored his transition, and the objective of his late-season stint hasn’t been just about learning on the ice. They’ve wanted him to get acquainted with the lifestyle pro players have in the NHL – what it’s like to have hockey as a job. And they also feel he can pick up insight simply by observing.
“You can tell that he’s watching people to try to figure out how those players have an impact on the game,” Tippett said. “He’s a smart, smart kid. He’s really smart, so even if he doesn’t play games, he’s using that to his advantage to get better.”
This summer also seems like a pivotal opportunity for Keller to improve.
It’s not clear yet if he’ll start next season with the Coyotes or in the minors; assignments won’t be finalized until training camp. But his ideal destination hasn’t changed after getting a taste of NHL action.
“I think if I put in the work this summer and really show what I can do, I think that’s my goal – to play on this team full-time next year,” he said.
Keller, who has collected two assists, plans to train in Arizona this summer, and getting faster and stronger are on the agenda. Improving in those areas could help him hold on to the puck, which appears key to maximizing his assets.
“He’s gotta have the ability to create space for himself because he’s not a big guy,” Tippett said of the 5-foot-10, 168pound Keller. “If he allows players to get to him quick and take time and space away, he has less of an effect on the game.”
Although his on-ice experience may be limited to just a few games, hanging around the Coyotes for as long as he has could certainly dim the awe factor of his first training camp later this year, as last summer's seventh overall pick will be familiar with many players, coaches, Arizona's equipment and training staff and the setup at the arena.
And that head-start may boost his chances of making the team since he can focus on showcasing his best rather than juggling that with getting comfortable at the NHL level.
“That’s why it’s good for me to get these couple games in, to realize what the schedule is like and kind of prepare,” Keller said. “Little things like that can really go a long way for next year because you don’t really know how hard it is until you play in it. (It) kind of can motivate me this summer and the work that I have to put in.”