Welcome to the AZ Coyotes Insider newsletter. My plan is to publish stories four to six times per week. By subscribing, you’ll be supporting independent, accountable journalism. Subscribe now so you won’t miss a story. When the Coyotes played the 2019 Stanley Cup champion Blues in St. Louis in November, I took a Lyft ride across the Mississippi River to tour Clayton Keller’s family home in Swansea, Illinois. I wanted to see
I have been a consistent Keller critic. I also think that the contract was too much, too soon.
But to balance that a bit I did like his improvement in the Bubble. He needs to keep improving and do it soon because his safety nets are likely disappearing this summer.
No doubt Keller is a good kid. But that contract extension was probably Chayka's worst decision as GM (aside from hiring you know who). You look at the other young players around the league making that kind of money and they consistently play at a level beyond anything I've ever seen from Clayton. I just can't see him ever being a game-changing player. But here's hoping I'm wrong.
I would love to see Tocchet put Keller on a consistent line so he could develop some chemistry with other players. I didn't get a sense that Keller really had a home on a line - that he and Dvorak or Schmaltz had developed that 6th sense of knowing what the other player was thinking or where they were going to go off the puck. That said, I'm a little less nervous about the long-term gamble Chayka made on Keller than I was when the Yotes entered the bubble. Keller was one of the few who looked pretty good. His problem hasn't been an inability to start fast - it's been sustained effort through the course of a season. A few more pounds will definitely make him tougher for defenses to neutralize, too.
He looked like things were finally clicking for him before the pause. He was generating offense, showing some defensive awareness, and looking confident. And it did seem to carry over into the post season.
I wonder if he could have benefitted from one more year in college. He could have gained some confidence and some additional strength.
I have been a consistent Keller critic. I also think that the contract was too much, too soon.
But to balance that a bit I did like his improvement in the Bubble. He needs to keep improving and do it soon because his safety nets are likely disappearing this summer.
No doubt Keller is a good kid. But that contract extension was probably Chayka's worst decision as GM (aside from hiring you know who). You look at the other young players around the league making that kind of money and they consistently play at a level beyond anything I've ever seen from Clayton. I just can't see him ever being a game-changing player. But here's hoping I'm wrong.
I would love to see Tocchet put Keller on a consistent line so he could develop some chemistry with other players. I didn't get a sense that Keller really had a home on a line - that he and Dvorak or Schmaltz had developed that 6th sense of knowing what the other player was thinking or where they were going to go off the puck. That said, I'm a little less nervous about the long-term gamble Chayka made on Keller than I was when the Yotes entered the bubble. Keller was one of the few who looked pretty good. His problem hasn't been an inability to start fast - it's been sustained effort through the course of a season. A few more pounds will definitely make him tougher for defenses to neutralize, too.
He looked like things were finally clicking for him before the pause. He was generating offense, showing some defensive awareness, and looking confident. And it did seem to carry over into the post season.
I wonder if he could have benefitted from one more year in college. He could have gained some confidence and some additional strength.
Draisatl makes $8.5m per year. Keller is set to make $7.1m per. Do you think he's within $1.4m in value to the guy making $8.5?
Is he still the next Patrick Kane?