CLAYTON KELLER

CENTER

5’10’’ & 163.98LBS

LEFT HANDED

US NATIONAL U18 TEAM, USDP

62 GP, 37 GOALS AND 70 ASSISTS

FINAL RANKING ON NHL CENTRAL SKATING – 9 (NORTH AMERICAN SKATERS)

PLAYER COMPARISON: RAY WHITNEY

Clayton Keller is an offensive juggernaut; he can pretty much do it all: shoot, skate, prevent goals and create them with his superb passing abilities. His skating is outstanding and allows him to gain a step on other team’s defenders; this skill makes him a huge threat on the PK as you can see in his highlights.

What differentiates Keller from most speed demons is that he’s got different gears in his skating which allows him to slow the game down when he needs to. One quality of his that shouldn’t be overlooked is that he’s a very ‘slippery’ player; similar in playing style to Patrick Kane. What I mean by that is that he rarely gets hit by other players because he’s always one step ahead of them.

Considering that Keller doesn’t even weigh 165 lbs, based on his results at the combine, I think he’s still a good two years away from the NHL from a physical standpoint. For example, Robby Fabbri was the same height in his draft year and weighted 170 lbs at the combine. Fast-forward to two years later and he’s now playing for the Blues and weighs 180 lbs. Fifteen extra pounds is easily achievable, considering how young Keller is and how he’ll have a ton of free time to gain mass due to the fact that he’s going the college route.

PROS

ONE OF THE YOUNGEST PLAYERS IN THE DRAFT

Keller doesn’t turn 18 until late July, which makes his case very interesting. As much as most people would like to point out that size no longer matters in the NHL with the emergence of players like Kane, Johnny Gaudreau and Tyler Johnson, among others, it still remains a factor that scouts do not underestimate. For every success story there’s a Zach Boychuk, Rocco Grimaldi, Jordan Schroeder, and Joey Hishon..

Considering Keller is still a few weeks away from his 18th birthday, there’s  good chance that he’s not done growing and could top out in the 5’11 range, which would entirely eliminate the whole ‘undersized’ argument, since a lot of top six centers are around that size (ex. Bryan Little, Joe Pavelski, Mike Ribeiro, Claude Giroux).

ENROLLED IN AN EXCELLENT PROGRAM IN BOSTON UNIVERSITY

The BU Terriers have been one of the better programs that the NCAA has to offer with the likes of Jack Eichel, Charlie Coyle, Nick Bonino, Kevin Shattenkirk, Colin Wilson, Ryan Whitney, Chris Drury, Tom Poti, Adrian Aucoin, Tony Amonte and Keith Tkachuk all coming from the BC program.

Llast year’s second overall pick, Jack Eichel, gave BU head coach David Quinn a lot of praise and credited him for getting him ready for the NHL. Eichel also reportedly told Keller when he was in town for a game against the Red Wings that his time in Boston was very fun and that he would play under a great coach.

GREAT ALL AROUND PROSPECT

The fact that Keller is very good in his own zone bodes well for his NHL future. He won’t fall in the infamous no man’s land that a lot of smallish offensive prospects find themselves in; not skilled enough for the top six and not good enough defensively for the bottom six. The Illinoisan has been one of the most used forwards on the PK for Team USA, which demonstrates how strong his two-way game really is. His speed to burn and instincts play a huge part in his role on the PK. Teams have to be cautious whenever he’s on the ice because one wrong decision with the puck and he’s off on a breakaway.

He’s one of the top players that the US development program has had the chance to develop since the program started back in 1996. He’s had back-to- back 80 points season, which is a feat that only he and Phil Kessel have accomplished. He is also the program’s leader in all-time points and holds the record for most assists (70) in a season, breaking Auston Matthews’ previous record of 61 assists. Finally, he was named the MVP of the U18 tournament (14 points in 7 GP). I feel his resume speaks for itself.

CONS

UNDERSIZED

Keller’s size is without a doubt the one thing that’s preventing him from being selected in the top five of this year’s draft. Obviously skills are the most important thing to look at when evaluating a player, but size still remains a factor. Based on an article from 2015 , the average height in the NHL is around 6’1 and 201.2 LBS. Although Keller is noticeably bigger than a guy like Johnny Gaudreau or Brian Gionta, he’s still well below the average size of an NHLer. When Wayne Simmonds goes in a corner versus a player of Keller’s size, you can bet your house that Simmonds is going to come out with the puck. That being said, as I mentioned, if the player has enough talent, his height loses a ton of relevancy when evaluating him. For what it’s worth, Giroux was 5’10.5’’ and 169 lbs when the Flyers selected him in 2006. That’s not a whole lot different than Keller’s final measurements at the combine. If Keller is as good as people think he is, his size shouldn’t hold him back from becoming a star in the NHL.

MIGHT NEED TO SWITCH TO WING AT THE NHL LEVEL

This point is again size-oriented, but Keller might have to switch to wing to be a successful NHLer, depending on the team that drafts him. A center can play an important role in defensive match- ups for coaches and Keller’s lack of size will be exposed when he faces centers much bigger than him in the faceoff circle, in board battles, or in battles for positioning. Say Keller gets drafted on a team in the Western Conference, he’ll have to face behemoths like Kopitar, Getzlaf, Benn, Johansen on a nightly basis. Keller might have the speed advantage but, as Habs fans, we’ve witnessed the downfall of being small down the middle when it counts the most (which is to say, the playoffs).

VERDICT

Keller, along with Nylander, has the best shot at becoming a first line forward in the NHL out of the prospects available in Montreal’s range. Grant McCagg  tweeted that Keller is gaining more and more interest from NHL teams and will most likely go top 10, question is, if a team is really high on him, he might go before Montreal’s pick. I think size is overrated and despite Montreal having some players on the smaller side, like Gallagher and possibly Lehkonen, they can still be a competitive team with three players on the smaller side. If Alexander Nylander is off the board and Keller is still there, he should be the Habs’ pick, despite his lack of size.