The Utah Hockey Club is entering its first season in the NHL in 2024-25. Utah HC made major moves this offseason to bolster their roster for this debut campaign. For instance, they traded for Mikhail Sergachev in a deal with the Tampa Bay Lightning. All of these moves have the team ready to go, chief among them forward Clayton Keller.
Keller recently appeared at the NHL's North American Player Media Tour. He admitted to always being nervous around this time of year. However, he has found a level of excitement given the situation he and his teammates are in with their new surroundings.
“You’re excited to be with the guys again,” Keller said, via NHL.com. “You’re excited to compete again. And now, with this situation, going into a new situation, a new fan base, things like that, I think it’s super exciting. To be able to be part of something like this is really cool. I know the fans are stoked, and so are we. We kind of saw the enthusiasm that is in store for us when we first came out here back in April.”
Utah HC's Clayton Keller could help spark a playoff push
Clayton Keller has not had a lot of chances in the Stanley Cup Playoffs in his career. He made the playoffs once with the now-inactive Arizona Coyotes. He scored four goals and seven points during nine contests in the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Utah HC could certainly make noise in the 2024-25 campaign, though. Keller is the team's star player, having scored 33 goals and 76 points in 78 games. He has two consecutive 30+ goal seasons, having scored 37 times during the 2022-23 campaign.
He won't be alone in leading the Utah Hockey Club, either. Sergachev leads a remade blueline that returns Sean Durzi, who had a breakout season in 2023-24. Additionally, Utah traded for John Marino in a deal with the New Jersey Devils at the NHL Draft.
Up front, Utah has talent besides Keller. Logan Cooley, Dylan Guenther, and Nick Schmaltz are all productive players at the top of the lineup. Down the lineup, Nick Bjugstad and Alex Kerfoot are reliable veterans who can help the team when needed. All in all, this is a team that could very well make some noise in the year ahead.
It will certainly be interesting to see how the Utah Hockey Club performs in its first season. Utah begins the 2024-25 campaign at home against Connor Bedard and the Chicago Blackhawks on October 8.