SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Clayton Keller of the Utah Hockey Club became the second player from Missouri and fourth-youngest active from the United States to record 500 regular-season NHL points.
Keller assisted on Barrett Hayton’s power-play goal less than a minute into the second period Saturday night against league-leading Winnipeg after scoring a goal in the first. Hayton assisted on Keller's 26th goal of the season.
Keller joined Hall of Famer Pat LaFontaine as the only Missouri natives to reach the 500-point mark. Among U.S.-born players currently in the league, only Auston Matthews, Matthew Tkachuk and Patrick Kane got there at a younger age than Keller’s 26 years and 250 days.
The seventh pick in the 2016 draft when Utah was in Arizona and known as the Coyotes, Keller is a strong candidate to make the U.S. team at the 2026 Olympics after being left off the roster for the 4 Nations Face-Off.
___
AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
The Associated Press