The National Hockey League (NHL) Department of Player Safety announced Friday that Arizona Coyotes forward Clayton Keller has been fined $5,000 for cross-checking the Senators defenseman Ottawa’s Erik Brannstrom on January 12.
Arizona’s Clayton Keller was fined $5,000, the maximum allowed under the CBA, for cross-checking Ottawa’s Erik Brannstrom.
— NHL Player Safety (@NHLPlayerSafety) January 13, 2023
The incident happened in the first period when Keller cross-checked Brannstrom in the face. Keller received a five-minute major and a game foul on the play. The Senators managed to score once on the power play in what was a 5-3 win for the Sens. This is Keller’s first fine or suspension at the NHL level.
Keller was drafted seventh overall in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft after recording 70 assists and 107 points in 62 games with the U.S. National Under-18 Team. He made his NHL debut in 2016-17 after winning the NCAA Top Collegiate Rookie Award with Boston University and a World Juniors gold medal with the United States. He registered two assists in three games.
Last season, he scored a career-high 28 goals and 63 points in 67 games before a season-ending broken leg stopped him in his tracks. He was able to undergo surgery and made a full recovery before the start of this season. Keller has been strong this season, recording 37 points (14G, 23A) and 31 penalty minutes in 41 games. He is currently in the third year of a monster eight-year, $57,000,000 contract extension he signed with the Coyotes in 2019. The contract runs through 2027-28 and sees a no-show clause. exchange (NTC) and a no-move clause (NMC) take effect in 2024-25.
The Coyotes are currently 13-23-5 and sit seventh in the Central Division. The Coyotes will face the Minnesota Wild on Saturday.