Arizona Coyotes center Clayton Keller, who led all rookies with 13 assists and 19 points in 17 games (6-13—19), has been named the NHL’s Rookie of the Month for March.
Keller edged Columbus Blue Jackets center Pierre-Luc Dubois (5-9—14 in 16 GP), Tampa Bay Lightning center Yanni Gourde (2-10—12 in 14 GP), New York Islanders center Mathew Barzal (2-10—12 in 15 GP) and New Jersey Devils defenseman Will Butcher (1-11—12 in 15 GP) for the honor.
Keller registered at least one point in 14 of his 17 March appearances. That included a 10-game streak March 11-28 (5-9—14), the longest by any rookie this season and tied for the third-longest by a rookie in Coyotes/Jets history (behind only Teemu Selanne: 17 GP and Keith Tkachuk: 12 GP, both in 1992-93).
Keller – the seventh overall selection in the 2016 NHL Draft – has played in 79 games this season, ranking in the top five among rookies in shots on goal (1st; 201), points (2nd; 63), assists (2nd; 40), power-play assists (3rd; 14), power-play points (4th; 20), power-play goals (t-4th; 6) and goals (5th; 23).
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The 19-year-old Chesterfield, Mo., native – who also earned the honor for October (9-6—15 in 13 GP) – joins Vancouver Canucks right wing Brock Boeser (November and December) as a two-time Rookie of the Month winner in 2017-18.
* Information provided via NHL Press Release
National Hockey League Press Release. Information provided from the NHL that describes various news releases that describe current events in the league.