Utah Mammoth captain Clayton Keller joined The Cam and Strick Podcast in an episode released Tuesday morning to talk all things Utah, Olympics, fashion, golf and more.
Here are the highlights.
‘I love Utah’
Like most of his teammates, Keller has been vocal about how much he likes being in Utah. He reiterated that sentiment on the episode.
“I love Utah,” he said. “It’s been awesome from day one. It’s just got a super relaxed feel, there’s no traffic, it’s easy to get everywhere.
“It’s almost like a college town and how the fans and people support you around town. I see them out and the number of times people tell us we’ve got them into hockey and got their kids into hockey and just the game growing so much and how excited they are. The fans are super into it now and love watching us play.
He also raved about Ryan Smith, dubbing him “the best owner in sports.”
Olympics
Keller has hesitated to admit it in the past, but he divulged during his podcast appearance how his exclusion from the 4 Nations Face-Off team fueled his drive to make the Olympic squad.
“I think, obviously, it leaves a sour taste in your mouth and, you know, more than anything, it was just motivation. After that, I had an unreal stretch, second half of the season. So, that’s kind of how I looked at it, and I just wanted to use that as fuel and motivation, I guess, to eventually be on the Olympic team.”
Although Keller hadn’t played with any of his Olympic teammates in the NHL, he knew almost all of them prior. He played with several of them at the U.S. National Team Development Program; he’d played with a number of them in previous international tournaments; he knew the Tkachuk brothers from growing up with them.
Ironically, the only one he didn’t know well was his roommate, Winnipeg Jets star Kyle Connor.
“Great guy,” Keller said of Connor.
Team support after losing his father
Just before American Thanksgiving, Keller got news that his father had passed away suddenly. While it would have been perfectly acceptable for him to take a few games off, he decided to continue playing.
“I think that’s what my dad would have wanted,” he said when talking about why he played.
He mentioned the support he got from not only his teammates, but also from Smith and president of hockey operations Chris Armstrong, who accompanied him to the funeral.
“The things that they both did through a tough time is something that I’ll remember for the rest of my life, and the sacrifices that they both made during those times,” he said. “So, that’s something that really stuck with me and (I’m) super appreciative and thankful for them.”
That road trip included a stop in Keller’s hometown of St. Louis, where he said the team stayed an extra day to allow him to be with his family.
Chirping, team dinners and poker
Further to the point of team unity, Keller detailed the dynamic between the Mammoth players.
“I feel like we have such a tight group,” he said. “Anyone can go to dinner with anyone. There’s no real, you know, like, these five guys. Yes, you have your five, six guys that you kind of go with, but it’s always open invite to anyone.”
As you might expect in a hockey locker room, there’s plenty of chirping. He said they used to chirp Nick Bjugstad about every outfit he wore — good, bad or neutral.
Everyone knows how much energy the likes of Nate Schmidt and Sean Durzi bring to a locker room, but he gave the “undercover funny guy” crown to John Marino, who is notoriously soft-spoken in public. An honorable mention went to Michael Carcone.
The most intriguing note he shared, though, is the frequency of the team’s poker games.
“Last year we were big into poker, so we’d play on the plane,” he said. “I think it was great because we spent even more time together on the road. From the plane, we’d play before dinner, we’d go to dinner, we’d play after dinner.
“We had 10 guys playing, guys would rotate in and out, so just like, awesome to spend even more time with each other, and I think that’s how you become a closer team. We played a ton in the playoffs, too, hanging out with each other. It was just a lot of fun.”
Golf
In the 2025-26 NHLPA player poll, Keller was named the “best golfer in the NHL” — and it wasn’t particularly close. He received 15.9% of the votes, while the second-place finisher, JT Miller, got just 6.3%.
When the podcast hosts asked if he’s good enough to compete on the PGA Tour, though, he shut it down immediately.
“I always say the comparison of me and them in golf is like the comparison of an NHL player and a high school hockey player. ... There’s just levels and it’s not even close,” he said.
And that’s not just a guess. He has played with a number of professional golfers, including Jon Rahm and David Puig, who are members at the same course as him in Arizona.
