(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Hockey Club center Clayton Keller (9) as Utah Hockey Club hosts the Tampa Bay Lightning, NHL hockey at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, March 22, 2025.
Clayton Keller will not admit that the Olympics are on his mind.
But, after being left off the Team USA roster for the 4-Nations Faceoff in February, the Utah Hockey Club captain has decided to go to the 2025 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship this summer.
“I’m healthy, my body feels great right now,” Keller said. “There are some guys that I know that are going. And any chance you can represent your country, it’s a good feeling. I haven’t been in a while and I’m excited to go over there and win.”
The World Championship is an annual international men’s hockey tournament put together by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). While it is considered one of the highest levels of national team competition in the sport, some of the NHL’s best players do not participate because of the timing.
The World Championship — which will take place between Stockholm, Sweden, and Herning, Denmark — will go from May 9-25 in the middle of the NHL playoffs. Some also opt out to rest and recover after a long 82-plus game season.
(Chris Samuels | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Hockey Club center Clayton Keller looks toward the net versus the Seattle Kraken at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Tuesday, April 8, 2025.
For people like Keller, it offers the opportunity to get game action after missing the postseason. And, with the 2026 Milan Olympics coming up in February, it adds reps in the Team USA (or any other country) jersey in front of some of the decision-makers for the next, more prestigious international tournament.
Bill Guerin is the general manager for Team USA for the Olympics — he also assembled the team for the 4-Nations Faceoff. For the World Championship, Jeff Keatly (who is an assistant GM for the Nashville Predators) will be the GM for Team USA. Nonetheless, all of the USA Hockey organization’s eyes will be on who decides to suit up during the summer.
Does Keller view the World Championship as a preliminary tryout for the Olympic team?
“I think just how I’ve always looked at it — I’m going to go over there and be myself and take care of business,” Keller said. “Let the other stuff take care of itself.”
Keller had a similar response following his 4-Nations snub. The 26-year-old forward answered with a career-high 90 points (30 goals, 60 assists) and dominated against Guerin’s Wild. Keller had nine points in four games against Minnesota this season, including a career-high five-point performance on Feb. 27 with one goal and four assists. Keller scored more points on Guerin’s team than any other opponent this year.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Hockey Club defenseman Michael Kesselring (7) during an NHL hockey game at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Monday, Nov. 18, 2024.
It helps, too, that 14 of the 23 USA players from the 4-Nations roster are actively in the NHL playoffs. It opens room for Keller, and others, to showcase their talents and the impact they could have in Milan.
Keller’s teammates in Utah, Michael Kesselring and Logan Cooley, will join him at the World Championship. For Kesselring, his participation is less of a pitch for an Olympic bid and more of a tool for development. The defenseman was given greater responsibility for the Club in his second full season in the league and is looking to build off of it.
“It will be a good experience. I went last year — it gave me a lot of confidence going into this year,” Kesselring said. “I give them a lot of credit. It helped me a lot being able to play that bigger role at the start of this year.”
Kesselring finished the season with 29 points (seven goals, 22 assists) in 82 games. He thinks his ceiling is higher. The 25-year-old said he wants to work on utilizing his heavy shot more, cleaning up his defensive details and earning more ice time — especially on special teams. Those are areas he will get leeway on in the World Championship.
“Last year was tough. It was my first full year — I was in survival mode a bit. I was so worried about hockey all the time,” Kesselring said. “I think this year I knew I belonged so I got to take a step back and really enjoy it.”
Cooley could be a sneaky contender for the Olympics. While he is only 20 years old and has spent two seasons in the NHL, the forward’s scoring ability, consistency and, most of all, his two-way game were standouts in his sophomore campaign. Cooley posted 65 points (25 goals, 40 assists) in 75 games and ended the season centering the first line, on the power play and used for the penalty kill. This will be Cooley’s first time skating in the World Championship; he was on the U20 and U18 teams previously, though.
(Chris Samuels | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Hockey Club center Logan Cooley prepares for a face-off versus the Seattle Kraken at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Tuesday, April 8, 2025.
“You need to be a complete player to make those [Olympic] teams,” head coach André Tourigny said earlier this month. “If you look at Cools, he is so good defensivley. One day, he will apply for that job. Is it right away next year? Maybe. I hope so. I hope for him and I hope for us and I hope for everybody. If not, he put his name out there. He is on the list for sure and he will be one day, in my opinion, on that team.”
Cooley, Keller and Kesselring may have to play against their own goaltender, Karel Vejmelka, who will also attend the World Championship to represent Czechia. Vejmelka was part of the Czechia team that won gold last summer. Despite posting historic numbers — including a 23-game start streak to close out the year — the netminder will continue to put in the work. He, after all, has a new five-year, $23 million contract to continue to live up to.
“I’m not done yet,” Vejmelka said. “I’m excited to be part of the team and go for the trophy again.”
Dylan Guenther attended the World Championship last summer for Team Canada but is not sure if he will go over this time. The 22-year-old is still recovering from a broken nose he suffered in early April; Guenther is not getting surgery, he said, so he has to wait for it to heal on its own. Accordingly, his commitment to the World Championship is “up in the air” based on what the medical staff advises.
(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Hockey Club right wing Dylan Guenther (11) brings the puck down the ice during the game at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Friday, Nov. 29, 2024.
Guenther may be an improbable pick for an actual Olympic roster spot for Canada — given the offensive firepower the team already has — at the 2026 Milan Games, but he no doubt turned heads with his sharp shooting in Salt Lake City. The top-six forward logged 60 points (27 goals, 33 assists) in 70 games and was a key difference-maker for Utah on a nightly basis. Proving that on another international stage is something Guenther has thought about.
“I think it is [kind of a tryout for the Olympics]. A lot of the guys who are going to play in the Olympics are playing in the playoffs right now,” Guenther said. “I think for guys not playing in the playoffs, this is like that a little bit. The goal is to just get better every year and come out hot next year.”
So, in the absence of a Club playoff appearance, fans will have the chance to see Utah players compete — for both a gold medal and a potential Olympic bid.
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