On Tuesday, USA Hockey released its list of 44 players who have been invited to the Olympic Orientation Camp for the upcoming 2026 Winter Olympics in Milano Cortina. Included in the group of 44 players were Utah Mammoth forwards Clayton Keller and Logan Cooley.
After a successful 2024-25 season with Utah and capturing gold at the World Championship for the first time in 92 years, it’s no surprise that Keller and Cooley are going to Michigan to be a part of the Olympic Orientation Camp as Team USA looks to win its first Olympic gold medal since 1980.
Keller and Cooley Are Heading to Plymouth
Coming off a career-high 90-point season, there’s no surprise that Keller is on the orientation camp list. He was 11th in the NHL in points last season and was third among Americans. It was good enough to give him a spot on NHL Network’s top-20 wings, where he was ranked at 15, making him the fifth-highest American on the list. In May, Keller captained Team USA to gold at the World Championship. He had 10 points in 10 games. On top of that, the Missouri native was named captain of Utah ahead of the 2024-25 season.
Keller was not a part of the 4 Nations Face-Off roster for Team USA last season, which caused a bit of confusion and uproar from fans, especially with players like Vincent Trocheck, Chris Kreider, and Brock Nelson making the team ahead of him. After those three players combined for one goal in the entire tournament and the entire team struggled on offense at times throughout the tournament, Team USA general manager Bill Guerin might change up his roster heading into a much more anticipated Olympic tournament. It is worth noting that every player on the second-place American team has been invited to the camp.
Related: Blue Jackets’ Werenski Named to U.S. Men’s Olympic Orientation Camp
For Keller, a spot in the lineup might be easy to get, considering his past couple of seasons as one of the best American forwards in the NHL and his strong World Championship as captain for Team USA. If he has another strong start in this upcoming season, he absolutely should be on the final roster and in the lineup for the tournament thanks to his explosive offense and strong showing as captain for both the Mammoth and Team USA.
In his second season in the league, Cooley put up remarkable numbers with Utah. He had 65 points in 75 games, with 25 of those points being goals. He was also part of the gold medal-winning Team USA…
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