Brady Keeper
Brady Keeper (born June 5, 1996) is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenseman currently playing for the Syracuse Crunch in the American Hockey League (AHL) as a prospect under contract with the Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League (NHL).
| Brady Keeper | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Born |
June 5, 1996 Cross Lake, Manitoba, Canada | ||
| Height | 6 ft 2 in (188 cm) | ||
| Weight | 194 lb (88 kg; 13 st 12 lb) | ||
| Position | Defence | ||
| Shoots | Right | ||
| NHL team (P) Cur. team |
Florida Panthers Syracuse Crunch (AHL) | ||
| NHL Draft | Undrafted | ||
| Playing career | 2019–present | ||
Playing career
Keeper played junior hockey with the OCN Blizzard of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League (MJHL) from 2013 to 2017 and was named the league's Most Valuable Player for the 2016–17 season. He earned a scholarship to the University of Maine and played two seasons for the NCAA Division I Maine Black Bears, accumulating 57 points in 73 games.
Having gone undrafted into NHL, Keeper left the University of Maine to sign an entry-level contract with the Florida Panthers on March 21, 2019. He made his NHL debut on March 28 against the Ottawa Senators.[1]
As a restricted free agent from the Panthers following the Return to Play qualifying series, Keeper was re-signed to a one-year, two-way contract on August 31, 2020.[2]
Personal
Keeper was born and raised in Cross Lake in northern Manitoba and is the first person from Cross Lake First Nation to play in the NHL.[3]
Career statistics
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 2012–13 | Norway House North Stars | KJHL | 29 | 6 | 28 | 34 | 66 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | ||
| 2013–14 | Norman Northstars | MMHL | 42 | 7 | 18 | 25 | 99 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2013–14 | OCN Blizzard | MJHL | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2014–15 | OCN Blizzard | MJHL | 54 | 13 | 28 | 41 | 160 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 12 | ||
| 2015–16 | OCN Blizzard | MJHL | 58 | 16 | 28 | 44 | 202 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 32 | ||
| 2016–17 | OCN Blizzard | MJHL | 48 | 23 | 25 | 48 | 82 | 15 | 4 | 12 | 16 | 42 | ||
| 2017–18 | University of Maine | HE | 37 | 6 | 16 | 22 | 88 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2018–19 | University of Maine | HE | 36 | 7 | 15 | 22 | 58 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2018–19 | Florida Panthers | NHL | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2019–20 | Springfield Thunderbirds | AHL | 61 | 6 | 12 | 18 | 108 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2019–20 | Florida Panthers | NHL | — | — | — | — | — | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| NHL totals | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
Awards and honours
| Award | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| MJHL | ||
| MJHL All-Rookie Team | 2015 | |
| MJHL First All-Star Team | 2016, 2017 | |
| Brian Kozak Award (MJHL Top Defenceman) | 2017 | |
| Steve "Boomer" Hawrysh Award (MJHL Most Valuable Player) | 2017 | |
| College | ||
| HE Third All-Star Team | 2019 | |
See also
References
- Warren, Ken (March 29, 2019). "Keeper's NHL debut is a story of inspiration and motivation for northern Canadian communities". Ottawa Sun.
- "Florida Panthers re-sign defenseman Brady Keeper to a one-year contract". Florida Panthers. August 31, 2020. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
- Friesen, Paul (March 21, 2019). "Against all odds, Cross Lake's Brady Keeper makes the NHL". Winnipeg Sun.
External links
- Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Eliteprospects.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or The Internet Hockey Database