You should familiarizing yourself with the name Tyler Kelleher. The 5-foot-6 forward is trying to take the Freddy Gaudreau route to the Nashville Predators.
Gaudreau was an undrafted rookie, who signed his first professional contract with the Milwaukee Admirals in 2014. After a breakout season, Gaudreau signed an entry level contract with Nashville in 2015, and a season later, he was scoring goals in the Stanley Cup Final.
Kelleher played college hockey at the University of New Hampshire, where he averaged more than a point per game – 167 points (57 goals, 110 assists) in 153 games. His 63 points during his senior season tied him for the scoring lead in Hockey East and earned him a Hobey Baker Award nomination, given annually to the best player in college hockey.
After signing with Milwaukee, Kelleher recorded two assists in six games with the Admirals. Entering his first full season in professional hockey, Kelleher has made a memorable
impression during development and rookie camp.
“It was a fun experience in my first rookie camp,” Kelleher said, “I’m just trying to soak in new things every day and learn from the guys who have been here before. I think it was a great win and it was fun to be out there.”
Kelleher was a big surprise during development camp, dazzling with his speed and puck-handling skills. During the future stars’ game, he had two goals and an assist. In the Predators 4-2 win in Game 1 of the rookie tournament against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday, Kelleher scored a goal and roofed another glove side against Lightning goalie Connor Ingram in the shootout after the game.
It's safe to say that Tyler Kelleher has been the star of #Preds rookie camp thus far pic.twitter.com/G60YqMUr68
— Michael Gallagher (@MGsports_) September 9, 2017
“Yeah, there were definitely a couple of nerves, but my line-mate Justin Kirkland has been here for a while,” he said. “I think he said this is his fourth camp, so he’s always good to answer questions and stuff like that, so he helped calm my nerves a little bit. The goal definitely helped and it was nice to get a win out there.
“It was a fun win,” Kelleher said. “I think we really came together as a team to get that win and hopefully we can keep that going and keep working hard.”
As said back at development camp, Tyler Kelleher gonna get that contract. #Preds
— Justin Bradford (@justinbbradford) September 9, 2017
Through practice and one rookie game, Kelleher has seemed to find a nice chemistry with line-mates Anthony Richard and Emil Pettersson. He is currently playing in the second rookie game of the tournament with the Lightning, with the final game set for Tuesday at 11 a.m.
