Team USA reveals why Clayton Keller isn't playing at Olympics through two wins

Team USA has gotten off to a two-win start at the 2026 Winter Olympics in the men's hockey tournament.

One guy who hasn't gotten to take part yet is Utah Mammoth forward Clayton Keller.

On the roster, Keller has been a healthy scratch through the wins over Latvia and Denmark.

The U.S. will play its final group game Sunday against Germany, but it remains to be seen if anything will change for Keller.

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Why isn't Clayton Keller playing?

Keller has been the odd man out so far despite the U.S. having 13 forwards active in each of the first two games.

United States coach Mike Sullivan shared more of his thoughts on Keller during a media session on Saturday, via Sam Farnsworth.

"Clayton's on this team for a reason," Sullivan said. "He's a really good player. We know if we put him in the lineup, he's a guy who can help us win. He's a competitive guy. He's highly talented. He's earned a roster spot. He's very deserving of being here."

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Then Sullivan broke down why Keller isn't playing despite that solid praise.

"The hard part is when you have a team like we have, it's an all-star team in so many ways, and only so many players can play every night, and only so guys can play on the power play, and some guys are gonna play less minutes in this type of a situation than they do on their respective NHL teams," Sullivan said. "That's part of the challenge as a team when you come to these types of events. What I love about our guys is we try to communicate with them daily on what our intentions are and how we expect to utilize them, and they're just embracing everything we ask of them."

It is for Sullivan, in a lot of ways, a good problem to have.

It's probably tougher for Keller, for sure. But all he can do is stay ready.

He may still get a chance at some point. If he does, he's got to take advantage.

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