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Carolina Hurricanes: Why To Be Keen On Joey Keane

By Alex Ohari

LONDON, ON - MARCH 09: Joey Keane #7 of the London Knights skates with the puck in the third period during OHL game action against the Saginaw Spirit at Budweiser Gardens on March 9, 2019 in London, Canada. (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images)
LONDON, ON - MARCH 09: Joey Keane #7 of the London Knights skates with the puck in the third period during OHL game action against the Saginaw Spirit at Budweiser Gardens on March 9, 2019 in London, Canada. (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images) /
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LONDON, ON – FEBRUARY 08: Joey Keane #7 of the London Knights with the puck in the first period during OHL game action against the Owen Sound Attack at Budweiser Gardens on February 8, 2019 in London, Canada. (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images)
LONDON, ON – FEBRUARY 08: Joey Keane #7 of the London Knights with the puck in the first period during OHL game action against the Owen Sound Attack at Budweiser Gardens on February 8, 2019 in London, Canada. (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images) /

Who is Joey Keane?

It goes without saying, but the decision for Carolina to move a pretty highly thought-of prospect in Gauthier in a straight swap for another prospect speaks highly of what the organization sees in Joey Keane.

The run-down is as follows. Keane is an American-born right-shot defenseman (WHICH ARE EXTREMELY VALUABLE). He’s got OK size at 6’0″ 190lbs, and at just 20-years old he still has a lot of growth and room for development as a player.

Keane is, by all accounts, a late bloomer. He was initially undrafted in his first year of eligibility in 2017 – before he came back and impressed scouts with formidable two-way play with the Barrie Colts of the OHL. He fantastic 12-goal, 44-point season in 2017-18 led him to being picked 88th overall by the Rangers in 2018, which is quite high for a guy who was originally snubbed.

That spoke volumes to his talent level, and scouts have raved about his overall game. Scott Wheeler, who recently ranked Keane as the 5th-best prospect in the Rangers organization (he had Gauthier ranked 9th for Carolina) said this about Keane:

"“[Keane is] a physical presence who has borderline elite skating ability and just continues to prove he can be productive, join the rush, slide down the wall in the offensive zone, and play with toughness. I’m not sure he’s going to drive offence at the NHL level, but he can make plays here and there…”"

His junior team’s assistant coach, Todd Miller, said the following:

"“He can defend so well that you rarely, rarely ever saw him get burned one-on-one, and if he did jump into the rush he was always the first guy back. His skating ability alone was so good that he can recover so well. That’s one thing that I really noticed with him and that will help him along the way in pro hockey.”"

Colts general manager Jason Ford, also raved about Keane’s game:

"“I think for the gameplay, it’s like any new player coming in and it will take him a bit of time [to adapt], but he’s got the speed, he’s got the strength, he defends really well, and he can chip in on offense.”"

Keane will definitely add a bit of a stingy presence to the Canes D when he arrives. He had 103 penalty minutes in his final year of junior, and he made it a focal point of his to add strength last summer before turning pro. He trained with Ben Prentiss, a training-guru of sorts, during the summer to be ready for pro hockey.

"“My biggest thing this summer was to get stronger. Going to pro, you’re going to be going against men. These guys have wives and kids so you’ve got to be willing to compete with them and be as strong as them. I definitely got stronger,” Keane said. Next: Keane In The Pros"

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