PLAYING CAREER
Professional
Keith was selected by the Chicago Blackhawks in the second round, 54th overall, of the 2002 NHL Entry Draft. He signed with Chicago prior to the 2003–04 season and spent his first two seasons after junior in the American Hockey League (AHL) with the team affiliate Norfolk Admirals. He recorded seven goals and 25 points over 75 games in his professional rookie season in 2003–04. Keith's chances of earning a spot with the Blackhawks the following season were eliminated due to the 2004–05 NHL lock-out. Remaining with the Admirals, he continued his pace with 26 points in 79 games.
Following two seasons in the AHL, Keith made the Blackhawks squad out of the 2005 training camp. He played in his first NHL game on October 5, 2005, against the Anaheim Ducks. He made an immediate impact on the club, scoring nine goals and 21 points, while averaging over 23 minutes of ice time in 81 games during his 2005–06 NHL rookie season. The Blackhawks re-signed him in the off-season to a four-year contract extension.
In 2006–07, he played in all 82 games for the Blackhawks and once again led the team in average ice time at 23 minutes. He had two goals and 31 points, while leading the team in blocked shots with 148. For the 2007–08 season, Keith saw even more ice time as injuries wracked the Blackhawks' defensive corps. He began the season on the top-defensive pairing with Brent Seabrook. By mid-January, he was averaging 24:31 minutes of ice time and had a team leading plus-minus of +14. He was rewarded for this effort by a selection to his first NHL All-Star Game in 2008. Keith went on to finish the season with 12 goals and 32 points, along with a +30 plus-minus rating, despite being on a non-playoff team.
On October 8, 2008, Keith was named an alternate captain along with forward Patrick Sharp to the start the 2008–09 season. He helped a rejuvenated Blackhawks team, led by second-year forwards Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane, back into the Stanley Cup playoffs, recording eight goals and 44 points, second among team defencemen to Brian Campbell. He added six points in 17 post-season games as the Blackhawks advanced to the Western Conference Finals, where they were eliminated by Central Division rivals, the Detroit Red Wings.
With Keith having established himself with Seabrook as one of the top shutdown pairings in the League, he made significant offensive improvement in 2009–10. On December 3, 2009, the Blackhawks announced having extended Keith's contract simultaneously with Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane. At $72 million over 13 years, Keith's contract was the most lucrative in team history, surpassing Marián Hossa's 12-year, $62.8 million contract signed several months prior in July 2009.
He completed the season with 14 goals and 69 points, ranked second among league defencemen behind Mike Green of the Washington Capitals. It was also the highest total for a Blackhawks defenceman since Chris Chelios' 72-point season in 1995–96. His 26:35 minutes of average ice time was the second highest in the league. Entering the 2010 playoffs as the second seed in the Western Conference, the Blackhawks eliminated the Nashville Predators, Vancouver Canucks and San Jose Sharks in the first three rounds.
During Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals against the Sharks, Keith had seven teeth knocked out by a puck. He returned minutes after the incident to help the Blackhawks complete a four-game sweep of the Sharks and advance to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time since 1992. Matched against the Philadelphia Flyers, they won the Stanley Cup in six games. Keith finished 
the post-season with 17 points (2 goals and 15 assists) over 22 contests. Nominated for the James Norris Memorial Trophy for his regular season performance, he outvoted Green and Drew Doughty of the Los Angeles Kings to earn the award as the NHL's best defenceman in the off-season.
As a result of several Blackhawks players, including Keith, entering the first year of lucrative contracts in the 2010–11 season, the team was forced to deal away several components of their Stanley Cup winning team to fit under the salary cap. With a diminished roster, Chicago qualified for the playoffs by two points as the eighth and final seed in the West. Keith's production decreased to seven goals and 45 points over 82 games. Facing the Canucks in the first round, the Blackhawks were eliminated in seven games. Keith recorded four goals and two assists during the series.
On March 23, 2012, Keith was suspended five games for delivering an elbow to the head of Canuck forward Daniel Sedin. Head of the Department of Player Safety Brendan Shanahan observed that the hit was "dangerous, reckless, and caused injury" in his video release.
On June 4, 2013, Keith received a one-game suspension for a slash to the face of Los Angeles Kings' forward Jeff Carter during Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals. The league, in announcing the suspension, referred to the slash as "a one handed upward swing" which struck Carter directly in the face causing a laceration which required 20 stitches to close.
In the following season, Keith tallied six goals, 55 assists, while maintaining a +22 plus-minus rating over 79 games. He was selected as a member of the 2014 Canadian men's hockey team, and won a gold medal at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. Keith recorded four goals and seven assists in the 2014 Stanley Cup playoffs, but lost to Los Angeles Kings in the Western Conference Finals, the eventual champions. After the season's conclusion, Keith was awarded his second Norris Trophy as the NHL's top defenceman.
Keith won his third Stanley Cup with the Blackhawks on June 15, 2015. For his role in the 2015 Stanley Cup playoffs, Keith received the Conn Smythe Trophy as Most Valuable Player of the playoffs, also scoring the Cup winning goal on Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Ben Bishop. He is the first player to score the Cup-winning goal and win the Conn Smythe Trophy in the same year since Henrik Zetterberg achieved the feat in 2008.
On March 29, 2016, Keith swung his stick into the face of Minnesota Wild forward Charlie Coyle in retaliation after being checked to the ice, leaving Coyle with blood dripping down his nose and requiring medical attention. Keith received a match penalty for intent to injure.
The NHL’s Department of Player Safety reviewed the incident, determined Keith's conduct was "an intentional and retaliatory act of violence by a player with a history of using his stick as a weapon", and suspended Keith for six games – the final five games of the regular season and the first game of the 2016 Stanley Cup playoffs – causing Keith to forfeit $148,883.35 in salary under the terms of the collective bargaining agreement.
On December 11, 2018, Keith and teammate Brent Seabrook became the first pair of defencemen, and the seventh duo in NHL history, to play 1,000 games together.
At the end of June 2021, it was reported that Keith had requested a trade from the Blackhawks to Western Canada or the Pacific Northwest of the United States to be closer to his family (who live in Penticton, British Columbia) as he finished out his career.
On July 12, 2021, Keith's sixteen season run with the Blackhawks came to an end when he, along with Tim Söderlund, were traded to the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for Caleb Jones and a conditional third-round pick in 2022.[23] Keith left the Chicago organisation holding numerous distinctions, including the second most games played in team uniform, second most points by a blueliner (behind only Doug Wilson) and having led the team in ice time for every season he played.
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PLAYING CAREER
AWARDS
| Award | Year |
|---|---|
| 4x NHL All-Star | 2008, 2011, 2015, 2017 |
| 2x NHL First All-Star Team | 2010, 2014 |
| 2x James Norris Memorial Trophy | 2010, 2014 |
| 1x Conn Smythe Trophy | 2015 |
| 3x Stanley Cup Champion (with the Chicago Blackhawks) | 2010, 2013, 2015 |
| 2x Olympic gold medal (with Canada) | 2010, 2014 |
