New Additions: F JJ Peterka (from BUF), D Scott Perunovich (1 yr x $775k), F Brandon Tanev (3yr x $2.5M AAV), D Nate Schmidt (3yr x $3.5M AAV), G Vitek Vanecek (1yr x $1.5M)

Subtractions: D Michael Kesselring (to BUF), F Josh Doan (to BUF), F Matias Maccelli (to TOR), F Nick Bjugstad (to STL), D Robert Bortuzzo (FA), G Connor Ingram (to EDM)

Retentions/Extensions: F JJ Peterka (5yr x $7.7M AAV), F Kailer Yamamoto (1yr x $775k), F Jack McBain (5 yr x $4.25M AAV), F Michael Carcone (1yr x $775k)

After playing as the Utah Hockey Club for a season, the team now has its official branding, they are the Utah Mammoth. Overall, I would say they did a pretty good job, even though the logo and jerseys do resemble something that you would see in an NHL video game’s create a team mode. The logo is modern and fairly simple, although I like the mountain range blended into the Mammoth’s design. As for the jerseys, they are the ones that wore last season but now with the new logo on the home jersey, with pretty basic striping. Sometimes when you are designing a new team branding, the safe route is to go basic and modern looking, but I think a little more creativity would have been appreciated by the fans. This article is not about the branding, just thought to give my thoughts, solid 7.5/10, not bad, but could have been better.

The team’s first year in Utah was overall a mild success. Fans were immediately invested in their new team, as Salt Lake City has been trying for a while to get another professional sports team other than the Utah Jazz. The club shares a building with the NBA team, the Delta Center, which was unfortunately not designed for hockey, with some interesting design elements that leave only 11k seats with an unobstructed view. The team and city are working on creating a more fan friendly arena for both the Jazz and Mammoth over the next few seasons. They reportedly were selling out each night, which does not come as a surprise as they were the shiny new toy in SLC. In their last year in Arizona, the team saw an eight win increase from the previous year, and some thought that trend would continue and there was a possibility that Utah would be a playoff team in their first season. Unfortunately the team missed out on the postseason, but had a respectable 38-31-13 record, the best output from the franchise (including Arizona) since 2014. With the team on an upward trajectory, and tons of young, talented players, there is optimism that this year there could be playoff hockey in Utah.

Captain Clayton Keller enjoyed a career season last year, posting 90 points in 81 games. The American forward has been quietly elite over the past four seasons, recording 1.02 points per game since the beginning of the 2021-22 season. He was just looked at as the best forward on a bad team, but now is getting more and more respect, and also getting more help offensively. Logan Cooley, Dylan Guenther and Nick Schmaltz all had over 60 points last season. To put it into perspective, Keller has only had another 60 point teammate once in his career (also Schmaltz who had 61 in 2023-24). Schmaltz, 29, is a very underrated scoring forward who has put up 0.76 points per game since joining the Utah/Arizona organization. The other two are much younger, and both have elite potential. Cooley, 21, was the 3rd overall pick in 2022, he had 44 points as a rookie in 2023-24, and saw nearly a 1.5x increase in points in year two, as he had 65 points in 75 games. Maybe not this year, but I think eventually he will join Keller in putting up a point per game. Guenther, 22, scored the first goal in Utah history, making an early impression on the fanbase, and letting them know what they can expect from him. He scores goals, and has the highest ceiling as a pure goalscorer on the roster, with the skillset to put up 40+ any given year. He had 27 goals last year in 70 games, but was streaky; should he be able to score consistently over 82 games, he is set to smash that total.

Adding to their young core, the team traded for German winger JJ Peterka this offseason. Peterka, 23, played the first three seasons of his career in Buffalo, really breaking out these last two years as a legit top six forward. In 2023-24, he had 28 goals and 50 points, and last season, his goals total slightly dropped, scoring 27, but he displayed a more complete offensive game, as he totaled 68 points. Mixed with a difference in contract expectations between him and management, and him simply wanting to get out of Buffalo, the team moved their budding young forward to the Mammoth, in exchange for defenceman Michael Kesselring, and forward Josh Doan (who Utah fans do not have as much of an attachment to as Arizona fans would). JJ wears the number 77, he is no Crosby, but he took a page out of Sid’s book and is getting paid $7.7M per season (for the next five years). He will play an instant role in the top six, and look to immediately build chemistry with his new team.

Kesselring will be missed on the blueline, but the team has the depth to make up for it. Similar to the Peterka trade, last offseason Utah made the move to acquire a young player looking to get paid, from a team hesitant to pay them. Mikhail Sergachev came in from Tampa, where he had to play behind Victor Hedman for his whole career up to that point. Given an opportunity to be a team’s bonafide number one defenceman, Sergachev was solid, recording 53 points in 77 games, 23 of which came on the powerplay, as he quarterbacked the team’s top unit. He is hoping to produce a little more on even strength in his second season with the team. John Marino and Sean Durzi are two very solid right handed puck moving defencemen, but were unfortunately injured more games than not last season, as the duo both played under 40 games (Marino, 35 and Durzi, 30). Veterans on D include Ian Cole, Olli Maata, and newly signed Nate Schmidt who was a key piece in the Florida Panthers winning the Stanley Cup, he hopes to bring success to Utah.

The depth does not stop on defense, as the forward group has plenty of solid role players. Barrett Hayton was the 5th overall pick in 2018, and while he has not been a star like you might hope to find with a top five pick, he has grown into a decent second/third line center, who can score 20 goals. In his last two full seasons he has 19 and 20 goals respectively, and the team is just looking for him to continue in that role. Alex Kerfoot is a decent middle six forward who can get you 10-20 goals, and 30-50 points. The bottom six consists of stingy, hard working depth pieces such as Jack McBain, Lawson Crouse, Kevin Stenlund, and free agent signing Brandon Tanev, who is a welcome addition to every team he plays for.

A reason for hesitancy in picking this team to break through and make the playoffs is their goaltending situation, with the starter being Karel Vejmelka. As the primary starting option, he had a 26-22-8 record last season, with a .904 SV% and an impressive 2.58 GAA. His issue has been consistency, as some stretches he plays like one of the best goalies in the NHL, and at other times looks like one of the lower end starters in the league. He played in 70% of the team’s games last season, and looked primed to do the same again this season, as the team did not bring in much competition for starts. They signed Vitek Vanecek to a one year deal this offseason. Vanecek was the starting goalie in New Jersey in 2022-23 and was exceptional, posting a 33-11-4 record, with a .911 SV% and 2.45 GAA. Since that year, his save percentage has dropped below .890, and has lost the confidence he had with the Devils. I think fans should expect his numbers to be closer to the past two seasons than his career year, and Vejmelka to remain the bulk starter. Both goalies can be streaky so Utah may choose to ride the hot hand.

Playoffs are certainly a possibility for the Mammoth this year, but a lot has to go right for them, and wrong for the teams ahead of them, in a division that featured five playoff teams last season, who are all as good if not better than they were last year. A big win this year would be improving their home record, and solidifying Salt Lake City as a hockey town. The team was tied for the fifth fewest wins on home ice last season, with only 18 of their 38 wins coming in the Delta Center. For an organization that has played in 3 different home arenas over the last five years, some consistency will be appreciated. I like the makeup of the roster, and think the pieces are there for a fun and competitive team. I just go back to the team’s ahead of them and find it hard to pick Utah over any of them. Sorry to the Mammoth faithful, but I think Utah will have to wait at least another year for playoff hockey.