NHL Utah general manager Bill Armstrong is among those getting a fresh start from Smith Entertainment Group’s purchase of the Coyotes’ hockey operations assets. He’ll have a comparatively endless cash supply this summer, with the ability to spend up to the salary cap and roughly $43.25MM in offseason space, among the most in the league.
Armed with a gigantic supply of second and third-round draft picks over the next few seasons as well, many have speculated that Armstrong will be one of the most aggressive GMs in the coming months. That seems to be the case, with The Fourth Period reporting NHL Utah will scour both the free-agent and trade market for a second-line center, a top-six winger and a top-four defenseman to add to an already promising core of ex-Coyotes talent.
The Coyotes still fell far short of a playoff spot this year, but their 36-41-5 record was their best since the COVID-shortened 2021 season. Their success was mainly influenced by their best depth scoring in years. They ranked 16th in the NHL in scoring with 256 goals after finishing with 207 and 228 in each of the last two campaigns.
Team defense was still an issue, failing to control the majority of shot attempts and scoring chances at 5-on-5. Goaltending took a step forward in the form of Connor Ingram’s strong .907 SV% and six shutouts, but backup Karel Vejmelka’s poor season over his 38 appearances dragged their overall puck-stopping just below league average.
Still, the players who needed to improve did. 19-year-old Logan Cooley had a strong rookie season, finishing the year with 20 goals and 44 points while averaging 15:49 per game after a middling start to the season that saw him demoted to fourth-line usage at times. Offseason trade acquisition Sean Durzi was passable as their number one defenseman, putting up 41 points in 76 games with a 52.2 CF% at even strength to lead Arizona blue-liners.
The roster wasn’t built for playoff contention yet, especially after one-year UFA pickups Mathew Dumba and Jason Zucker both flamed out and were traded for scraps at the deadline. But with another step forward from Cooley and full seasons from youngsters Josh Doan and Dylan Guenther, both of whom put up great per-game numbers in more limited action, they should be expected to stay in the conversation for a longer period of time next season.
And that’s before adding any external pieces into the equation. Adding in a second-line center leaves Nick Bjugstad and Barrett Hayton to more comfortably slot into bottom-six roles down the middle after holding their own in top-six spot duty the past few campaigns. Options on the open market are slim – Elias Lindholm likely leads the way among true centers that are pending UFAs, but he still may cost a bit too much for Utah’s blood with their entire defense core, including RFAs Durzi and J.J. Moser, needing new deals. He’d also likely have options for more dedicated first-line minutes elsewhere after averaging north of 18:30 per game in six straight seasons.
There are some other capable options, like Chandler Stephenson, who will almost definitely go to market with the Golden Knights fresh out of cap space next season. Jonathan Marchessault is an understandably higher priority to re-sign. Max Domi has done well rebuilding his value in Toronto and could reunite with the new incarnation of the Coyotes club that drafted him 12th overall in 2013.
Some spicier and more impactful names exist on the winger market, dominated by Jake Guentzel, Sam Reinhart and Steven Stamkos. It’s hard to imagine them choosing what’s essentially an expansion market over other opportunities, but if Armstrong comes calling with a truckload of cash, the thought of playing an impactful veteran role to supplement Clayton Keller among Utah’s up-and-coming offense could be appealing. Someone like Viktor Arvidsson, Matt Duchene, Vladimir Tarasenko or Teuvo Teräväinen is likely a more attainable target.
And they could end up being a better value proposition than the big names, something that could be important considering a top-four defenseman is their biggest hole to fill. Moser and Durzi are fine as a top pair but not ideal for a contending team – especially with very few proven commodities behind them outside Juuso Välimäki. Adding a right-shot defenseman will likely be the play to slot in with Välimäki behind Durzi. There are multiple true impact options available there, including Brandon Montour, Brett Pesce, Matt Roy and Chris Tanev.
It’s a tad early to know which names will pop up on the trade market, which Armstrong could likely use to plug their declared second-line center vacancy, given the lack of attractive options on the free agent market.
Reilly Smith and/or Richard Rakell should both be available from Pittsburgh. Or swing really big and take Karlsson
Lol “swing big” for who, somebody who wants to lose their job?
Karlsson should be a no go for all teams. Yes! Utah spend mightly this offseason!
Take PLD in a trade!
Ya can thank Bergevin for that signing…
Fire them both!
Hello Mitch Marner! We’ll take Crouse, Hayton, and a 1st. Thanks!
Morgan Frost and Joel Farabee would fit in perfectly
With that many picks, with that much cap space, this could be an instant playoff team if they wanted.
The Capitals would love to trade Darcy Keumper G, Nick Jensen RHD, and a 3rd for one of their first rounders :)
BA is in year 4 of the rebuild…he wont be adding any players that dont fit the direction that he wants the club to go. Smtih would be wise to let Armstrong continue the rebuild and make the team contenders the right way. Dont rush the process just for that flashy new toy in the window. Stay the course….you wont regret it
How many years of a rebuild do you need?
considering the previous GM (John Chayca) traded most of the prospects away for a sack of pucks, Armstrong being a former scout himself, hired a real scouting staff. I have watched over the last 3 years of actually re-stocking prospects in the pipeline. Utah is getting Keller, Schmaltz, Crouse, Cooley, Macelli…all part of a core that will be good for seasons to come. A properly done rebuild takes 4-6 years. Like I said earlier, you can add complimentary pieces on the short term. Just because BA has a lot of cap space doesnt mean you go get players that dont fit what the team wants to become. If they add a couple decent defensemen and keep Moser, Durzi, Kesselring & Valimaki with another year under their belt, by the end of the 2024-25 season…they will ready to really get serious about not just getting to the playoff but playing meaningful games to get there….BA knows what he’s doing…
In today’s NHL of shared revenue, a total rebuild takes ten years; two years gutting the team for high draft picks, three years drafting with those picks, three years to develop those picks, and two years to become competitive.
We in Arizona had had enough of the modern GM shenanigans. San Jose is just beginning.
See: “Navigating the Financial Landscape of the NHL: Revenue Sharing and Financial Health”
I would think an improvement in goal would be on the list too. A deal for Markstrom possibly?
Get a team name. For real.
Get some colors. Get a logo.
You can do it.
Is there some magically perfect team name that you can come up with in 15 months but not 2?
Transparent ploy to sell generic Utah jerseys to the same fans they’ll sell real jerseys to a year later.
They’re planning on it
link to fox13now.com
This is what turned me off on the PWHL, actually. And it isn’t as if they didn’t have ready-made team identities, logos and colors, except in so far as the league’s being run by rejectionists that spat on Everything PHL. Going into a season without logos or team names (especially when any good marketing department can come up with good ones over a long weekend) is bush league.
That elk uniform off of the link looks pretty sharp.
Me, I’d go with the Utah Stingers (going with the bee motif), and see if I couldn’t get the rights to the old Cincinnati Stingers logo, only instead of black and yellow, make it brown and gold.
“As of Wednesday, the following names have been trademarked for the team that will take the ice this fall at the Delta Center:
Utah Blizzard
Utah Fury
Utah HC
Utah Hockey Club
UTAH ICE
UTAH MAMMOTH
Utah Outlaws
Utah Venom
Utah Yetis”
Two of them are generic, most of them are bad, so it will either be Blizzard or Yetis.
Guessing Seattle’s success picking Kraken will lead them to pick Yetis, even though I personally dislike both.
Blues have some players that could be moved that could be of good value to Utah. Saad or leddy are decent and on not too terrible contracts. They are also on expiring contracts and could be flipped at the deadline.