Utah Hockey Club Acquires John Marino

The Utah Hockey Club has traded for defenseman John Marino and Pick 153 in the 2024 NHL Draft from the New Jersey Devils, per Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic (Twitter link). In return, the Devils receive Pick 49 and the Edmonton Oilers’ 2025 second-round pick. LeBrun mentions that this opens space for the Devils to sign Brett Pesce when free agency opens on Monday.

Rumors about Marino’s availability kicked into high gear in the week ahead of the draft, as New Jersey became tied to Pesce. It seems that is the path the team will head down, now boasting $19.654MM in cap space, after moving Marino’s $4.4MM bill. That should be plenty enough to beckon Pesce away from Carolina, where he’s so far spent his entire career, though New Jersey will also have to keep their seven pending free agents in mind. That list is headlined by Dawson Mercer, who established a dominant role in the team’s top-six over the course of his entry-level contract. He should be due for a substantial pay raise, though once Mercer is re-signed New Jersey will have their core of Mercer, Jack Hughes, Nico Hischier, Jesper Bratt, Timo Meier, and Dougie Hamilton signed for the foreseeable future.

Meanwhile, Marino will join Mikhail Sergachev as Utah’s newest defenders – and may even play next to the former Lightning on the team’s top line. Marino recorded four goals and 25 points in 75 games this season, falling just one point shy of the career-high he set in 56 games as a rookie. He’s proven reliable through his tenure with the Devils, after joining the team in July of 2022. New Jersey traded Ty Smith and a 2023 third-round pick to Pittsburgh for Marino – since deploying him in a consistent and reliable second-pair role. But Marino seems to have upside left to give, and could find his stride on a Utah blue-line with plenty of space.