The Utah Hockey Club has inked defense prospect Terrell Goldsmith to a three-year, entry-level deal, the team announced. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Utah’s front office drafted Goldsmith in the fourth round of the 2023 draft while representing the Coyotes. The 6’4″, 216-lb left-shot defenseman is now in his fifth and final season of junior hockey with the WHL’s Tri-City Americans, where he serves as an alternate captain. Goldsmith is a physical, stay-at-home defender who has yet to record a point through four games this season but has 9 PIMs and an even rating.
Goldsmith is a bit of an afterthought in a relatively deep Utah prospect pool inherited from Arizona. He didn’t rank among their top 15 prospects in a preseason assessment from McKeen’s Hockey, and the ALL City Network’s Craig Morgan recently ranked him seventh among defenders in Utah’s system. That’s mainly due to an extreme absence of any offensive upside. The British Columbia native only had 12 assists and 15 points in 66 games in his post-draft year with Prince Albert last season, standing as career-highs. He does have NHL-ready size, though, even if his ceiling is a bottom-pairing presence.
His ELC is eligible to slide this season if he plays fewer than 10 NHL games, which will be the outcome. His deal won’t go into effect until the 2025-26 season, keeping him under contract until he’s eligible for restricted free agency in 2028.