Navigating the salary cap is one of the most important tasks for a front office. Teams that can avoid total cap chaos by walking the tightrope of inking players to deals that match their value (or compensate for future value without breaking the bank) remain successful. Those who don’t often see struggles and front office changes.
PHR will look at every NHL team and give a thorough look at their cap situation for the 2025-26 season. This will focus more on players who are regulars on the roster versus those who may find themselves shuttling between the AHL and NHL. All cap figures are courtesy of PuckPedia. We’re currently covering the Central Division, next up are the Mammoth.
Utah Mammoth
Current Cap Hit: $88,817,857 (below the $95.5MM Upper Limit)
Entry-Level Contracts
F Logan Cooley (one year, $950K)
Potential Bonuses
Cooley: $3.5MM
As expected, Cooley took a big step forward in his sophomore season while clearing all four of his ‘A’ bonuses ($1MM in total). GM Bill Armstrong hasn’t hesitated in trying to sign some of his young core pieces to long-term deals and it makes sense he’ll try to do so here. But with the cap projections that are available, the cost of that pact should break past the $8MM ceiling of many of his comparables and even jump ahead of the $9MM mark.
Signed Through 2025-26, Non-Entry-Level
F Michael Carcone ($775K, UFA)
D Ian Cole ($2.8MM, UFA)
G Connor Ingram ($1.95MM, UFA)
F Barrett Hayton ($2.65MM, RFA)
F Alexander Kerfoot ($3MM, UFA)
F Nick Schmaltz ($5.85MM, UFA)
F Kevin Stenlund ($2MM, UFA)
D Juuso Valimaki ($2MM, UFA)
G Vitek Vanecek ($1.5MM, UFA)
Potential Bonuses
Cole: $200K
The backloaded nature of Schmaltz’s contract made him a speculative trade candidate before the team was sold and moved to Utah which took that idea off the table. He has been quite consistent offensively in recent years, ranging between 58 and 63 points in each of the last four seasons, solid second-line production. He hasn’t played center too frequently over that stretch but has spent enough time down the middle that teams on the open market will be willing to pay the premium to get a top-six center. He’ll make $8.5MM this season between his salary and signing bonus and while matching that on his next contract could be difficult, landing in the $7.5MM area seems doable.
Kerfoot’s offensive production has been a little volatile over the past few years but he still has a floor of a third-line center who can play up and down the lineup when needed. That profile should appeal to a lot of teams and another multi-year deal (three or four years) should be doable with a price tag pushing past the $4MM per season mark. The second bridge deal given to Hayton has gone better than the first and this will be a big year. If he can have another 40-plus-point campaign, that will be three years out of four, giving him a much better case in his final arbitration-eligible year. If they work out a long-term deal, it could land past $6MM per season while if they opt for another shorter-term pact that buys just a couple of years of control, it might land more in the $5MM range.
Stenlund landed more than some expected last summer for a player who had only been a full-time player for one year but he wound up playing a bigger role than expected and won over 59% of his draws. Another season like that could have him closer to $3MM while a step back could keep him around where he is now. Carcone wasn’t planning on coming back to Utah after spending a lot of the year as a healthy scratch but after the market didn’t go his way, he accepted the minimum to return. At this point, he’s likely to stay around the minimum moving forward.
Cole, who will max out his bonuses at 65 games played, is now on his fifth straight one-year contract. He has logged a fourth or fifth role for the bulk of that time and at this point, barring a big drop in ice time or efficiency, it seems same to think he’ll stay around this price tag next summer, probably on another one-year pact when he’ll be 37. Valimaki is coming off a tough year, one that saw him scratched at times before suffering a torn ACL which will cost him the first couple of months of this season as well. At this point, he’ll be hard-pressed to match this price tag on his next deal and a one-year pact to try to rebuild some value might be the way to go.
Ingram took over the number one job in 2023-24 but wasn’t able to sustain that success last season and entered the Player Assistance Program in March but was cleared last month. However, he won’t be returning to Utah, putting his short-term situation into question. If he can stay in the NHL, another deal in this price range could be doable. But if he winds up in the minors for a big chunk of next season, he could find himself closer to number three money, around half of his current AAV. Vanecek was brought in as additional insurance this summer and is coming off a rough year, his second straight with numbers well below average. Unless he turns that around, he’s unlikely to command any sort of significant raise next year.
Signed Through 2026-27
F Lawson Crouse ($4.3MM, UFA)
D John Marino ($4.4MM, UFA)
F Liam O’Brien ($1MM, UFA)
After a couple of 40-point seasons, it looked like Crouse was turning the corner and becoming a legitimate top-six piece. But things went sideways last season as he only managed 18 points. If last year was an aberration, then Utah should still get decent value over these final two years while Crouse will be in line for a small raise. But if last season is the new sign of things to come, his value is going to take a big blow, putting his next deal closer to half of his current deal. O’Brien was the NHL’s leader in penalty minutes in 2023-24 while playing a regular role but he was scratched more often than not last season. Still, there remains enough of a market for enforcers that he could still best this contract two years from now.
Marino’s first season in Utah was injury-riddled as he only played in 35 games. Still, in those outings, he showed that he can hold down a top-four role and kill penalties. Add that to being a right-shot defender and you have the profile of a player who should be able to push past $5MM per season on his next contract on what’s likely to be another long-term deal.
Signed Through 2027-28
D Sean Durzi ($6MM, UFA)
F Clayton Keller ($7.15MM, UFA)
D Olli Maatta ($3.5MM, UFA)
D Nate Schmidt ($3.5MM, UFA)
F Brandon Tanev ($2.5MM, UFA)
Keller hasn’t always received a lot of fanfare but over the past four seasons, he has found that extra gear and has become a legitimate top-line producer, averaging just shy of 80 points per campaign over that stretch. As the market value for top-line wingers is set to go up over the next couple of years, Keller should be in a spot to surpass $10MM per season on a long-term pact in 2028. Tanev isn’t as impactful as he was a few years back but he can still add some grit and defensive acumen to the Mammoth. He’ll be 37 when this deal ends so he’ll likely be going year-to-year from there and if his role resembles that of his time in Winnipeg down the stretch, he will be hard-pressed to make this on that next contract.
Durzi is an interesting case. After showing some offensive promise in Los Angeles, his first year with this organization (back when it was in Arizona) saw him take another step forward, earning this contract and suggesting he can be a core piece for Utah. But injuries limited him last season to just 30 games and with some of the defensive additions they made following the change in cities, his role wasn’t as substantial, particularly his power play time. He’s likely to get similar usage moving forward. If he can get back to being a 40-point player, his value on the open market could push more towards the $8MM range on a long-term pact while if he remains in the role he had last season, the goal might be more along the lines of matching this price tag.
Maatta fit in nicely after being acquired in an early-season trade to give them some help with their injuries. Still, the decision to give him this contract as an early extension was a little odd, especially since his role when everyone is healthy is lower on the depth chart than where he played for a lot of last year. This is a little on the high side for someone who is best served as a third-pairing piece but they have the cap space to afford that premium. The same can be said for Schmidt who was more of a sixth option with Florida but still landed this contract back in July. He’ll also be entering his age-37 year on his next contract, one that should be a one-year pact closer to half of this amount.
Signed Through 2028-29
None
Signed Through 2029-30 Or Longer
F Dylan Guenther ($7.143MM through 2032-33)
F Jack McBain ($4.25MM through 2029-30)
F JJ Peterka ($7.7MM through 2029-30)
D Mikhail Sergachev ($8.5MM through 2030-31)
G Karel Vejmelka ($4.75MM through 2029-30)
Peterka didn’t appear to be willing to re-sign with Buffalo and rather than go through a prolonged battle with the risk of an offer sheet, they opted to move him to Utah. He has had two straight 18-point improvements offensively and played on the top line last season. If he stays on that trajectory, this should become a team-friendly pact relatively quickly. That said, he’ll only be 28 when this contract expires, setting him up for a pricier long-term agreement in what should be an even more favorable cap environment.
Armstrong signed Guenther to this deal back when he had less than one full season of NHL experience under his belt, a very risky move for someone who had spent time in the minors for two straight years. But he felt locking the winger up quickly would work out long-term and Guenther had a strong first full year that suggests Armstrong will be proven right. His contract is one that other agents will be pointing to in discussions for their young forwards. McBain avoided arbitration with this deal this summer. It’s on the high side given his offensive production (his career high is just 27 points) but given his physicality and defensive acumen and the escalating cost of centers, there’s a high floor to work with that should allow the Mammoth to get at least an okay return on this deal.
Sergachev got the chance to become an all-around number one defenseman last season after playing behind Victor Hedman in Tampa Bay. The early results were certainly encouraging. If he simply was to repeat last season’s performance year after year, Utah would happily take it. But if he has another level to get to now that he’s better accustomed to being the top guy, this could become a decent bargain despite the already high price tag.
Vejmelka took advantage of the improved team in front of him to reclaim the number one job and had his best statistical season in 2024-25. Still with a limited track record overall, that didn’t give him a ton of leverage in contract talks, resulting in him landing in the territory of a starter who has shown some flashes of being a number one but also enough struggles (from the days of the Coyotes) to make it far from a guarantee. If he stays at last season’s level – a reasonable expectation with the team improving again – this could be a below-market pact fairly quickly.
Still To Sign
None
Buyouts
None
Retained Salary Transactions
D Oliver Ekman-Larsson ($650K in 2025-26 and 2026-27, $290K from 2027-28 through 2030-310
Carryover Bonus Overage Penalty
None
Best Value: (non-entry-level) Keller
Worst Value: Schmidt
Looking Ahead
By shedding Shea Weber’s contract at the trade deadline last year, Armstrong was able to add to his roster and not need to dip into LTIR. Instead, they have plenty of flexibility for the upcoming season while also having plenty of prospect capital if they’re in a position to add heading into this season’s deadline.
They’re in pretty safe shape moving forward. Cooley’s raise next summer will be substantial and Schmaltz will need a new contract but that can easily fit within their $38MM of cap room. The cap space for 2027-28 sits over $58MM with no high-priced players to re-sign (Marino and Crouse headline that class of expiring contracts). As long as the budget is there to spend (and all indications say it will), Utah is well-positioned to keep and add to its core group for the next few years.
Photos courtesy of Kim Klement Neitzel and Brad Penner-Imagn Images.