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Logan Cooley

Logan Cooley Out Eight Weeks

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The Mammoth have received clarity on star center Logan Cooley’s recent lower-body injury, and it’s a mixed bag of news. He’ll be sidelined for at least eight weeks, the team announced.

Based on how it looked, Utah’s likely happy with the outcome, since it’s not a season-ending absence. In Cooley’s most recent appearance against the Canucks last Friday, he spun out while trying to deliver on a scoring chance and smacked his left knee into the right post of the Vancouver net, dislodging it. The bird’s-eye cam appeared to show significant stress on his knee during the collision, but a two-month timeline indicates there wasn’t significant structural damage.

It was the second time in a week that Cooley’s left knee took hard contact. He left a Nov. 29 game against the Blues after being involved in a knee-on-knee collision with Alexey Toropchenko. That also looked like a long-term absence, but he ended up with only an eyebrow-raising strain and was back in the lineup for their next game two days later.

What began as an auspicious season for Utah has turned into a rather anxiety-inducing one. Cooley, until now, hadn’t been a part of that. Still just 21 years old, he’s their leading goal-scorer with 14 in 29 appearances and has added nine assists for 23 points. He’s shooting at a team-high 23.7% clip and is averaging 17:49 of ice time per game, third among Mammoth forwards behind Clayton Keller and Nick Schmaltz.

Utah has already dropped three games in a row with Cooley out of the lineup. That’s brought them down to a 14-15-3 record, only scoring five goals in those three games. Their 8-2-0 tear through the beginning of October also props up that record. Since Oct. 28, the Mammoth are 6-13-3 (.341), the worst points percentage in the NHL during that span.

A team with an already below-average finishing rate losing its best shooter isn’t a good recipe to get them out of that hole. Their strong underlying numbers still give them a 35.1% chance of turning things around and making the playoffs, per MoneyPuck, but they’ll now have to string some wins together without the services of their top center. With other names down the middle like Barrett Hayton (five points in 27 games) and Jack McBain (nine points in 32 games) struggling to produce, it’s fair to wonder if general manager Bill Armstrong will begin to pursue stopgap options to give Utah a bigger offensive punch down the middle until Cooley can return.

Mammoth’s Logan Cooley Out With Lower-Body Injury

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Dec. 8th: The Mammoth confirmed that Cooley will miss his second straight game with his lower-body injury, and could be out much longer. Utah shared that Cooley would be out indefinitely, though they didn’t confirm whether or not they would place him on the injured reserve.

Dec. 6th: The Utah Mammoth have announced that star center Logan Cooley will miss Saturday night’s game against the Calgary Flames due to a lower-body injury. He will be re-evaluated when Utah returns home on Monday. Cooley crashed hard into the net-posts late in Friday night’s win over the Vancouver Canucks. He was able to finish the game and it is not clear if that was the incident that led to this new injury.

Cooley’s timeline isn’t yet clear, but even one game without him will be too much. He leads the Mammoth with 14 goals, and also has 23 points, 13 shot blocks, and 34 hits in 29 games. He’s also served a key role on Utah’s top power-play unit. It’s a breakout year for the 21-year-old centerman, who seems capable of leading a next generation of Utah hockey alongside youngsters Dylan Guenther and JJ Peterka.

Barrett Hayton will return to the lineup for the first time since December 1st in Cooley’s absence. It has been a down year for Hayton, who only has five points in 24 games so far. He has struggled to click with a reshaped Utah top-six and doesn’t offer the strength away from his skill to fit above Jack McBain or Kevin Stenlund in the bottom-six. That made Hayton a difficult asset to manage for the Mammoth. He’ll look to curb the slow streak in between rookie winger Daniil But and star Guenther on Saturday.

Injury Notes: Pesce, Jenner, Cooley

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Last night, Ryan Novozinsky of njdotcom asked Devils Head Coach Sheldon Keefe for an update on defenseman Brett Pesce. As shared by Novozinsky, while the key defenseman is progressing, he is still not close to a return, and remains considered week-to-week. 

The blueliner has now been absent for over a month after blocking a shot against the Avalanche and leaving mid-game. The initial thought was at least one month, so the update is not great, but it appears the veteran is on the right track for a return by January. While Pesce never jumps out on the stat sheet, anyone remotely familiar with his game knows his importance as a top shutdown defender. Prior to going down, he and Luke Hughes were a formidable pair, complementing each other’s games perfectly.

Impressively, New Jersey has battled through the adversity of losing Pesce, along with Jack Hughes and others, remaining atop the Metropolitan, especially thanks to a 9-1-1 home record. 21-year-old Simon Nemec has stepped up of late, being trusted with high minutes from Keefe, and starting to break through from his second-overall selection billing. However, Pesce’s absence is a major hole, and if the Devils are to hold off the Hurricanes along with the many other formidable teams in the division, they will need their steady leader back, placing their elite young defenders Hughes and Nemec back into more favorable roles. 

Elsewhere across the league:

  • Blue Jackets Head Coach Dean Evason told Jeff Svoboda, Columbus’ team reporter, that Boone Jenner is “close” to returning, but likely not tomorrow against the Devils. The captain practiced today but is being phased back gradually. Jenner landed on IR two weeks ago with an upper-body-injury, and it was thought to be longer term, so a return by early December is favorable. The 32-year-old career long Jacket has 10 points in 16 games, and while a Monday return seems out of the cards, Jenner could return on Thursday as Columbus hosts Detroit. 
  • Insider Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff confirmed that Utah forward Logan Cooley appears to have “dodged a bullet”, with an initial finding of a quad contusion. Although further testing will be done, it seems to confirm last night’s sentiment that a serious injury was avoided. Cooley’s knee-on-knee collision with Alexei Toropchenko immediately caught the concern of the league, as he had to be helped off the ice, earning Toropchenko a match penalty. In an update from Matthew DeFranks of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Toropchenko will not face supplemental discipline for the hit. Thankfully it appears the dynamic young star Cooley, with 23 points in 26 games, will not be sidelined for long. 

Central Notes: Cooley, Foligno, Rossi, McCarron

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The Utah Mammoth were shut out yesterday by the St. Louis Blues, an unfortunate outcome for Utah that was made even more unfortunate due to an apparent injury suffered by star center Logan Cooley. The 2022 No. 3 pick had to be helped off the ice yesterday after a collision with Blues forward Alexei Toropchenko. Toropchenko did not receive a penalty on the play initially, but was assessed a match penalty after the game’s officials convened.

While we are currently awaiting an official update on Cooley’s status, FanDuel Sports Network’s Andy Strickland reported that Cooley “avoided serious injury” and that his apparent injury yesterday was more “very painful” muscle cramping than any kind of serious structural damage. Assuming Strickland’s report is accurate, that would be a massive, positive development for the Mammoth. Cooley is among their most important offensive players with 23 points in 26 games. He recently signed an eight-year, $10MM AAV contract extension to remain in Utah.

Other notes from the Central Division:

  • Minnesota Wild head coach John Hynes told the media yesterday, including The Athletic’s Joe Smith, that forward Marcus Foligno will not travel with the team for its upcoming four-game road trip. In addition, he said the club is still evaluating whether center Marco Rossi will travel. Foligno is on IR with a lower-body injury and has missed each of the Wild’s last two games. Rossi is also on IR with a lower-body injury but is further along than Foligno by all accounts. He’s missed the Wild’s last eight games, last playing on Nov. 11.
  • The Nashville Predators may be without towering forward Michael McCarron for a short while, as head coach Andrew Brunette revealed, per team reporter Brooks Bratten, that McCarron is currently considered “day-to-day” with an undisclosed injury. According to Bratten, McCarron “didn’t play much after his fight with Logan Stanley in the first period,” which could be the cause of his injury. If McCarron misses any games, the Predators won’t lose much offense (he has just five points in 25 games) but will likely miss McCarron’s penalty killing. He ranks second among Predators forwards in short-handed time on ice per game with 2:26.

Logan Cooley Extension Setting RFA Market

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The Utah Mammoth became the first to cave when they signed pending-restricted free agent and star center Logan Cooley to an eight-year, $80MM contract extension. Mammoth owner Ryan Smith said after that the deal gives both team and player the assurance that Cooley will be able to plant his roots. For teams across the league, the move could have a deeper impact. With fellow young stars Connor Bedard, Leo Carlsson, and Adam Fantilli all on expiring deals of their own – Cooley’s $10MM annual price tag could be the start of negotiations, per Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic.

That’s great news for Bedard, who is the only on the list to outscore Cooley through their young careers. Cooley boasts 53 goals and 121 points in 168 career games, including this season, while Bedard has managed 51 goals and 142 points in 161 games. There’s no doubt that Bedard has facen the tougher test as well, looking to buoy a desolate Chicago Blackhawks club while Cooley’s rebranded Mammoth look to make their first playoff push.

The heavier load should earn Bedard a boost when negotiations roll around. His yearly cap hit could match Cooley’s $10MM on a shorter deal, potentially four-to-five years, or could go as high as $12MM on a max-term, eight-year deal per LeBrun, who points out that Bedard holds all of the leverage in negotiations. The 20-year-old centerman is a pillar of Chicago’s nightly lineup, and could even be a candidate for their captaincy on his next deal. With no salary cap concerns in sight, Chicago won’t be pressured to spoil Bedard’s importance by trying to save a few extra bucks.

Negotiations could be a bit tougher for Fantilli, who has elevated his play to a true top-line level but hasn’t yet taken over the top forward role for the Columbus Blue Jackets. That title has to stand with right-winger Kirill Marchenko, whose 10 points in 10 games is double what Fantilli’s five points on the year. Part of that scoring dip comes from Fantilli moved away from centering Marchenko, one season after the two played together more than any other Columbus forward pair. Fantilli scored a career-high 31 goals and 54 points, while shooting at a manageable 16.2 percent, in the elevated role last season. This year, he’s been tasked with commanding the team’s second-line, to mixed results.

Signs of continued growing pains does separate Fantilli from the dominant roles of Cooley and Bedard. With those two rivaling for eight-figure contracts, it seems Fantilli would have better luck pushing for a deal in the realm of $9MM each season. Blackhawks winger Frank Nazar recently signed a surprising seven-year, $46.2MM contract after carrying Team USA to a World Championship Gold alongside Cooley. The deal carries a team-friendly $6.6MM cap hit, but pays Nazar $9.1MM and $8.66MM in salary through the first two years respectively. Those numbers could be significant markers for Fantilli, as he looks to sign his own deal as second-fiddle. Blue Jackets general manager Don Waddell shared that Columbus doesn’t plan to negotiate a new deal with Fantilli until after the Olympic break, per LeBrun.

Just like at the 2023 Draft, Carlsson’s fate lies somewhere between Bedard and Fantilli. The Swedish-native has taken on a major role for the Anaheim Ducks, offering both top-end impacts both on and off of the puck. He scored a career-high 45 points in 76 games last season. That’s the lowest personal-best on this list, though it came with a Ducks squad that scored the third-fewest goals in the 2024-25 season. Anaheim was led in scoring by Troy Terry’s 55 points last year, a mark that Carlsson could reasonably clear with some bolstered roles around him. He’s proving as much early on this season, with a team-leading 11 points in nine games while playing alongside Alex Killorn and either Cutter Gauthier or Chris Kreider.

Carlsson appears to have taken a big step forward through the early year. Anaheim won’t have to look far for a comparable deal, after signing Mason McTavish to a six-year, $42MM contract extension in the weeks before the season. The resulting $7MM cap hit is likely a bit cheaper than McTavish could’ve managed on a seven-or-eight-year deal. That should well support Carlsson’s push towards a $9MM contract next summer, especially if he can continue to outscore McTavish through the rest of the year.

The NHL salary cap is presently skyrocketting. It is up $7.5MM this season, and expected to rise another $18MM before the 2027-28 season. That growth has made projecting new contracts a much tougher task – which is where timely extensions like Cooley’s help set the market. He’s been awarded $10MM to man his team’s top-forward role for much of the next decade. That’s set a price tag for the role – one that some 2026 restricted free agents could live up to, while others need to keep trying to play their way into a bigger payday.

Photo courtesy of Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images.

Mammoth Sign Logan Cooley To Eight-Year Extension

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The Mammoth announced they’ve signed center Logan Cooley to an eight-year contract extension. The deal is worth $80MM for an average annual value and cap hit of $10MM. Cooley, who was a pending restricted free agent in the final year of his entry-level contract, will now remain in Utah through the 2033-34 campaign. The deal does not include signing bonus money, per PuckPedia, but has a 16-team no-trade list from 2030-31 onward. His salary breakdown per year is as follows:

2026-27: $13MM / 2027-28: $11MM / 2028-29: $11MM / 2029-30: $10MM / 2030-31: $7.8MM / 2031-32: $8.2MM / 2032-33: $8.5MM / 2033-34: $10.5MM

In doing so, the Mammoth make Cooley their new highest-paid player, at least beginning next season, and the latest in a string of players signing eight-year deals before the maximum extension length drops to seven next season. It’s a conclusion to the very relaxed, amicable negotiations described throughout between Cooley’s camp and Mammoth GM Bill Armstrong over the past few months, aside from Cooley’s high-profile rejection of an eight-year, $77MM offer.

It turns out Armstrong didn’t need to raise the bar much higher to keep his franchise cornerstone center locked in for the vast majority of his prime. While he’s done quite a lot of work over the past year and a half since the Utah franchise was born from the Coyotes’ hockey operations assets, Cooley is still a holdover from Arizona’s final years. He was the third overall pick of the 2022 draft straight out of the U.S. National Team Development Program and spent his post-draft season at the University of Minnesota, exploding for 22 goals and 60 points in 39 games with a +38 rating. He was the top playmaker in college hockey as a freshman, which, understandably, led him to be one-and-done at school and to sign his entry-level deal with the Coyotes the following offseason.

Since debuting for Arizona in 2023-24, Cooley has been consistently on the rise. He didn’t look out of place at all from the jump, checking in with a 20-goal, 44-point effort in his rookie year while serving as a middle-six center. His defensive game needed some expected cleanup, but he finished fifth in Calder Trophy voting and earned the center spot on the league’s All-Rookie Team.

Still just 21 years old, Cooley is now fully coming into his own. He demonstrated massive improvement in Utah’s first go-around in Salt Lake City last year, upping his production to 25 goals, 40 assists, and 65 points in 75 games. That came with increased success in the faceoff dot, winning 44.7% of his draws compared to just 38% in his rookie season, a workload of nearly 18 minutes per game, and improved possession metrics that saw him control 51.2% of shot attempts and 52.2% of expected goals at even strength.

Getting Cooley’s extension done now, compared to later in the season, likely saved the Mammoth millions of dollars in the long run. Cooley’s off to a torrid start in 2025-26, tied for fifth in the league with eight goals through 11 games while adding four assists for 12 points. He’s now averaging closer to 19 minutes per game, boasts a plus-five rating, and ranks second on the Mammoth in scoring behind veteran Nick Schmaltz. His continued breakout is one of the most significant factors in a Utah offense that ranks eighth in the league at 3.64 goals per game and has the team first in the Central Division.

That production comes despite Cooley not receiving “true” first-line center deployment. He’s rarely been used as the top pivot on Utah’s depth chart between Schmaltz and Clayton Keller – that honor has been bestowed upon the more defense-oriented Barrett Hayton. Cooley has instead become the centerpiece of one of the league’s most potent second lines between Dylan Guenther and JJ Peterka, but his position on the line chart does very little to alter his market value with the minutes and production he still manages.

A $10MM cap figure also checks in as a relative bargain for a player expected to consistently hover around a point per game for the life of the deal, particularly as the salary cap continues its aggressive rise. Armstrong has been quick to take advantage of increased funding from Utah ownership compared to his previous bosses in Arizona and now has the vast majority of the team’s core signed for the rest of the decade. Cooley joins Peterka ($7.7MM cap hit), Guenther ($7.14MM cap hit), Jack McBain ($4.25MM cap hit), Mikhail Sergachev ($8.5MM cap hit), and Karel Vejmelka ($4.75MM cap hit) as Mammoth players signed through 2030 or longer.

Armstrong’s work to lock in a championship-contending force in Salt Lake isn’t done yet. There’s the future of Schmaltz and Hayton, the former of whom is a pending UFA and might be well on his way to pricing himself out of an extension. Keller, the team’s captain, has three years left on his current deal. Hayton will be an arbitration-eligible RFA this summer and has no years of team control left after that.

Image courtesy of Nick Wosika-Imagn Images.

Evening Notes: Lycksell, Cooley, Zamula

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The Ottawa Senators assigned forward Olle Lycksell to the AHL’s Belleville Senators early on Friday. Lycksell appeared in two games with Ottawa this week, but sat out of the team’s most recent game on Thursday. He didn’t manage any scoring in those appearances.

Lycksell is in his first year in the Senators’ organization after signing a one-year, two-way, league-minimum $775K contract with the club on July 1st. He spent the last three seasons bouncing between the Philadelphia Flyers’ major and minor league rosters. He totaled 11 points in 45 NHL games, and 128 points in 134 AHL games with the Flyers. He’ll look to maintain near point-per-game scoring in the minors with Belleville. If he can, he could soon return to a depth role with Ottawa.

Other notes from around the league:

  • The Utah Mammoth have a colossal extension looming when top center Logan Cooley hits free agency next summer. But despite minimal talks of an extension, Cooley’s agent, Brian Bartlett, told the Daily Faceoff that he’s not worried about getting a deal done. Bartlett emphasized that Cooley still has plenty of time to work something out. There’s no doubt Mammoth fan will be watching closely for Cooley’s next contract, after he posted 109 points in 157 games with the club over his first two seasons in the NHL. He’s likely to sign a hardy extension that should cement his spot as Utah’s top center.
  • The Calgary Flames are interested in acquiring a big-bodied, left-shot defenseman per Daily Faceoff’s Anthony Di Marco, who adds that Flyers defender Egor Zamula could be a prime target. Zamula played in 120 games with the WHL’s Calgary Hitmen before beginning his pro career. Now, he’s found himself on the outside of Philadelphia’s daily lineup, despite mixed results. Zamula boasts a career stat line of 40 points in 157 games. He posted a career-high 21 points and plus-three in 66 games of the 2023-24 season, but fell to just 15 points and a minus-14 in 63 games last year. That dip in scoring could make him a relatively cheap acquisition, should Calgary swing a trade.

Logan Cooley’s Camp Reportedly Rejects Eight-Year, $77MM Offer

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The Utah Mammoth are struggling to extend their top center. According to insider Frank Seravalli, Logan Cooley and his representation turned down an eight-year, $77MM ($9.6MM AAV) contract extension offer from the Mammoth this offseason.

It’s an interesting development considering a $9.6MM AAV would make Cooley the highest-paid forward on the team by more than $2MM margin, and the highest-paid player on the team by over $1MM. Still, given his career trajectory up to this point, there’s no question why Cooley would want to wait for a larger offer.

As the third overall pick from the 2022 NHL Draft, expectations were high for Cooley coming into his rookie campaign. Then, with the Arizona Coyotes, Cooley scored 20 goals and 44 points in 82 games, averaging 15:49 of ice time per night with a 38.0% success rate in the faceoff dot. He did finish with a slightly disappointing 47.9% CorsiFor% at even strength, but his defensive metrics were good with a 90.5% on-ice save percentage at even strength.

Much of his defensive poise at such a young age can be attributed to his time at the University of Minnesota, which put together one of the best collegiate rosters of all time during the 2022-23 season. All in all, although he slipped to fifth in Calder Trophy voting, Cooley’s rookie season was largely considered a success.

Fortunately, Cooley completely avoided the dreaded ’sophomore slump’ in 2024-25. Showing off much more playmaking ability, he finished with 25 goals and 65 points in 75 games — good for second on the team in scoring. Much of that can be attributed to his bump in ice time, jumping to 17:52 on average while centering the first line.

His underlying metrics were more mixed, as his CorsiFor% took a step forward, while his on-ice save percentage took a step back. Still, even at 20 years old, Cooley proved he could shoulder first-line minutes at the center position on a relatively competitive team.

Unfortunately, even if Cooley takes another leap in his on-ice production, he doesn’t have much bargaining power if he waits until next summer. Given that he’ll become a 10.2(c) restricted free agent, he’s ineligible for an offer sheet from an opposing team. Still, given that New Jersey Devils defenseman Luke Hughes was in a similar boat and landed a $9MM salary for the next seven years, Cooley may have an opportunity to become the first $10MM player in franchise history for the Mammoth.

Utah has plenty of financial flexibility moving forward, largely due to the shrewd extension of JJ Peterka and Dylan Guenther. At any rate, although he has reportedly rejected their most recent offer, the news indicates that the Mammoth are more than willing to invest in Cooley and retain him for the foreseeable future.

West Notes: Kempe, Cooley, Stars

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While Kings forward Adrian Kempe made it known that his desire was to get a contract extension in place before the start of the season, it’s not looking like it will happen.  Part of the reason for that might be the comparable his camp is using.  Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic reports (video link) that Toronto’s William Nylander is believed to be one of the comparables that Kempe’s camp is using.  Nylander is in the second season of an eight-year, $92MM contract and has reached the 80-point mark in four straight years, including a 97-point effort in 2023-24.  Meanwhile, Kempe has yet to reach that plateau although he has topped 70 the last two seasons.  The difference, of course, is the much different salary cap environment now compared to when Nylander’s deal was signed but it’s not surprising that Los Angeles GM Ken Holland would be resistant to make an offer around that price point.

More from out West:

  • While Logan Cooley won’t play in Utah’s preseason finale tonight, Cole Bagley of KSL Sports relays (Twitter link) that the team has a good feeling that he’ll be ready to go for their season opener next week. The 21-year-old was injured earlier this preseason against Colorado.  Cooley took a big step forward last season, going from 44 points in his rookie year to 65 in his sophomore campaign.  It’s fair to say that the Mammoth hope that he will take another step in the right direction this season, the final year of his entry-level deal.
  • The Stars are currently locked into a lease to play at American Airlines Center in Dallas through the 2030-31 season but it appears that they’re already looking ahead. Eric Fisher and Daniel Roberts of Front Office Sports report that the organization is looking at Plano as a possible destination to build a new arena.  Arlington is also believed to be in consideration as well.  At this point, the team hasn’t ruled out staying where they are either but with these projects often taking a long time to put together, it’s not surprising that they’re already looking into their options despite having six years left on their current agreement.

Mammoth Notes: AHL Franchise, Peterka, Cooley, McBain

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Cole Bagley of KSL Sports reports that Utah Mammoth owner Ryan Smith has discussed bringing an AHL team to Utah; however, it is likely years away. In the process, Smith said he and Smith Entertainment Group have considered the best locations in Utah for the franchise, and that somewhere “up north” stands out; perhaps Salt Lake City or St. George. 

With the ECHL’s Utah Grizzlies (West Valley City) reaching 20 years in the state, the prospect of Utah continuing to grow the game with an additional professional team is an exciting concept. Hypothetically, they would join an exclusive club (California, New York, and Pennsylvania) as the only states to hold a team in all three of the top North American hockey leagues. 

Such news may raise a few eyebrows of those within the Tucson Roadrunners, the Mammoth’s current AHL affiliate, but only time will tell what the future may hold. 

AHL or not, Smith has his eyes on growing the game in Utah, akin to markets such as Dallas, Nashville, and Vegas, which have become youth hockey hotbeds after the NHL came to town. Bagley added that Smith’s offer to help build more rinks in Utah has been well received, as he says he has heard from 20 different communities that have shown interest. 

Finally, Bagley provided injury updates for the club as they wind up for their second season. Key offseason acquisition JJ Peterka returned to the ice today, per Bagley, having missed Saturday’s practice. The 23-year-old looks to build off a 68-point campaign in Buffalo last year and star for the Mammoth. 

Logan Cooley and Jack McBain remain sidelined, Head Coach Andre Tourigny told Bagley. Neither is expected out long term, but they will not play tomorrow vs the Kings.

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