Mammoth Notes: Cooley, O’Brien, Injury Updates
The Utah Mammoth didn’t make the playoffs in their first season in Salt Lake City, but they did take meaningful steps closer to contention, and perhaps their most important step forward was through the development of 2022 third overall pick Logan Cooley. Today, Utah general manager Bill Armstrong told the media, including The Deseret News’ Brogan Houston, that Cooley’s representation has been “very patient” regarding Cooley’s next contract. He added that there’s no rush to get an extension done.
Cooley, who is repped by Brian & Scott Bartlett of Bartlett Hockey, is in line for a major contract extension after a breakout 2024-25 campaign. The 21-year-old is a dynamic playmaker and ranked second among Utah players in scoring last season with 25 goals and 65 points. Montreal Canadiens forward Juraj Slafkovsky, who was drafted two spots ahead of Cooley at the 2022 draft, received a $7.6MM AAV on his long-term second contract. Given Cooley will be signing his extension at a later stage than Slafkovsky, and will have more experience on his resume at the time of signing, it stands to reason that Cooley’s next deal will exceed Slafkovsky’s. Given his age and production, Cooley could very well see his next deal exceed Mikhail Sergachev‘s $8.5MM AAV to become the highest-paid player in Utah.
Some other notes from the NHL’s newest franchise:
- Mammoth coach Andre Tourigny told the media today that veteran forward Liam O’Brien is currently dealing with a lower-body injury, and is out on a week-to-week timeline. Injuries limited the 31-year-old bruiser to just 28 games played last season, and he also only managed two points. Although it’s not a contract year for O’Brien – his $1MM AAV deal runs through 2026-27 – he’ll look to get back on the ice in order to re-establish himself as one of the league’s more physically imposing bottom-six players.
- Alongside O’Brien, Tourigny also established who the club’s other injured players are for the start of the team’s training camp. Tourigny named Anson Thornton, Juuso Valimaki, Caleb Desnoyers and Terrell Goldsmith as the remaining injured players. The most relevant name from that list from a roster-building perspective is Valimaki’s, as he is a veteran of 271 career NHL games. With that said, Mammoth fans are likely to pay close attention to the status of Desnoyers, the 2025 fourth-overall pick.
Utah Signs Terrell Goldsmith To Entry-Level Deal
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.