Mammoth Rumors

The offseason has arrived for half of the league’s teams that aren’t taking part in the playoffs plus those already eliminated through the first couple of rounds.  Accordingly, it’s time to examine what they will need to accomplish over the coming months.  Next up is a look at Utah.

A year ago today, the Utah franchise didn’t even have its initial Hockey Club moniker, nor was the sale officially giving Smith Entertainment Group ownership of the deactivated Coyotes franchise hockey operations assets formally complete.  They gave their new fans in Salt Lake City an entertaining inaugural season in the Beehive State, but some notable injuries on defense early in the season put them in a hole they couldn’t get out of, and they finished seven points out of a playoff spot. However, with a young core and high-end possession numbers to build on, general manager Bill Armstrong will be looking to add once again to thrust the Mammoth franchise out of its years-long rebuild that started in Arizona. Here’s what he’ll look to do to make that happen.

Start Working On Extensions

While Utah has a mammoth amount of salary cap space to work with this summer (more on that later), it’s never too early to start looking ahead, especially when your No. 1 center is entering the final season of his entry-level contract. That’s the case with 21-year-old Logan Cooley, who took a demonstrable step forward for Utah in the second year of his NHL career this season. There’s no real rush – Cooley is a restricted free agent in the summer of 2026 and won’t be arbitration-eligible. Still, it may be advantageous for all parties involved for the two sides to come to terms on a long-term agreement shortly after he becomes eligible to sign an extension on July 1.

Cooley finished the year second on Utah with 65 points in 75 games and averaged nearly 18 minutes per game, up almost two minutes from his rookie deployment. After a corresponding 0.33 points per game improvement between his sophomore and freshman years, there’s reason to believe he can be a point-per-game threat alongside star winger Clayton Keller or sniper Dylan Guenther in 2025-26. It’s worth noting he did operate at a point-per-game pace over the final 18 games of the campaign with Utah in a playoff race.

Utah’s already shown a willingness to give max-term extensions to their foundational pieces early on. Armstrong did so with Guenther last offseason, awarding him an eight-year, $57.14MM extension after just 78 career appearances over two seasons. He rewarded the club with a 60-point effort in 70 games this season. With Cooley entering his first extension-eligible offseason with more than twice the career games played, it stands to reason Armstrong will have no hesitation in pushing for an eight-year contract.

With the salary cap projected to jump to $104MM for 2026-27, it will likely be pricey. AFP Analytics projects a long-term extension for Cooley at a $9.5MM price tag per season for seven years if signed this offseason. Waiting well into next year, if Cooley continues his upward trajectory, could very well mean he demands a price tag in the $10MM range. It’s likely better for the Mammoth to commit now and get a deal across the finish line to ensure any big free-agent spending this summer is amicable toward their long-term salary cap picture.

Stabilize The Goalie Tandem

2024-25 was a pivotal season for Karel Vejmelka. The 28-year-old netminder was inconsistent over his first three NHL seasons in Arizona but emerged as a legitimate No. 1 for Utah this season, starting 55 games with a .904 SV% and 2.58 GAA and ranking 18th in the league with 14.2 goals saved above expected, per MoneyPuck. He earned a five-year extension in March for his work, which included a stretch of 23 straight starts at the tail end of the season with a playoff spot on the line.

The same can be said for Connor Ingram, but not in the same light. After tying for the league lead in shutouts last year, he started just 22 games and regressed to a .882 SV%, 3.27 GAA, and an -11.6 GSAx that ranked 98th out of 103 NHL goalies this season despite his limited workload. The fallback was understandable. He battled through injuries early in the campaign and also lost his mother. He entered the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program in March, and he remains there today with his status for the beginning of 2025-26 uncertain until the program’s doctors clear him.

With Ingram under contract through next season at $1.95MM, it would make sense for the Mammoth to pursue another backup option in free agency to supplement Vejmelka. Ingram can’t be traded or waived while in the program, although he could be placed on long-term injured reserve to begin the season if he’s expected to miss at least the first 10 games and 24 days of the campaign.

If Ingram returns and plays closer to his 2023-24 form, the UFA pickup can be waived or traded. They already have three minor-league goaltenders signed through next year in Jaxson Stauber, Anson Thornton, and Matt Villalta, so there isn’t a need for another name in the mix with everyone healthy.

Consider Moving Underperforming Forwards

The Mammoth’s first season in Utah was marked by near across-the-board improvement. Wingers Lawson Crouse and Matias Maccelli were notable exceptions to the rule. Crouse, who’s been with the Arizona/Utah skater group for his entire NHL career and had established himself as a consistent 20-goal, 40-point force, dropped off the map entirely in 2024-25. The 6’4″, 214-lb power forward had just 12 goals and 18 points in 81 games and had his ice time slashed along the way. His 13:44 worth of deployment per game was his lowest in five years.

Maccelli’s regression was also quite disappointing. The 24-year-old Finn looked well on his way toward being a top-nine fixture for the franchise after scoring at a 60-point pace over the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons. He scored just eight goals and 18 points in 55 games this year, though, spending most of the last few months of the campaign as a healthy scratch due to his limited effectiveness in a checking role compared to Crouse.

Both are making significant cash. Crouse is signed through 2026-27 at a $4.3MM cap hit, while Maccelli has one year left on his deal at $3.425MM. The latter is probably worth keeping around and hoping for a bounceback. Trading him now would mean parting ways at the lowest point of his market value, and his signing rights will still be under team control as an RFA in 2026 if they still want to recoup an asset for him. Crouse, who has a much lower offensive ceiling but boasts a more consistent track record, may draw more interest.

Even with the Mammoth expected to be aggressive in free agency this summer, there isn’t a substantial financial urge for them to move either player. It might be more prudent to hope for rebounds for both next year. They have $21.2MM in cap space to fill just three roster spots, per PuckPedia, enough for them to potentially land the top UFA available in Mitch Marner, re-sign their lone notable RFA in Jack McBain, and land another serviceable depth piece on the open market. Mulling a trade for either Crouse or Maccelli would purely stem from fit and roster construction as the motivating factor.

Land A Needle-Moving Forward

Even with Sean Durzi and John Marino missing significant time on defense and their goaltending outside of Vejmelka putting up poor performances, Utah was still league-average defensively in 2024-25. Some natural improvement will come, especially with underlying metrics painting a much rosier picture of their defensive showing at 5-on-5 than their actual goals against indicate.

But the Mammoth, despite boasting five 20-goal scorers, ranked 20th in the league in offense in 2024-25. They have goal-scoring help coming soon in the form of top prospects Daniil But and Tij Iginla, but for a club with cap space to burn and an eagerness to bring postseason hockey to a new market, they’ll be in on the top names on this year’s UFA market.

They’ll consider the top name available in Marner, but landing a center, particularly one with size, might be the priority to serve as a more veritable second-line option behind Cooley. Former top-five pick Barrett Hayton has finally established himself as a quality two-way piece. He hit 20 goals and 46 points this year and averaged north of 16 minutes per game, but he’s likely best served as a No. 3 option long-term on a contending team.

That’s not to say they won’t look at wingers as well. They have an excellent top-three group at present with Guenther, Keller, and Nick Schmaltz, and Iginla and But will likely fill the last second-line winger role in a few years, but their current options of Crouse, Maccelli, or Josh Doan in the 2RW slot leave a little bit of uncertainty. But whether it’s a name like Marner, Sam Bennett, Nikolaj Ehlers, Brock Nelson, or someone else, expect them to have a fresh face near the top end of next year’s lineup to give them an added layer of scoring depth.

Image courtesy of Nick Wosika-Imagn Images.