Will the Utah Hockey Club make it to the playoffs in its inaugural season? Despite the obvious franchise connections to the previous Arizona Coyotes, the Utah Hockey Club is for all intents and purposes an expansion franchise with a new city, identity and sense of purpose in Salt Lake City, Utah.
All fans and pundits alike have to do is look at center ice in the Delta Center and the proof is in the pudding with an inaugural season 2024-25 logo in the middle of the rink. The invariable question is whether or not the Utah Hockey Club has the grit, determination and plain fortitude to grind out the last weeks of the season or will they fade into this season's obscurity by the end of this month?
If recent game trends hold true, the Utah Hockey Club does have a legitimate shot at a Western Conference wild card playoff spot at this point in time. With a 27-25-9 overall record and 63 total points, Utah sits only one point off the mark behind both St. Louis and Calgary and just two points behind the Vancouver Canucks.
With five games played in the last eight days, the Utah Hockey Club showed signs of wear and tear with a 3-2-0 home game record this past stretch. Despite, a disappointing 3-1 loss to the New Jersey Devils, Utah looks to keep their playoff hopes alive in earnest and at the minimum keeps things rather interesting in both the Central Division and the Western Conference through the end of the regular season.
Defenseman Mikhail Sergachev has been a breath of fresh air to the Utah Hockey Club this season
The veteran blueliner brings his two-time Stanley Cup winning pedigree to this expansion franchise and Sergachev exudes two specific qualities to the ice each game for Utah: plenty of endless enthusiasm and confidence.
Sergachev not only anchors the blue line for the Utah Hockey Club but provides additional firepower in the offensive zone with a total of eleven goals and 28 assists so far this season. If nothing else, Mikhail Sergachev will help make sure that the Utah Hockey Club stays viable in the playoff hunt and as long as he stays healthy, the long-term prospects for this franchise will remain on an upswing.
As Mikhail Sergachev provides protection for Utah's blue line, goaltender Karel Vejmelka seems to have cemented his starting position in the Wasatch Range for the forseeable future. Vejmelka has started to enter the Vezina Trophy discussion and despite his overall 16-16-4 record, his .910 save percentage and solid 2.45 goals against average does lend some credence towards the Czech-born netminder being at least added to the Vezina short list.
Having played four of the last five games for Utah, Vejmelka shows his ability to play through the grind of the end of the regular season and could be a solid defender of the pipes should the Utah Hockey Club find their season continuing on into the playoffs this spring.