The newly-named Utah Mammoth have had one of the strongest summers of any NHL club. GM Bill Armstrong has skillfully upgraded the roster on every front, bolstering the defense and increasing goal production up front.
All signs point to the playoffs in the team's second season in Salt Lake City. It would be their first-ever postseason appearance, and the first time that previous members of the Arizona Coyotes would compete in the playoffs since the Yotes were eliminated in the first round in 2020.
With advancements at every position, including in the crease, the Mammoth are shaping up to be a sleeper team in the Central Division.
Big improvements on offense and the blue line
The most exciting offseason addition so far has been forward JJ Peterka, who was acquired via trade from the Buffalo Sabres. The Mammoth gave up defenseman Michael Kesselring and forward Josh Doan in order to get Peterka, but the return far outweighs the losses in the grand scheme of things.
Peterka, 23, has shown a lot of promise in his first three NHL seasons so far, notching a career-best 68 points in 77 games this past year. He's on a five-year, $7.7 million AAV contract and is the sixth player on the team to score 20 or more goals in 2024-25, which will help boost the Mammoth's below-average offensive output. With strong vision and playmaking skills, Peterka will be a wonderful complement to the top six.
Nate Schmidt was the main addition on the back end, and a very smart one at that. The 34-year-old had a bounceback season with the Florida Panthers, earning him a three-year, $3.5 million AAV deal. Schmidt displayed the high level of passing skill, tallying 12 points in 22 games en route to the Stanley Cup win. He will be a formidable feature on the third pairing with the potential to skate on the second power play unit as well.
Brandon Tanev is also joining the ranks up front to round out the forward group. He is more of an identity player who will be aggressive on opposing puck carriers, racking up 168 hits in 79 games this past season. Another depth signing was that of goaltender Vitek Vanecek, who has had his struggles as a starter in recent years but is capable of starting 30 games and can serve as a solid backup to Karel Vejmelka.
"I think in the big picture, what we did... was tidied up the loose ends and make us a stronger team. We've signed some free agents that are going to come in and push with our core. It is going to probably be the most competitive team we've had so far."GM Bill Armstrong, via NHL.com
One area that could still use some tinkering is depth scoring. Tanev could help target that, but there was a steep dropoff between the top six forwards and the rest of the roster this past season. Barrett Hayton was the lowest scoring member of the top six, and he still tallied 20 goals and 46 points, where the next highest total by a forward was 28 points from Kevin Stenlund and Alex Kerfoot.
Are the Mammoth playoff bound?
It's impossible to predict whether a team is going to reach the postseason before anyone has hit the ice for 2025-26. However, Mammoth fans have reason to be optimistic about the upcoming campaign.
The focus this offseason has been on improving goal scoring, and that box seems to have been checked for now. With a young forward core including Clayton Keller, Dylan Guenther and Logan Cooley to build around, these guys will only continue to improve and adding Peterka into the mix solidifies the offensive abiities of the top six. The team finished 20th in the league in terms of goals scored, and that total is bound to go up as these players grow into their roles in the lineup.
The Mammoth still have $6.68 million in cap space, giving Armstrong the freedom to make mid-season transactions if needed. With guys like Pavel Zacha rumored to be on the market, another middle- or bottom-six skater will put the team over the edge.
It's worth considering, though, that Utah has the misfortune of competing in one of the league's toughest divisions. The Central Division was jam-packed in 2024-25 -- the Mammoth finished sixth out of eight teams, yet were just seven points out of the playoffs. Both Wild Card spots were awarded to Central Division clubs, showing the high level of competition among those clubs.
If the Mammoth can increase scoring as expected, the team could make a convincing run to the postseason in 2025-26.