The Utah Mammoth ranks fifth in TheHockeyNews.com's NHL off-season ranking. Here's why we rated Utah's off-season as the NHL's fifth-best.
The Utah Mammoth may not technically be the NHL’s newest team in terms of constructing a roster. But as the newest relocated franchise, it’s fascinating to see how Utah GM Bill Armstrong is going about his business making roster changes this summer.
The Mammoth finally broke through in the powerful Central Division last year by making the Stanley Cup playoffs. And in TheHockeyNews.com’s NHL off-season ranking, the Mammoth come in at fifth overall.
Is anyone other than Mammoth management a believer that Utah can win a Cup in 2026-27? Probably not. But Mammoth GM Bill Armstrong has assembled a roster that should keep them in the playoff mix. With the right moves – both this summer and throughout the season next year – the Mammoth could surprise many of their doubters.
There is still a way to go before Utah elevates into the top tier of NHL teams, but the puzzle pieces are starting to fall into place. This summer’s moves by Armstrong could be the accelerant that this Mammoth franchise needs right now.
Arrivals:
Vincent Trocheck (C), Anders Lee (LW), Zac Jones (D), Sebastian Cossa (G), Andrew Peeke (D)
As a team with a young and developing core, the Mammoth needed veteran experience, and that’s exactly what they got with the additions of Vincent Trocheck and Anders Lee in particular. Trocheck is one of the league’s better two-way centers, and Utah needed help down the middle, so acquiring him is one of the NHL’s best trades this summer.
That said, another important forward acquired this summer is longtime New York Islanders captain Lee. The veteran left winger had only 19 goals and 42 points in 82 games with the Islanders last year, but in 2024-25, Lee generated 29 goals and 54 points in 82 games. He is now 36 years old, so this three-year contract he signed with Utah may be his last NHL contract.
Like most, if not all teams, the Mammoth added depth players like Zac Jones and Andrew Peeke. But a sneaky, quality move Armstrong made was acquiring Sebastian Cossa from the Detroit Red Wings.
Cossa currently sits behind veteran John Gibson in Detroit’s goaltending hierarchy, but Cossa had a terrific season this past year, with a .915 save percentage and 2.33 GAA in 39 games with the AHL's Grand Rapids Griffins.
It’s baffling why the Wings would give up on Cossa, but the Mammoth scooped him up, and if he becomes Utah’s goalie of the near future, this will look like one of Armstrong’s best moves and one of Detroit’s worst.
Departures:
JJ Peterka (RW), Sean Durzi (D), Ian Cole (D), Alex Kerfoot (C) Vitek Vanecek (G)
The serious shock here is the one-and-done saga of JJ Peterka in Salt Lake City. Peterka didn’t have a poor season per se, but his 47 points in 82 games with the Mammoth were a drop-off in production from his 2024-25 season totals of 68 points in 77 games.
Peterka is still only 24 years old, so he has the time and room to grow his game. But he was held off the scoresheet completely in Utah’s six playoff games, so the writing was almost certainly on the wall for Peterka’s future in Utah.
The other major departure is defenseman Sean Durzi, who went to the New York Rangers in the trade that sent Trocheck to Utah. With Durzi and veteran Ian Cole now gone from the Mammoth’s defense corps, Utah brass will be pleased if one of their young defensemen takes advantage of the opportunity that now awaits them.
Finally, netminder Vitek Vanecek was a decent stopgap measure, but even before the acquisition of Cossa, Vanecek’s days in Utah were numbered. And we’ll see soon how Cossa reacts to the challenge.
The Bottom Line:
Playing in the NHL’s toughest division, the Central, means the Mammoth have to bring their ‘A’ game regularly. They also need the horses to deliver them into the playoffs, and for a long time, finding generational players was a task this particular franchise could not complete.
The Mammoth have a young core of players – center Logan Cooley, wingers Clayton Keller and Dylan Guenther – but they may need another trade or two to propel them into the upper echelon of teams. The only way for them now is straight ahead – under no circumstances is it acceptable to take a lateral or backward step as a franchise.
There have been excuses and letdowns with this Mammoth franchise – on and off the ice. But Armstrong was given a mandate to build slowly through the draft, and that’s essentially what’s happened with him in Utah.
The Mammoth aren’t quite a finished product at the moment. But with Trocheck’s influence on the dressing room, Utah is going to be considerably more prepared next spring when they get another chance to make the playoffs and win a championship.
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