The Athletic released another great story today, highlighting each NHL team’s best value contract for the 2024–25 season.

To determine the best value deals across the NHL, The Athletic used a Net Rating Model created by Dom Luszczyszyn. The model “weighs factors such as point production, play-driving, defensive impact, penalties drawn, blocked shots, faceoffs, penalty-kill impact and more. That impact is then translated to a market value — what that player’s contributions should be worth — and that market value is compared to their actual cap hit.”

For the Utah Mammoth, there were a few notable names listed, but the top performer was Michael Kesselring.

Kesselring posted a net rating of +6, followed by Barrett Hayton (+7), Clayton Keller (+15), Jack McBain (-1), and Nick Schmaltz (+8).

The Athletic also included a note on why Kesselring earned the top spot for Utah:

"Utah’s right-side defense was hammered in the first half by injuries to Sean Durzi and John Marino. That forced sophomore defenseman Michael Kesselring into an elevated top-four role. Kesselring excelled, with the Mammoth controlling 54 percent of scoring chances and 56 percent of goals during his five-on-five shifts this season. He struggled at times in the second half defensively, but he displayed clear top-four potential for most of the year, which is highly valuable at a $1.4 million cap hit.

Barrett Hayton scored a career-high 20 goals and 46 points, in addition to boasting very good defensive metrics, at a bargain $2.65 million AAV.

Clayton Keller exploded for 90 points but isn’t paid like a bona fide superstar."

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