The first NHL Draft weekend in franchise history has come and gone for the Utah Hockey Club, and it was a busy one.
It started on night one of the draft when they selected Tij Iginla with the sixth overall pick. After swapping picks with the Colorado Avalanche, they moved up from 38 to 24 and drafted Cole Beaudoin from the Barrie Colts of the OHL.
These two picks were great choices, but they left many fans and hockey insiders wondering why they didn't target defense instead. Well, that answer came on day two of the NHL Draft.
Flash forward to Saturday morning, and the draft is underway. When TSN's Darren Dreger tweeted that he was hearing Utah had something big in the hooper, big was an understatement.
Utah acquired Mikhail Sergachev from the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for Connor Geekie, J.J. Moser, a 2024 7th-round pick (UTA #199, Noah Steen), and a 2025 2nd-round pick (UTA). This shook the hockey world, as Utah had made their first major trade, and it was major, to say the least.
Just a few minutes later, Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman tweeted that he heard something was going on between Utah and the New Jersey Devils. Somehow, GM Bill Armstrong pulled off two major moves in just minutes of each other.
This time, he acquired John Marino and a 2024 5th round pick (COL #153, Ales Ceck) from the Devils for a 2024 2nd round pick (WSH #49, Mikhail Yegorov) and a 2025 2nd round pick (EDM).
Heading into the draft, Utah didn't have a single defenseman signed, and less than an hour into day two of the draft, they had a brand new top-pairing.
The rest of the draft unfolded for Utah, and they were able to target their biggest needs in defense, more specifically big-bodied defensemen.
Utah Draft Results:
- Tij Iginla (1st Round)—Center
- Cole Beaudoin (1st Round)—Center
- Will Skahan (2nd Round)—Defenseman
- Tomas Lavoie (3rd Round)—Defenseman
- Veeti Vaisanen (3rd Round)—Defenseman
- Gregor Biber (4th Round)—Defenseman
- Gabe Smith (4th Round)—Center
- Owen Allard (5th Round)—Center
- Ales Cech (5th Round)—Defenseman
- Vojtech Hradec (6th Round)—Center
- Ludvig Lafton (6th Round)—Defenseman
After the draft, the team also announced the extension of Juuso Välimäki by two years to $2 million. This means they only have Sean Durzi left to either sign or qualify to hold his RFA rights.
Overall, it was a great first draft by Utah; they improved their team through the draft and trades. Now their attention turns to free agency, and their goal is to keep building to make their team as competitive as possible.