After reaching the playoffs in Year Two, the Utah Mammoth enter their third season with a stronger core, new veteran leadership and higher expectations.
For two years, the Utah Mammoth have been building toward something.
The first season was about establishing a foundation. The second brought the franchise its first playoff appearance. Now, entering Year three, the expectations have changed.
The Mammoth aren’t just trying to figure out what they can become. They’re trying to prove they belong in the playoff picture again — and that last season was only the beginning.
“We’re going back at it and trying to get back into playoffs,” general manager Bill Armstrong told ABC4 News. “You look how hard it is in the National Hockey League and how competitive it is. It’s so close every single night.”
Utah got a firsthand introduction to playoff hockey last spring, taking the Vegas Golden Knights — the eventual Western Conference champions — to six games. For a young franchise and a relatively young group, the experience provided a glimpse of what the postseason requires.
The lessons from that series could prove just as valuable as the games themselves.
“I always told our players, you’ve never played in the National Hockey League until you played the playoffs,” Armstrong said.
Now, the challenge is turning that experience into progress.
The Mammoth return much of the core that helped get them there. Clayton Keller, Dylan Guenther, Logan Cooley and Mikhail Sergachev are all back, giving Utah a group that has already spent two seasons growing together.
That continuity matters to an organization that has deliberately taken its time building the roster.
“We’ve got a good core, a talented core, and you can see that,” Armstrong said. “Every year, we’ve kind of taken a step together.”
The Mammoth also spent the offseason addressing one of the roster’s biggest needs: experience.
Utah brought in Vincent Trocheck in a trade with the New York Rangers and signed longtime New York Islanders captain Anders Lee, adding two veteran forwards to a group that already had plenty of young talent.
Those additions are about more than production on the ice. They give Utah players who have been through long seasons, playoff races and the pressure that comes with them.
“We needed some veteran presence,” Armstrong said. “With the Trochecks and the Lees of the world, it was a great kind of sign to the NHL that, hey, people want to come play here.”
That’s another sign of how quickly things have changed in Utah.
The Mammoth are no longer trying to convince players that the franchise has potential. They’re starting to show that potential themselves.
The next step belongs to head coach André Tourigny, who will have to find the right combinations and roles for a roster with higher expectations than it had a year ago.
Armstrong’s message to Tourigny is straightforward: get the most out of the group.
“He’s got to get everybody in the rules and really squeeze the most out of them and push buttons, make sure everybody’s playing at the highest level possible.”
The Mammoth will also have a new-look environment around them this season.
With renovations to the Delta Center complete, Utah expects an already enthusiastic fan base to make its home rink an even tougher place for opponents to play.
“I believe it’s the loudest building in the National Hockey League with the best fans,” Armstrong said.
For a franchise still in its early stages, that atmosphere is part of the bigger picture. Armstrong believes winning hockey will only accelerate the growth of the fan base — and Utah now has a team capable of giving those fans something meaningful to watch deep into the season.
The Mammoth have already checked off several milestones in their short history.
Build the team. Make the playoffs. Learn what postseason hockey feels like.
Now comes the harder part: doing it again
And this time, with a more experienced core, new veteran additions and a playoff series under its belt, Utah enters the season with expectations that simply weren't there a year ago.
The Mammoth kick off their season Thursday night at home against the Chicago Blackhawks.
The next chapter is about to commence.
