LAST SEASON

Technically, Utah’s NHL squad is completely new and has no prior history. It wasn’t a traditional NHL relocation like we saw with Winnipeg in 2011, but it wasn’t a total expansion like with Vegas or Seattle. Utah’s NHL history doesn’t exist, but when you get down to the bones of it all, it’s just the Arizona Coyotes in a new home.

Distractions surrounded the Coyotes all season long, with rumors of the team finally moving after decades of relocation talk becoming all too legitimate this time. It didn’t help that the team wasn’t any good and that a massive portion of their roster—including just about every defenseman—needed a new contract, leaving way too many unknowns.

The Coyotes finished 13th in the Western Conference with 77 points, 21 behind the Vegas Golden Knights for the final playoff spot. It was another year of the same-old, same-old, having missed the playoffs for the 11th time in the past 12 seasons. They did see some legitimate improvement, though, with their 36 wins being the most since 2018-19. Last season also saw the arrival of top prospect Logan Cooley, some excellent play out of newcomer Sean Durzi and some high-level goaltending from long-time minor leaguer Connor Ingram. At one point, the Coyotes even seemed like a potential playoff spoiler. In the end, everything fell apart, and on April 17 in front of a jam-packed Mullett Arena, the franchise that began as the original Winnipeg Jets said goodbye for the last time.

And now, it’s time to welcome the Utah Hockey Club.

KEY ADDITIONS & DEPARTURES

Additions

Mikhail Sergachev, D
John Marino, D
Ian Cole, D
Kevin Stenlund, C
Egor Sokolov, RW
Andrew Agozzino, LW
Kailer Yamamoto, RW (PTO)
Kevin Connauton, D
Robert Bortuzzo, D
Jaxson Stauber, G

Departures

JJ Moser, D (TBL)
Nathan Smith, C (VAN)
Travis Boyd, C (MIN)
John Leonard, LW (AHL)
Jan Jenik, LW (OTT)
Justin Kirkland, LW (CGY)
Josh Brown, D (EDM)
Travis Dermott, D (EDM, PTO)
Cam Crotty, D (MIN)

OFFENSE

The Coyotes had three players break past the 50-point mark last year and eight with at least 40. And the good news? They’re all back with Utah this season. Clayton Keller is coming off the two best years of his NHL career and should lead the way with at least 30 goals and more than 70 points for the third consecutive season.

Assuming he’s paired up with a fully healthy Barrett Hayton and Nick Schmaltz, it’s actually a solid trio that has seemingly flown under the radar the past couple years. Hayton, in particular, has the talent to be a major contributor for Utah, but the two-way center, missed 32 games with a hand injury and the final 17 outings with a lower-body injury. This year, he’ll be out to prove he can stay healthy and be a No. 1 center on a team that’s still looking for its long-term solution.

That solution likely will end up Logan Cooley, who had a solid first season with the club. If the marketing is anything to go by, expect Utah to push him hard over the next few years as he looks to become one of the franchise’s first real stars. The same goes for Dylan Guenther, who looks ready to challenge for 50 points this year after signing a long-term deal.

Going back to Schmaltz, both he and Matias Maccelli don’t get enough love from average fans. Schmaltz has been incredibly consistent the past three years, registering point totals of 59, 58, and 61. Sure, he dealt with injuries in the first two years, but you can seemingly count on him to finish around 60 points a year. And don’t be surprised if Maccelli – who played all 82 games in his sophomore year after earning serious Calder Trophy consideration the year before – crushes the mark after registering 40 assists and 57 points last year.

It’s not a flashy group, but Utah’s top six is shaping up to be quite nice. Nick Bjugstad, Lawson Crouse, Jack McBain and Kevin Stenlund are all solid, two-way options, and Alex Kerfoot has some speed to burn. Look for Utah to finish somewhere mid-pack in league scoring, but we should also expect to see Guenther and Cooley play even more significant roles this year, which helps.

DEFENSE

Notice the additions segment from earlier? Some teams might get 1-2 additions at defense each summer. So five is quite something, but the team nearly entered the NHL Draft weekend without any defenders signed. The big acquisition was landing Mikhail Sergachev in a deal that sent JJ Moser to the Tampa Bay Lightning before acquiring John Marino for picks from the New Jersey Devils.

It’s still not a great blueline, but they have some of the best depth they’ve had in quite some time. Sergachev and Durzi should make up a solid top pairing, mixing in physicality and skill. There’s an argument to be made that neither of them is a true No. 1 blueliner, but Sergachev has a chance to play a more prominent role away from Victor Hedman, and Durzi has shown some serious progress the past two years.

Juuso Välimäki is seeking a big step forward this year after a bit of a difficult 2023-24 season. He went from being claimed on waivers at the start of the 2022-23 season to playing upwards of 23 minutes a night with the Coyotes down the stretch last year. Perhaps taking a back seat to Mikhail Sergachev on the left side will allow him for better matchups and stability. Having Marino beside him could allow for Välimäki to stretch his legs out a bit more for some improved offensive-zone play.

The third pairing of Ian Cole and Michael Kesselring is decent, too. Cole is a physical, defensive defender who doesn’t want you getting anywhere near his net. He’s never going to be special with the puck, but he knows his strengths and sticks to them. Kesselring, meanwhile, was one of the NHL’s more surprising rookies last year. According to Evolving-Hockey, Kesselring’s 6.1 goals above replacement and 1.0 wins above replacement are good for 11th among all rookies while trailing some of the game’s top young talents. Add in his 6-foot-5 frame and there’s a lot to like.

If Utah’s blueline has anything, it’s versatility. Need someone to run the power play? Sergachev’s your guy. Block a shot? Cole has you covered. Skill? Durzi. There might not be any true star power on Utah’s back end, but they’re going to be much more difficult to play against than they were throughout much of 2024-25. And, perhaps, 6-foot-7 bruiser Maveric Lamoureux will get a few games of NHL action this year to make them even scarier.

GOALTENDING

At one point in the season, Connor Ingram was looking like a bit of a dark horse Vezina Trophy winner. And it was easy to see why – he finished with a goals-saved above expected of 17.68, good for 13th in the NHL and ahead of some big names such as Igor Shesterkin, Sergei Bobrovsky and Frederik Andersen. Ingram seemed to play better the busier he was, which wasn’t hard to come by on a Coyotes team with limited defensive support. It was huge for Ingram on a personal level, who, after emerging as one of the best goalie prospects in the game over half a decade ago, struggled to find a path to full-time NHL duty. Now, he’s Utah’s clear No. 1, especially after putting up six shutouts last year.

Behind him will be Karel Vejmelka, who previously spent two years as Arizona’s No. 1 before losing the job to Ingram last year. It was Vejmelka’s most difficult season of NHL hockey to date, with his -0.88 GSaX being among the worst of any goaltender with at least 30 games played last year. Trade rumors persisted throughout most of the season, but the Coyotes elected to keep him around and got decent-at-best goaltending behind Ingram down the stretch. This will be a big year for Vejmelka to prove himself as a pending UFA, which could also make him a prime trade target again.

Goaltending isn’t going to sink Utah this year – their lack of overall depth and skill will likely do more damage. But as the team looks toward the future, having Ingram stand tall again could push this team higher than most people expect.

COACHING

GM Bill Armstrong is playing the long game with 50-year-old Andre Tourigny, who has missed the playoffs in each of the past three years. There’s been significant improvement in that time frame, and his players at least like him, so that helps. And it’s not like he’s had much of a group to work with, either.

The good news is that the Coyotes were actually quite solid when it came to putting pucks in the net last year. They tied Los Angeles for 16th in goals-per-game at 3.10 and their power play was 15th at 22 percent. But even with Ingram playing strong in net, the Yotes allowed the eighth most goals per game at 3.34 and their penalty kill finished in 26th at 76.3. No matter what they did, the Coyotes couldn’t find ways to keep the puck out of their own zone.

With arguably the deepest lineup he’s ever had at his disposal, it’s time for Tourigny to have the best season of his NHL coaching career. If not, maybe they’ll look elsewhere to help ease in the team’s young talent into bigger roles. But this is the best opportunity for Tourigny to make the difference the team’s management was hoping for all these years.

ROOKIES

After getting his first taste of the NHL last year, Josh Doan – the son of legendary Coyotes figure Shane Doan – is ready to carve his own path. He made a fantastic impression in his first NHL action, scoring five goals and nine points in 11 games to close out the season. It came after an excellent rookie season with Tuscon, scoring 26 goals and 46 points. Doan should push to make the team’s top nine this year, combining his speed and skill to give the team some extra scoring punch. He might be a middle-six player at best, and his late-season push could end up being more of a mirage compared to what he’s actually going to produce in the NHL, but it’s good to see he’s more than just a nepotism pick based on his solid development path.

One more under-the-radar rookie to watch is Sam Lipkin. The 21-year-old turned pro after a solid second year with Quinnipiac University and was a big reason why they won the national title in 2023 after registering 43 points in 39 games in a top-line role. Lipkin had a quiet end to the season with Tuscon, but he still showed some decent skill and strength. Lipkin was the second-last player taken in the 2021 NHL Draft, so getting any NHL action out of him would be huge.

BURNING QUESTIONS

1. Can the core group thrive with the distractions out of the way? For once, the team’s top stars won’t need to answer questions about where they’ll be playing next year. They can focus forward and try and force their way back into the playoffs for the first time in a non-COVID season in more than a decade. Expectations are still low again this year, but the team can start being treated as hockey players again after having to field questions about their future for years on end.

2. Can Ingram hold strong again? The Canadian goalkeeper was a revelation last year and took home the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy for perseverance and dedication to the sport after nearly retiring due to obsessive compulsive disorder and depression. It was a heartwarming story, but Ingram wants more. He showed the ability to steal games at a rate no Coyotes goalie managed to do since Mike Smith. If he can keep that up with better D-zone support this year, Utah could end up outproducing expectations.

3. Will the team’s upgraded blueline make a big enough difference? It’s definitely harder to play against, but will it be enough? The Coyotes got some solid goaltending last year, but they were forced to work much harder with a slow, old, non-threatening group led by inexperienced players. The new crop is a significant upgrade, but they’ve got to show it consistently if they’re going to rise up the standings.

PREDICTION

Excitement is high in a new market that’s ready to grow with the franchise. And, finally, the distractions are gone and the players can truly focus again. The Central Division is going to have some heavy hitters this year, especially with the Nashville Predators signing some big deals this summer. Dallas and Colorado are still looking like giants, and Winnipeg and Minnesota won’t be slouches again, either. So Utah does have a tough road to making the playoffs, but the team already looks a bit more difficult to play against, which is a positive. Look for Utah to miss the playoffs but at least keep things a bit more interesting than last year.

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