I would like to start this with a moment of silence for the Arizona Coyotes.

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               Alright, with that out of the way, it’s time to dig into the inaugural offseason of the Utah Hockey Club. In the lens of evaluating them as a truly new NHL franchise, I won’t hold this team accountable for the sins of the past and will only look at the roster moves which will govern today and the future. Alas, the front office is largely the same; however, there seemed to be a large shift in strategy and direction to their decision making in recent history since June of 2024.

               On draft day, the team made a pair of trades to shore up their blue line. They made an expensive deal that sent Connor Geekie, JJ Moser, a 2025 2^nd round pick, and a 2024 7^th round pick to the Tampa Bay Lightning for Mikhail Sergachev. In the outdoor, Moser was the only impact piece that Utah parted ways with; however, they were selling low on a career worst season for the Swiss defenseman as he posted a GAR of -7.5 while seeing 20+ minutes a night for the first time in his career. Sergachev comes over following an injury shortened season. When he was healthy most of his efforts were covering for Victor Hedman’s regressing defensive capabilities (-6.9 Defensive GAR), which led to a regression in Sergachev’s offensive commitments. Joining Utah, he will likely pair with Sean Durzi, a historic net-0 d-zone impact, which should allow him to be the all-star two-way defender he was during the 2022-23 season in Tampa Bay. The second deal made by Utah was the acquisition of John Marino and a 2024 5^th round pick in exchange for 2024 and 2025 2^nd round picks. Marino has been a perennial impact stay-at-home defender who excels at not taking penalties while handling second-pairing responsibilities. In last year’s Coyotes prediction, I talked about the potential of Juuso Valimaki, and Marino’s experience and talent should give Utah a real look at what Valimaki can do as the main offensive threat on the second defensive pairing.

               Moving to the draft, the Utah Hockey Club veered aggressively from the size over everything mentality the led to the Simashev and But selections of a year prior. At 6^th overall, Utah used their first selection in franchise history on 2^nd generation NHL prospect and Kelowna Rockets standout Tij Iginla. Iginla recorded 84 points in 64 games (47 goals) in the regular season, and 12 points in 7 games in the postseason. Iginla is a couple of years out from the NHL, but, if he follows in his father’s footsteps, will be a great impact for Utah. Additionally, they selected Cole Beaudoin 24^th overall. Beaudoin scored 62 points in 67 games for the Barrie Colts and based on historic trends of players with his profile, both he and Iginla have a similar probability of being stars at the NHL level.

               Overall, I gave Utah an A for their offseason because they got out of Meruelo regime and playing in a 5,000-ish seat arena. As a roster, they’re also significantly improved from where they were in Arizona. I am excited to see what they can do.