As we approach the NHL Trade Deadline, the Utah Hockey Club and its fans are where they want to be. The team has an abundance of salary cap space and draft capital to land a big fish and is just four points out of a playoff spot behind some questionable teams. Securing a playoff spot in their first season in Salt Lake City is within the team’s grasp if they can make the correct moves at the deadline.
The team has already made bold moves since the new ownership took over, which is more than the previous regime can say. It started in the offseason when they acquired Mikhail Sergachev and John Marino, but they have also made some savvy signings throughout the season. Dylan Guenther was the first, getting him at a bargain with the increasing salary cap. They also recently locked up Karel Vejmelka, who has broken out this season with a 2.45 goals-against average and a .910 save percentage, along with a couple other veterans in Ian Cole and Alex Kerfoot.
The front office has put the team in a good position to succeed. The looming question is whether they have changed since Arizona and are ready to capitalize on it.
Inaugural season playoff berth is Ryan Smith’s dream
The former Arizona Coyotes franchise had a terrible losing culture, which new owner Ryan Smith didn’t want to see carried over to Utah. Utah has taken some reasonable steps in its inaugural season in Salt Lake City, but they still aren’t a Stanley Cup contender. However, there is no reason to believe that Utah can’t rally to make the postseason this year, as they are just four points behind the Calgary Flames for the last wild card spot.
An interesting thing to monitor for Smith is that the three teams they are chasing are all considering selling at the deadline. Smith is an aggressive owner, so he will push the front office to try and make the postseason, which could work out favorably. If the Flames, Vancouver Canucks, and St. Louis Blues all sell, it puts the Utah Hockey Club in the driver’s seat to steal the spot.
Smith is willing to spend to the cap, and they have no massive contracts to pay next season. Guenther will get his $6 million raise, but with the growing salary cap, that isn’t a concern. Utah’s salary cap is in flux, thanks to the number of players on their roster who no longer play. It leaves Utah with plenty of cap space to make a move if they want to take some big leaps and improve their team dramatically.
PuckPedia projects Utah to have approximately $28 million in trade deadline cap space. Utah also has plenty of draft picks and prospects to make a deal that would land them a top player like Mikko Rantanen or Elias Pettersson. If the front office believes they’re a piece or two away from a postseason berth, why not take a swing?
Utah can alleviate Matias Maccelli’s nightmare by being hybrid sellers
Utah could also consider trading Matias Maccelli, who has fallen out of favor with Andre Tourigny and often finds himself as a healthy scratch. A Maccelli trade could allow Utah to make one of those big swings we mentioned recently since the former 57-point getter would fetch some draft capital or a prospect or two.
Maccelli is the type of player for whom it would be a shame not to accrue assets. He came out of nowhere to be a solid player in Arizona, and for every healthy scratch this season, he begins to lose value. We’ve already seen it with speculation that he could be in a one-for-one trade for former Coyote Jason Zucker at the trade deadline.
Some also mention him as a piece in a trade for someone like Brock Nelson from the New York Islanders. Utah’s front office has done a good job in their rebuilding efforts, and acquiring an older player at the trade deadline like Zucker or Nelson doesn’t seem like the best course of action. It would be a mistake to go out on the market and acquire rentals at this stage in their rebuild.
The right course of action would be to trade a Maccelli for whatever capital they can get, use some of that and their existing capital to land a player like Pettersson or Rantanen (if you can lock him in long-term), and reap the benefits for the next five to eight years. Acquiring a rental for Maccelli and returning next season with the same roster plus one or two graduated prospects likely doesn’t move the needle enough for hockey fans in Utah.
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