John Marino never made the trip from Arizona to Utah because he spent last season struggling with the New Jersey Devils. But if you like the Utah Hockey Club, don’t let one bad season get you down. General manager Bill Armstrong was smart to acquire Marino and give him a chance to revive his career in Salt Lake City.
For one, Marino is only 27 and well within his prime years, and for another, his cap hit is nothing more than a modest $4.4 million over the next three seasons. In other words, he’s well worth the risk, especially if he can repeat the success he had in 2022-23.
That season, Marino’s first in Jersey after he came to Newark following his three seasons with the Pittsburgh Penguins, he finished the year with just 18 points and four goals in 64 games. But his top-four minutes, 43 takeaways, and 40 on-ice goals allowed at even strength made him a good player.
Marino was also on the ice that season for 56 even strength goals, giving him a plus-16 in the category and a hot 52.0 Corsi For Percentage. You look at all three of those numbers, and it’s clear that Marino was sensational at driving the puck and making things happen for Jersey.
John Marino could be valuable for the Utah Hockey Club in 2024-25
Last season, we saw a completely different John Marino take the ice, and it reflected in his numbers at even strength. We saw him on the ice for 77 goals allowed, and while he was out there for 69 goals for, he was hardly the same player. His Corsi For dropped by nearly an entire percentage point, and his on-ice save percentage at even strength went from 91.7 in 2022-23 to 88.2 last season.
Marino did finish the year with 25 points, but the rest of his basic stats didn’t hold much deviance from 2022-23. But, let’s not forget just how bad the entire Devils blue line was last season, and they struggled with finding a solid rotation at goaltender.
This means Marino’s drop in play wasn’t entirely on him, and you can argue he’s entering a better situation in Salt Lake City than what he had heading into camp last season in Newark. Marino is playing in front of a better goaltender, behind an up-and-coming group of forwards, and he has some solid defensemen to line up alongside, like Mikhail Sergachev and Sean Durzi.