While players like Clayton Keller will likely lead the Utah Hockey Club in points and Mikhail Sergachev is a big name that all new fans to the team already know well, Nick Schmaltz may take a back seat in the eyes of a few. But if you’re looking to follow the new Utah club this year, refrain from making that mistake.
While he finished a distant second on the Coyotes in points last season, Schmaltz still snagged 61 points and an adequate 22 goals, the latter of which tied him for third on the team alongside Nick Bjugstad. The result was a career-best for Schmaltz, and there could be way more from where that came from this season with a change of scenery into Salt Lake City and a franchise with a lot of hope.
What’s interesting is, Schmaltz’s shooting percentage rested at just 13.9. Not a bad number, but a far cry from what he’d attained in 2021-22 and 2022-23, where he finished with 18.7 and 16.7 percent, respectively.
Optimistic projection of Nick Schmaltz in Year 1 with the Utah Hockey Club
Alright, so what if we assumed the following: Utah will win early because this is a young team ready and raring to make a solid first impression on their new fans. I’m not saying they’ll make the playoffs, but perhaps a serious push for the postseason is realistic.
Let’s take the 158 shots Nick Schmaltz got on net last season and multiply that by his career-best 18.7 percent from 2021-22, which gives us between 29 and 30 goals. Even if his assists remain between 36 and 39 - his high and low numbers between 2021-22 and 2023-24 - if we’re taking averages, we’ll roll with between 37 and 38, which gives us a range of 66 to 68 points.
Those numbers won’t transform Schmaltz into an elite player, but one who can post sound, somewhat spectacular numbers for this new Utah team in 2024-25. That said, and following three seasons in which he put up between 58 and 61 points with some pretty bad Coyotes teams, it’s rather realistic to believe Schmaltz will hit the 66-68-point mark.