The Utah Hockey Club took on the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday night at the Honda Center. Utah looked to improve to 5-1 in the preseason, while the Ducks were looking for their second preseason win.
Leading up to this game against the Ducks, Utah had looked solid. They dominated the Avalanche, winning 6-3, then battled against the Sharks and pulled out a 3-1 win. Last night, against the Ducks, Utah played their third game in four days, and the fatigue started to show, as they lost 5-2.
While it wasn't their best performance of the preseason, let's examine some interesting notes following Wednesday night's Utah-Ducks tilt.
Notes on the Utah Hockey Club’s matchup with the Anaheim Ducks
Utah Hockey Club injury report update
The Utah Hockey Club's injury report lists two key names. First, blueliner John Marino will not play due to an upper-body injury. Similarly, forward Nick Bjugstad is also expected to miss some time with an upper-body injury.
Both players fill roles in the Utah lineup. The good news is that plenty of other players have taken the opportunity to step up and fill those roles in their absence.
One big question I have following this game is, where is Nick Schmaltz? Schmaltz is a key piece of Utah's forward core, but he has only dressed for one preseason game. Is there any injury that the team is not telling us about? Will Schmaltz be moved before the season starts?
Yamamoto looking likely to make the team
When Utah signed former Edmonton Oiler and Seattle Kraken player Kailer Yamamoto to a PTO this offseason, questions emerged about Yamamoto's potential impact on the ice for Utah.
Tuesday night's two-goal performance against the San Jose Sharks has gone a long way toward cementing his chances of making the team. Yamamoto added another goal against the Ducks last night and has now scored three goals in the four preseason games he has played.
At this point, Yamamoto is likely a bottom-six forward. However, he provides veteran leadership and flexibility that a young team like Utah needs to flourish. Fans should keep their eyes open as Yamamoto could be a surprise roster pick for Opening Night.
Sennecke could make preseason debut for Ducks
Utah fans saw Ducks' highly touted prospect Beckett Sennecke make his preseason debut for Anaheim. Sennecke is an exciting young player drafted third overall in the 2024 entry draft, three picks before Tij Iginla. Sennecke struggled in his debut against Utah. He was on the ice for both Utah goals and would finish the night a -2 with three giveaways and zero takeaways.
Utah keeping regulars out of the lineup for rest
With the Utah Hockey Club playing back-to-back games, regulars like Clayton Keller, Lawson Crouse, and Mikhail Sergachev, among others, took the night off. This made room for guys like Andrew Agozzino, Ben McCartney, and Patrik Koch, who played their last preseason game as they were all waived early Thursday morning and cut from camp.
There are still a couple of roster spots available in the bottom six forward group and depth defence. So, Utah will need to get one last look at the bulk of roster hopefuls before making final cuts following their previous preseason game against the Avalanche on Saturday, October 5th. It will be interesting to see what happens this weekend, as roster announcements could be forthcoming soon.