We are less than one week away from the puck-dropping for the Utah Hockey Club's inaugural season. Utah will open their season on October 8th at home at the Delta Center against Connor Bedard and the Chicago Blackhawks.
There has been much anticipation for this team since it was announced that it would be moving to Utah. The front office added even more hype after adding Mikhail Sergachev, John Marino, and Ian Cole to the blue line, allowing this team to compete for an NHL playoff spot.
However, Utah's contention for a playoff spot is contingent on significant growth from its young core. While it is easy to say this team will continue to improve as it has in each of the last three seasons as Arizona Coyotes, competing for a playoff spot is entirely different from improving to a middle-of-the-pack team.
It is also easy to get caught up in the excitement of a growing team and take some of these bold projections as realistic expectations. When looking for realistic expectations, I like to turn to the sports betting odds; regardless of your opinion on gambling, it should be acknowledged that the oddsmakers are extremely good at what they do and spend egregious amounts of money on models to project realistic results.
Oddsmakers Outlook on the Utah Hockey Club
Over the last three years as the Coyotes, this team has finished with 57, 70, and 77 points; this year, depending on which sportsbook you look at, oddsmakers have the Coyotes' regular-season point total set around 88.5.
87-89 points would be another massive improvement for this team, but it would not be enough to get them into the playoffs.
Last year, it took 98 points to make the playoffs in the Western Conference, and most of the teams that made the playoffs in the West are just as good, if not better, than last year. In addition, Utah has to play in a challenging Central Division with three genuine Stanley Cup contenders in the Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars and Nashville Predators.
While the expectation in Utah is that this team wants to compete for a playoff spot, the reality is that it will take a lot of work in the bracket in the loaded Western Conference.
The problem with sportsbook projections is that their models don't project Utah's numbers to their full potential but rather what is most likely to happen. But, in my opinion, the Utah Hockey Club has the highest potential of any team to make the most significant leap up the standings. With their improved blueline, Utah will get a lot more consistent goaltending from Connor Ingram, who finished tied for the league lead in shutouts.
Utah will also improve offensively. They will be getting their first entire season with Dylan Guenther, a gut who is projected to be an elite goalscorer in this league, and they will be getting another year of growth from guys like Logan Cooley and Maitas Maccelli. While oddsmakers are still projecting this team to miss the playoffs, Utah's potential ceiling is incredibly high, and I would be more inclined to bet that this team will make the playoffs rather than miss the playoffs.