The Utah Hockey Club has started the preseason off on fire, winning their first two games. But they will officially take the ice for the first time in less than two weeks on October 8th, when they open their season against Connor Bedard and the Chicago Blackhawks in Utah at the Delta Centre.
While the city, arena, jerseys, and logo are all new to the NHL, the team this Utah ownership group inherited is not new. The Arizona Coyotes have done a great job rebuilding their team and developing a young core of talented players for the past few years. Last year, you started to see that pay off for the first time as the Coyotes were able to cross the 35-win mark for the first time since 2018-2019.
With puck drop closing in, what can we reasonably expect from this team's first year in Salt Lake City?
Early Expectations Of The Utah Hockey Club
Earlier this summer, Utah Hockey Club General Manager Bill Armstrong was asked about his expectations for the team and said, "I like the way the organization is set up. It's very rare that you don't have a bad contract on your team, and we've set ourselves up to now make that next step". Armstrong continued, "The team has to make a step on the ice. And they have a chance to do that this year. If we can be playing meaningful games down the stretch, it's going to be a hell of a season" (via NHL.com).
Armstrong's answer was quite honest. Hired by the Coyotes in 2020, Armstrong has overseen most of this rebuild process. Under his control, the team record has improved in the last three years, and for the first time since being hired, Armstrong has made some moves that suggest that this team has moved past the rebuild stage and is now trying to compete for a playoff spot again.
Armstrong was aggressive Early in the offseason, bringing in two bonafide top-four defensemen, Mikhail Sergachev and John Marino. These two will add a much-needed defensive presence behind Utah's young core: Clayton Keller, Logan Cooley, Matias Maccelli, Dylan Guenther, and Josh Doan.
With those additions, this team should be better defensively and take a step forward offensively as its young forwards continue to grow. The Utah Hockey Club is not a playoff team yet, but Bill Armstrong is correct, and this team will be playing meaningful hockey in April.