Why is the Utah Hockey Club hiding Nick Schmaltz?

Has the Utah Hockey Club been hiding Nick Schmaltz? It became evident that they have been on Friday after Clayton Keller was announced as the first captain in franchise history.

Following this announcement, we saw pretty much all the essential pieces in the organization speak up and give their opinions on the announcement from Chris Armstrong, president of hockey operations, general manager Bill Armstrong, head coach Andre Tourigny and numerous players who have played with Keller in past years under the Arizona Coyotes.

However, the only pivotal piece we have yet to hear from is Schmaltz, an alternate captain for the Coyotes last season. With six years of dedication to the team and three consecutive years of 50+ points, the anticipation for his response is palpable. However, we have yet to get one. So, that leads me to my question... Where is Nick Schmaltz?

Why is the Utah Hockey Club hiding Nick Schmaltz?

Schmaltz has been a ghost throughout the Utah Hockey Club's preseason and training camp. On an episode of the @CleanHitsHockey podcast, a Utah Hockey Club-based show released an episode on Friday, and the crew talked about how out of the ordinary the silence around Schmaltz has been.

I found the conversation the Clean Hits team had extremely interesting because they were bringing up some talking points that you would only think of if you have been following this team as the Arizona Coyotes in the past, which all of them have. As I am new to covering this team, I have not thought of many scenarios they have brought up.

Schmaltz has only played one preseason game so far this year; he is the only player on the Utah roster with less than two exhibition games played this year, and anybody else with one game played for Utah in the preseason was cut.

But we know Schmaltz isn't being cut; he is way too good for that, so why has He only suited up once? He has been listed on the injury report as day-to-day with an undisclosed injury, but Belle Fraser reported today that Nick Schmaltz was back practicing with the primary team.

So, it is always possible that Schmaltz has been dealing with something minor, and Utah hasn't wanted to risk putting him out there as he is injury-prone and has only played 70+ games three times in his nine-year career. However, that does not explain his radio silence in the media.

But after talking about Nick Schmaltz's injury history as a possible reason he has been held out of most preseason games, the Clean Hits Hockey crew speculated that Schmaltz could be on the move.

This speculation was a topic of conversation on the podcast because of Cam Neely's comments regarding his goaltender, Jeremy Swayman, and how he has yet to sign with the Boston Bruins. Since Neely made these insane remarks calling out his superstar goaltender, the situation between the two has only gotten worse, and naturally, that sparked the trade rumour mill.

On the podcast, the Clean Hits team detailed that it is no secret that the Utah Hockey Club is interested in signing a young No.1 goalie who can grow with the rest of the team's core and come in and be the No.1 guy for years to come. In the past, General Manager Bill Armstrong went after guys like Spencer Knight from the Florida Panthers, and just recently, he was reported to be in on Yaroslav Askarov, who the Nashville Predators dealt to the San Jose Sharks.

Neither of these guys entirely fits the bill of a young starting goalie. Knight has only played a backup role behind Sergei Bobrovsky, and Askarov has yet to play in the NHL for an entire season. But Swayman is 100% the type of guy GM Bill Armstrong is looking for.

At only 26 years old, Swayman is a bonafide superstar goalie in this league. He was the best goalie to touch the ice in the NHL playoffs last season despite his team's second-round exit and had the sixth-most goals saved above expected in the previous three years.

When you dig into a trade like this, it starts to make a lot of sense. Utah's most significant concern this year is their goaltending, and Boston's is their goalscoring. Schmaltz would be a great addition to the Bruins' top six, and Utah would not miss him, with Kailer Yamamoto and Josh Doan emerging as possible breakout candidates.

GM Bill Armstrong is holding guys out because he is looking to move. This is also nothing new. If you look back to when the Coyotes dealt Jakob Chychrun to the Ottawa Senators, Armstrong held Chychrun out of the lineup for almost a week and a half before the deal was finalized.

With no credible insider information, this entire conversation is just speculation, but what do you think? Is Utah just being overly protective of a guy with a long history of getting injured, or are they looking to make a big-time splash for Jeremy Swayman? The longer Schmaltz's silence goes on in the media, the more I am starting to lean towards Utah's looking to move him.