The Utah Hockey Club will open its season tonight against the Chicago Blackhawks. They will play their franchise opener at home at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City.
Utah's hockey team is a young and promising group brimming with potential. They have high hopes of significant growth and aim to secure a playoff position by the end of the season. However, achieving this in their inaugural franchise year will require many things to fall into place and a substantial contribution from players like Dylan Guenther, who is set to play his first entire season in the NHL.
Let's not put a damper on the opening night parade, but it is important to keep expectations realistic. Let's look at the best- and worst-case scenarios for the Utah Hockey Club this season.
Best case scenario for Utah Hockey Club's inaugural season
In the best-case scenario, Utah will be the seventh or eighth seed in the Western Conference and likely have to secure one of the two wild-card spots.
Unfortunately, Utah plays in a loaded central division with the Dallas Stars, Colorado Avalanche, Winnipeg Jets and Nashville Predators, who spent a lot of money in the offseason. But luckily for Utah, only one team from the Pacific division will be competing for the other wild card spot, as most of that division could be more competitive.
If Utah is going to make the playoffs, we will need to see Dylan Guenther score at least 25-30 goals, with Cooley getting 60-65 points alongside him. These two will be heavily on this year, and they both will have to show they can take the next step and consistently produce offence for this team.
The biggest x-factor for this team is going to be Connor Ingram. While he had flashes of brilliance last season, he finished tied for the league lead in shutouts. He was pretty inconsistent, but now, with a playoff-calibre blueline in front of him, thanks to general manager Bill Armstrong for rebuilding the blueline, Ingram could potentially end up in the Vezina conversation with more consistent defensive play in front of him.
This team is full of potential beyond the names I just listed. If all of these guys take the next step forward, I could see this team possibly upsetting a team in the first round, with the best-case scenario of giving somebody a series in the second round but eventually losing. However, even if Utah competes for a playoff spot this season, it will be a success.
Worst case scenario for Utah Hockey Club's inaugural season
The worst-case scenario is this team getting beat down again for another year and not getting the growth from some players they expect to have a significant impact this season.
Anticipation has been building around this team for months now, and the players and some of the most trusted media members have vouched for this team to make the playoffs.
If this team struggles again this year and does not compete for a playoff spot, it will disappoint not only the players but also the new Utah fanbase, which was promised a competitive team.
But there is no reason not to expect this roster to continue to improve. This team has improved its total wins and point percentage in all three years under Andre Tourigny. With how this roster is constructed, it is truthfully impossible to have a negative outlook on this team with how much flexibility they still have while hoping to compete.