Utah Hockey Club vs Blackhawks - Season opener game preview

The Utah Hockey Club will open their season tonight against the Chicago Blackhawks at home at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City.

This will be the first game in Utah's franchise history, but in recent years, as the Arizona Coyotes, this team has been struggling at the bottom of the NHL, just like the Chicago Blackhawks.

Now, with a fresh start in Utah, the team is brimming with potential. They are poised to take a significant step forward and are in contention for a coveted playoff spot. Meanwhile, the Blackhawks are in the midst of a full rebuild, seeking to assemble a team around their star player, Connor Bedard.

With both teams making final cuts on Monday and announcing official 23-man rosters, we have an excellent idea of who will take the ice tonight for this historic moment in NHL history.

Utah Hockey Club vs Blackhawks preview - Utah rolls in home opener

The Utah Hockey Club is extremely deep upfront, and they will get offence from plenty of different sources, as opposed to the Blackhawks, whose entire offence is Connor Bedard.

Utah also has a much better blueline than the Blackhawks this year, but that is saying little, considering Chicago has T.J. Brodie projected to play in their top four. Brodie was one of the worst defensemen in the NHL last season, and if the Blackhawks are going to stick him on the ice for 20+ minutes tonight, Utah might have a field day offensively.

Another thing to watch out for here is that the Chicago Blackhawks averaged the fifth most penalty minutes per game in the NHL last season. If this trend carries over to this season and Utah ends up on the powerplay a bunch, this game could get out of hand as Utah demonstrated their powerplay firepower in the preseason, getting five goals on the powerplay, all from different players.

Utah Hockey Club vs Chicago Blackhawks Projected Starting Goalies

Chicago Blackhawks - Petr Mrazek

After two rough years, Mrazek had a bounce-back year in 2023-24. He played very well considering what he had before him, saving 6.6 goals above expected. He will likely carry most of the workload in Chicago again this year. Still, unfortunately for him, the defensive group in front of him has not gotten any better, and unless he plans on playing like prime Patrick Roy, this team is going to struggle mightily to keep the puck out of the net.

Utah Hockey Club - Connor Ingram

Connor Ingram finished tied for the NHL league lead in shutouts last season but struggled to find consistency in the net. With Utah general manager Bill Armstrong retooling the blueline this offseason, it should allow Ingram to find more consistency. That is precisely what we have seen so far through the preseason. Throughout the three preseason games Ingram played, he posted a .925 save percentage and saved 1.28 goals above expected (via NaturalStatTrick).

If Ingram can give Utah these performances night in and night out, this team will be in a great spot.

Utah Hockey Club vs Chicago Blackhawks Projected Lineup

Chicago Blackhawks Projected Lineup

Utah Hockey Club Projected Lineup