Days away from Halloween, did anyone have Utah Mammoth's Nick Schmaltz as the best player in the NHL on their bingo card? It has been a surreal start to the season for Utah, but is Schmaltz the best player in the NHL? If you look at the way he has played and his statistics, it is hard to argue against it.
The First 10 Games
The NHL season is young, but the Utah Mammoth are 8-2 with 16 points, leading the Western Conference and tied for the lead in the NHL. Currently, Utah is on a heater with 7 straight victories as they finish up a 4-game road trip this evening against the Edmonton Oilers.
Utah and Schmaltz got off to a slower start in the first 3 games as the team lost 2 of 3, and the only victory was a comeback win in overtime. Schmaltz started the first 4 games goal-less, but was able to contribute with 3 assists.
The pace of goals picked up in the last 6 games for the 29-year-old. 7 goals in the previous 6 games have catapulted him to 7th in the league in goals scored, tied with 8 other players, including teammate Logan Cooley.
With 9 assists, Schmaltz is tied for 7th in the league with 4 other players, and his 16 points are tied for 1st in the NHL with just Pittsburgh's Evgeni Malkin and Las Vegas's Jack Eichel. So to sum up this start, Schmaltz is 7th in the league for goals and assists, while being the top point producer in the league. This is pretty impressive, no matter what your answer is to whether he is the best player in the league right now.
The Chicago Blackhawks' 2014 first-round draft choice has only been held pointless in 1 game out of the ten played this season, and that is against the very team that drafted him.
The Elephant in the Room
The Utah Mammoth are enjoying the ride right now, and so is Schmaltz, but it is difficult to ignore the impending contract situation between the two. Schmaltz is finishing up a 7-year contract worth $40.95 million with a $5.85 million salary cap hit per season.
The majority of the contract extension talk around Utah and the NHL is regarding restricted free agent Logan Cooley, who will be commanding around a $7 million increase per season. The Mammoth currently has just over $5 million available in salary cap space.
It is believed that the NHL salary cap ceiling will increase next season, which will be a big help for general manager Bill Armstrong. Still, Schmaltz will be commanding a raise, and if he continues at this point of production, that raise will be quite significant.
Forwards, Alexander Kerfoot's $3 million and Kevin Stenlund's $2 million will be coming off the books this summer, which will help, but Barrett Hayton's contract will be up as well.
On defense, Ian Cole's $2.8 million will also expire this summer. It is a difficult task, but Armstrong may have the resources to bring back Schmaltz if the stars align, but this is far from a guarantee. The moral of the story is to enjoy this season and the success of Schmaltz and the Mammoth.