Mammoth becoming NHL destination thanks to trust in players, team

Belief and trust -- in himself and the organization’s faith in him -- sold Dylan Guenther on the Utah Mammoth.

It’s why the 22-year-old forward signed an eight-year, $57.14 million contract ($7.14 million average annual value) on Sept. 20, 2024.

“I was playing in the minors the year before,” Guenther said. “You don’t even really know if you’re going to be a full-time NHL player. That kind of commitment from them and trust from them was a good feeling to have, especially at such a young age.”

The Mammoth have since shown that high level of commitment and trust in goalie Karel Vejmelka, and forwards JJ Peterka, Jack McBain, Logan Cooley and Nick Schmaltz. 

They’ve all reciprocated with autographs on long-term contracts; eight years for Cooley and Schmaltz, five each for Vejmelka, Peterka and McBain.

Defenseman MacKenzie Weegar, in the third season of an eight-year contract, showed his belief in the Mammoth by agreeing to waive his no-trade clause to go to Utah from the Calgary Flames on March 4.

Utah previously had acquired defenseman Mikhail Sergachev in a trade with the Tampa Bay Lightning on June 29, 2024. He too is in the third season of an eight-year contract.

In all, the Mammoth have eight players signed through the 2029-30 season.

“The players are vested in the vision, the vision of trying to become a championship organization, and they know that you have to play together long term to do that,” Utah general manager Bill Armstrong said. “When Guenther stepped up and he was the first one to say, ‘This is where I want to be,’ that was huge. It kind of parlayed into Cooley saying, ‘I want to be here,’ and then ‘Bainer’ saying ‘I want to be here too.’ We traded for JJ and ‘Sergy’, and ‘Vejy’ saying ‘I want to be a part of this too.’ Well, here we go.”

The buy-in has the Mammoth (37-28-6) in position to reach the Stanley Cup Playoffs this season. 

They haven’t clinched, but they currently hold the first wild card in the West and a seven-point cushion with 11 games to play, including against the Edmonton Oilers at Delta Center on Tuesday (9:30 p.m. ET; HULU, ESPN+, SN1, TVAS).

“The fact the guys stay here means they love each other, they believe in each other, they want to be together and they believe they can achieve great things together,” Utah coach Andre Tourigny said. “To follow that, they believe the organization will give them the means to succeed together. They believe everything will be put together to achieve their goals. 

“They have huge belief in (owners) Ryan and Ashley (Smith) with the way they’ve done things since we arrived in Utah. All the players that we have talk about the community here, the atmosphere at Delta Center, how the fans react to them. I think everything brings the vibe in the right direction.”

The Mammoth missed the playoffs by seven points last season, their first since the franchise assets of the Arizona Coyotes were sold to Utah.

If they make the playoffs this season it will be the first time the Mammoth/Arizona Coyotes have clinched a playoff berth since 2012. The Coyotes were one of 12 teams in the West that was part of the League’s return to play in the 2020 playoffs, but they never clinched.

“I think we can be a dangerous team in the playoffs,” Schmaltz said. “We play a pretty hard game. We play fast. We’re tough to play against. I think we’ll take advantage of it.”

Schmaltz said the growth he has seen this season was one of several significant factors in him signing an eight-year, $64 million contract ($8 million AAV) on March 11, along with the term, familiarity, appreciation for Utah and the long-term commitments his teammates have made. 

He could have become an unrestricted free agent after this season. 

“I think we’re in a window where we can be a successful team here for the foreseeable future,” Schmaltz said. “That’s what my thought was and it’s nice to see other guys buying in long term. It was kind of a no-brainer.”

Weegar came to a similar conclusion after doing his analysis of moving to Utah when the Flames presented him with the opportunity.

“That core group of guys is what is going to drive this team for years, the Cooleys, the Guenthers, (Clayton) Keller, JJ, Sergy,” Weegar said. “They have everything in place with their core group of guys and they’re good. They’re not still just getting their feet wet. They’re established now. That was huge for me. I didn’t want to go into a place that didn’t have a core group of guys ready to win and they have that right now.”

The timing was part of the plan put into motion as soon as the team arrived in Utah after the 2023-24 season.

The Smiths, who run Smith Entertainment Group, promised that they would renovate Delta Center and make it into a state-of-the-art arena for hockey. 

That is in the process of happening.

They said they would build the team a first-rate practice facility. They did.

They told the players their travel would be first class. It is.

They promised to build a consistent winning team, which they feel they’re doing with the long-term commitments they’ve already made.

It’s possible that forward Barrett Hayton (restricted free agent after the season) will be next, followed by forwards Lawson Crouse (signed through next season) and Keller (signed through 2027-28).

“It’s just a totally different level here,” Schmaltz said. “Arizona was great. Living there was awesome. But the circumstances weren’t ideal and this was a complete 180. Now I feel we have one of the best owners in the League that is willing to do whatever it takes. Whatever he says he follows through and gets it done quick.”

The Mammoth have plenty more talent on the way, too.

Defensemen Maveric Lamoureux (No. 29 pick in 2022) and Daniil But (No. 12, 2023), and forward Dmitri Simashev (No. 6, 2023) have played NHL games this season.

Goalie Michael Hrabal (No. 38, 2023) has had three strong seasons at UMass-Amherst and could be ready to turn pro. Forwards Tij Iginla (No. 6, 2024), Cole Beaudoin (No. 24, 2024) and Caleb Desnoyers (No. 4, 2025) are crushing it in the Canadian Hockey League.

“There’s a good chunk of good players coming and what we’ve tried to do is be able to develop them,” Armstrong said. “When you have your guys in place it allows you to bring guys in slowly. Instead of putting all of our rookies in and getting our butts whooped, we’re going to gradually put one in here, put one in there.”

It all comes back to belief and trust in the core, to what Guenther saw and felt when he signed his eight-year contract.

Vejmelka’s five-year, $23.75 million deal ($4.75 million AAV) came next, on March 5, 2025. Peterka was acquired from the Buffalo Sabres and signed a five-year, $38.5 million contract ($7.7 million AAV) on June 26.

Cooley signed an eight-year, $80 million deal ($10 million AAV) on Oct. 29. Weegar waived to come to Utah and Schmaltz re-upped for eight more years a week later.

Playoff games at Delta Center should come next, in a couple of weeks if all goes right. 

It’s just beginning.

“For me, now it’s obvious that’s why ‘Schmaltzy’ wanted to stick around for eight more years,” Weegar said. “This team is so good and the ceiling is so high.”