Trade decisions may not be made until right before Deadline, Mammoth GM says

The Utah Mammoth are open to being active on the trade market but not if it involves rental players.

In fact, Utah general manager Bill Armstrong said don’t expect a lot of wheeling and dealing from them or any other teams until close to the NHL Trade Deadline on March 6. 

That’s the expectation, at least, of Armstrong, who says the congested Stanley Cup Playoff races have a lot of teams wanting to see where things stand after the next handful of days before choosing if they’ll be buyers or sellers. 

“There’s still more information out there for us,” Armstrong told NHL.com. “And because it’s so tight, I think teams, if they drop four games in a row they don’t get to the record that they want, they’ve set kind of an agenda. And they’re going to wait as long as they can to make that decision. So I do think that’s why you’re seeing not as many trades so far.

“Everybody expected a big flurry of deals to be discussed during the Olympic break and presented once the Olympic break roster freeze ended earlier this week. But not much was done. So I do believe it has to do with teams waiting to see how they do in the next five or so games before choosing to adjust.”

To Armstrong’s point: consider how jammed the standings are in the Eastern and Western conferences

Entering Friday, there are 12 teams within 11 points of each other in the Eastern Conference, starting with the Detroit Red Wings, who are second in the Atlantic Division with 74 points, all the way down to down to the Florida Panthers, Philadelphia Flyers and Toronto Maple Leafs, who each have 63 points – which is eight behind Boston Bruins for the second and final wild card into the postseason. 

In the Western Conference, there are nine teams separated by 12 points, starting with the Edmonton Oilers, who are second in the Pacific with 66 points, down to the Calgary Flames and Winnipeg Jets, who each have 54 points, nine behind the Seattle Kraken for the second wild card.

It sets up an intriguing seven-day countdown to the deadline that will see teams bob and weave up and down, especially those vying for the two wild card spots in each conference.

The Mammoth (30-24-4), who hold the first wild card in the Western Conference with 64 points, have four games remaining before the deadline. They’re on an 11-4-1 run that has them in postseason contention and have a remaining home-heavy schedule that will see them play 13 of 24 games in the friendly confines of Delta Center, where they are 17-9-2.

All those factors have the Mammoth open to adding talent but only at the right cost.

“We wake up every morning looking to make our team better,” Armstrong said. “We’re never going to stop trying to improve. I think we’re going to evaluate like everybody else and see if there are hockey deals out there. 

“For us, where we’re at right now, rentals don’t make a lot of sense. I think for us, we did a lot of our depth building in the summer, putting a lot of the pieces in place. But, like I said, if there’s a hockey trade to be made to make us better, we’ll definitely look at it.”

Utah’s biggest offseason move was landing forward JJ Peterka, who is third on the team in goals with 20. The 23-year-old signed a five-year, $38.5 million contract with the Mammoth after they acquired him in a trade with the Buffalo Sabres on June 26.

This week they were boosted by the return of Logan Cooley, who had an assist in Utah’s 4-2 loss to the Colorado Avalanche Wednesday. It was his first game back after missing the previous 28 games with a lower body injury.

Cooley’s return can be seen almost like a trade deadline pickup, given how much time he’s missed. The 21-year-old has 24 points (14 goals, 10 assists) in 30 games and has stepped right back into the second-line center spot.

Utah made a late push for a postseason berth last season before fading to a 38-31-13 record, sixth in Central Division. They were close, missing the postseason by seven points. This time around, Armstrong expects the team to take the next step.

“Last year, our first season in Utah, we talked about playing meaningful games in March and April,” he said. “And we did that.

“This year, the goal is the playoffs. And right now, we have a chance. Right now, we’re about where I expected us to be. 

“And now it’s time for us to get the job done.”