Latest / Jablam Sports Hockey / Utah Mammoth 2026-2027 Season Preview: Let’s Get Physical, Physical!

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Utah Mammoth 2026-2027 Season Preview: Let’s Get Physical, Physical! · Jablam Sports Hockey

• 0:03
  SPEAKER_01: I'm trying to do a podcast, man.
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_01: Close the door.
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome to Jam Talk.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_01: Your home for everything happening around the NHL.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_01: I'm your host, Peter Bojanov, and in every episode we break down the biggest topics all hockey fans are talking about with writers and TV and radio experts from all 32 teams.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_01: Today we're still doing our 32 season previews with the Utah Mammoth.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_01: I've got on the show Cole Bagley.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome to Joe Cole.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks, Peter.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_01: Appreciate it.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_01: And he covers, of course, the Mammoth on the Utah Hockey Podcast.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_01: And for ASL supports in training now, we'll talk about a GM.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_01: Let's drop the block.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_01: Last season, Utah made the playoffs for the first time since relocating to Salt Lake City, but lost to Vegas in six games after taking a 2-1 series lead.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_01: What one thing needs to happen for them to get back into the playoffs and maybe go further this year, Cole.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I mean, I think uh I don't know that that anything necessarily needs to change in terms of them getting back to the playoffs.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, but but I think what what's gonna help them go further is, you know, um the additions that they made during the offseason, right?
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, following Utah's four-two loss in that first round to Vegas, um, you know, the Mammoth, they they took a hard look in the mirror and and they um, you know, they they wanted to learn from it.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: You know, they they looked at that series and said, okay, what went wrong?
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_00: You know, what are the reasons that you know we were up two to one if we end up losing uh you know three straight and uh you know drop the series four to two?
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_00: What you know, where did we go wrong?
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_00: What what about our game wasn't working?
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, the biggest takeaway that they had was you know they they didn't play physically enough.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_00: You know, they they kind of got bullied, you know, by Vegas.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_00: And uh, you know, I uh after the series I did uh a deeper dive on on analytics and you know just look at you know, well, how are the goals scored?
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: And um, you know, if as long as my my memory doesn't fail me, Utah was outscored in terms of greasy goals.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_00: I think it was something along the lines of like 14 to 5.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, it was it was pretty heavily in favor of the Vegas Golden Knights.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_00: And that's how they came back in those games, right?
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, Utah was you know seconds away from going up three to one.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_00: They, you know, Vegas comes back, they score a six on five goal, it goes to overtime, Vegas wins the game.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_00: Same thing happens the following night.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_00: You know, Utah is is just a few minutes away from from taking a three-two lead, but again, Vegas is able to tie things up late, goes to overtime, Utah ends up losing.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_00: And so Utah looked at that and went, okay, you know, we've we've got to be able to play, you know, uh physics, you know, more physical hockey, you know, grittier style hockey.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_00: You know, to quote Bill Armstrong, he said we want it to become you know bigger, stronger, and harder to play against.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, that's what they did with the additions of Vincent Troschek and Anders Lee, and so far, so good, right?
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, they they're off to a hot start, you know, they're five and two, they've got some notable victories uh under their belts.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_00: And I'd say that you know, that's the style of hockey.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_00: Now they're they're not the toughest team in the league.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_00: You know, they're not, you know, they're not going to bully anybody on any given night, but I think that they've added you know the necessary uh you know skaters and players to their roster to be able to manage you know when they do face those type those kind of teams.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_01: It's interesting.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you talked about that part, and I even heard uh GM journal manager Bill Armstrong on the Kipper and Bourne uh show.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_01: Uh he mentioned you know moving on from JJ Petrka, bringing in uh Vincent Trochik and Anders Lee at three years, 5.4 per year.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_01: Where are they fitting right now in the top nine?
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_01: Where do you think they fit would fit best?
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I mean, it's it's been an interesting start to the year.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, I think head coach Andre Turney is still trying to figure out the best place for him.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, you know, when when the season first started, they had uh Trochek up on the top line with Keller and Schmaltz, and then Lee on the second line with with Cooley and Gunther.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_00: And not that they had bad results through the first couple of games, but you know, I I don't know that that Anders found his footing, and I don't, I especially don't know that that Trochek was really finding um, you know, his confidence on that top line with with Keller and Schmaltz.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_00: You know, that that's an interesting duo, right?
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_00: They're they're very good, they're very talented, but I think it takes some time to figure out how to play with those guys.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_00: You know, they've been inseparable for years, they've been together on the same team for a long time.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_00: And so, you know, I think that Trochek maybe just had a little bit of a struggle to figure it out.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_00: And so what they did um over the last two games is they dropped Trochek um to uh the second line with Cooley and Gunther.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_00: It looked, they looked really good last night.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, Trochek, I think, had his best game in a mammoth sweater uh against Toronto.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_00: He was all over the place, and then he obviously scored a goal um that was assisted by uh Logan Cooley.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_00: Um and then they swapped Anders Lee uh with Lawson Krauss.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_00: Um so Krauss is now back with with Keller and Schmaltz.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_00: And uh, you know, that was the most productive line in the playoffs a year ago.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_00: Krauss was arguably the best player um in that Vegas series, and and a lot of it I think had to do with the fact that he was playing with Keller and Schmaltz, and then Lee on that third line, you know, just replacing um you know a big physical uh presence with another one.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, you know, that's it's a very true checking line.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, he's playing uh alongside um uh Barrett Hayton and uh Katayamamoto, who has just been phenomenal over these last two games, and so that that's kind of how things have have shaped out.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_00: And uh, you know, uh over the last two games, they've got two victories and they've outscored their opponents, I think, nine to five.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, uh so far so good.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_01: Hey, let's not talk about with my Leaf fans how bad their defensive play is going.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, let's move on from that.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_01: The mammoth also, because you've added those two key players now in the offseason they have two a few q uh a few key UFAs after this season.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_01: So, what specifically is the plan with top nine forwards in Lawson Krause and Barrett Hayden with uh Bill Armstrong's plan to obviously he's been able to extend them since July 1st.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_01: So, what's the plan now for them?
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think I think part of that's dependent on how the season goes for those two, but not only how this season goes for them, but how does this season go for TJ Ginla and Caleb Denoyer?
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, are those you know, be because you know you Utah's in an interesting um, you know, uh phase of their rebuild where you know this is year six, you know, a lot of the guys that they've drafted are are now you know making a name for themselves in terms of you know the Logan Cooleys and the Dylan Gunthers.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, you've got Keller, you know, guys like Keller and Schmaltz and Sergachev stepping into their primes.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_00: I think Las and Krauss is is you know can be considered in that same conversation, but you know, you're you're now reaching kind of the tail end of your prospects uh in terms of their development where you're going, okay, you know, how close is TJ Ginla?
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_00: How close is Caleb Denoye?
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_00: Obviously, uh, you know, Daniel Boot and Dmitry Simeshev, you know, made the jump, full jump to the NHL this year.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_00: And so um, yeah, I think I think it's very much dependent because you know, you look at this roster and it's really deep.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_00: Um, that's that's the the primary reason why Denoye and Aginla are in the AHL right now is because once they added Trochek and Lee, it got a lot harder to make this team.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, those are those are two guys that they're not necessarily going to play, uh, you know, they're not they're definitely not gonna play fourth line minutes.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, I don't think TJ Ginla um is you know gonna play anywhere but the top six.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_00: Caleb Denoye, you might be able to fit him into a third-line uh center type role.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_00: And so that's why I am not entirely certain at this point, you know, where do they go with Barrett Hayton?
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_00: You know, does Hayton continue to prove that, hey, you need to bring me back?
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_00: You know, they they liked him, they liked him enough to to to you know uh match that offer sheet from New Jersey, you know, but what does he do this season?
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_00: Does he continue to prove his worth?
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_00: Uh but at the same time, you know, how how well do do Danoy and again LaFair in the AHL?
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_00: You know, do they prove themselves ready?
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_00: Do they show that, hey, you've got to make space for me?
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, maybe the easiest way to do that is is to forego, you know, uh signing those contracts.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_00: But with Lawson Kraust, though, I think that you know he's he's an important part of this organization, both from you know just what he does on the ice.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_00: He has a lot of intangibles, you know, he he does a lot of the things that don't necessarily show up on the score sheet, and occasionally they do.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_00: Like I like I mentioned earlier, you know, he was fantastic in the playoffs uh for Utah.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_00: But you know, he's a big voice on this team.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_00: He's a leader of this team, he's been on this team, you know, for a long time.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_00: And so, you know, we'll we'll see what ends up happening.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_00: But if I had to guess, you know, I'd say that they probably you know do uh extend loss in Krauss and Baird Hayden, I think that you know the verdict's out on that one.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_00: You know, we'll see how he does this season, and then we'll have to compare that with how uh you know those two young prospects.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_00: I think specifically Denoyer, how does he fare in the in in the American League?
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_01: And a lot of people are gonna be keeping their eyes on those two kids for sure.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_01: Dylan Gunther scored four 40 goals last season.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_01: He's really stepped up his game.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_01: Do you see him becoming a consistent 40 goal scorer or even hitting 50 possibly soon?
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_01: What are his expectations this year?
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I mean, I think that Gunther, you know, I've I've talked to quite a few players throughout the National Hockey League about Gunther's release just to get their perspective, right?
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, they're the ones that that have to face it every night.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_00: And uh I chatted with Connor Bedard last year, and and Bedard said that you know Gunther has, you know, one of the best, if not the best, releases in the National Hockey League.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, I don't think that he's too far off with that statement.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_00: You know, if you watch Gunther's ability to not only shoot the puck, but to um, you know, adjust his body properly.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, the amount of one tease that he takes and he scores off of, and you know, I was actually noticing this last night.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, the passes aren't always the you know the the best, right?
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, sometimes that you know the puck comes up comes up on an edge, he has to receive it further, you know, uh on a stick, you know, yeah, sometimes he has to choke up on it, but he's still able to just you know fire off absolute laser beams.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and you know, like he's like you mentioned, he scored 40 goals last year.
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, I think for him, he wants to continue to climb.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_00: You know, he wants to, I think he definitely wants to hit that 40 benchmark, but I think he wants to go beyond that.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, when we talked to him during media availability or excuse me, media day, uh, you know, he said that you know, his goal is to continue to diversify his ability to score.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_00: You know, he he obviously, you know, his his office is from that left face-off circle.
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_00: He's gonna, you know, tee him up all the time from there.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_00: But you know, last year he made he made it a point to to score some some some gritty, some dirty, greasy goals.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_00: This year he said he wants to improve his deflections.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_00: You know, he wants to score some goals by you know uh getting his stick on the puck, uh, you know, tipping some into the back of the net.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_00: I believe he did that.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_00: I can't remember if it was preseason or if it was the first game um of the regular season, but you know, he's he's showed that you know he's not just gonna talk the talk, but he's gonna walk the walk.
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_00: I think for him, yeah, I would expect him to reach that 40-point benchmark and to go beyond, maybe somewhere between 40 and 45 this year.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_00: And eventually I do think that he will, you know, he'll be a guy that's scoring 50 goals.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_01: Nick Schmaltz, he's gonna win the Rocket this year, right, though?
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_01: Uh he's off to a forward start.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_01: Uh I don't know what happened exactly finished last night.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_01: There were some late games, right?
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_01: There was a lot of hockey games last night.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, but he was tied for the league leading in goals with six.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_01: Last year he came and hit a career high with 33, which is crazy for the 30-year-old veteran now hitting these numbers.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_01: Could he get 34 more goals this year and hit 40 this season?
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_01: Does that mean he's gonna have to score 30 on the power play?
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's a good question.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, I think for Schmaltz, it's it's less about reaching uh benchmarks.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_00: I think I think it's more about him just playing his, you know, his best hockey.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_00: And that's what we've we've seen from Schmaltz uh last season.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, and then stepping into this year, he picked up right where he left off.
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_00: And yeah, I mean, he's been on fire.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, I think um, you know, the biggest thing with Schmaltz's game is I think I think he's a vastly underrated player.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_00: I think he's one of the most uh he's in my opinion, I think he's the most complete player on Utah in terms of a 200 foot game.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, he is so good uh on the forecheck, on the back check.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_00: You know, he generates a plethora of turnovers with his stick.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_00: You know, he's so smart in the way that he approaches the game when he's off the puck.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_00: I think that might be, you know, one of his greatest skill sets is, you know, his positioning, you know, where he where he places himself uh in in in any of the zones when he's without the puck to you know to create a turnover or or to poke a puck free and clear the zone or to put himself in scoring position.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_00: You know, if you watch the way that he's scored his goals this year, a lot of them coming on the power play, um, you know, he just gets lost in the defense.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_00: You know, he he's able to find a way to uh you know to to um you know get in behind the defense, you know, and then you know Utah plays it very smartly where you know they they they play the puck around the perimeter, they work it between Gunther, Sergachev, and Keller.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_00: They decide which you know which which wing they want to attack from.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_00: And a lot of times what they've been doing is starting with Gunther, swinging it back across, going to Keller.
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_00: He feeds Cooley down low, which is where Cooley generally likes to operate on the power plays right on that goal line.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_00: And then Cooley has the ability to then either go at the net or it creates a two-on-one with the defender who has to choose to either take Cooley or to work to defend Schmaltz in nine out of 10 times so far this season.
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_00: They've been electing to to try and defend Cooley, and Cooley's just too good in terms of you know creating and and uh facilitating those pucks.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_00: He's found Schmaltz a handful of times, and Schmaltz has put it in the back of the net.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, I I don't know that that Schmaltz is a guy that's you know really keeping track of those numbers.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I do think that he'll probably be a 30 to you know, 30 plus, 35 plus goal scorer this year, and uh you know, we'll see where he goes from there.
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_01: Goaltender Carl Vomelka carried a heavy workload last year, leading the league in games played.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_01: Can he handle the demands of now an 84 game season, full season, or are they gonna need games from rookie goalie and newly acquired Sebastian Cosa, who was highly touted when he was drafted?
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think that you know the whole reason that they brought in Sebastian Cosa is, you know, this is a guy that they've been high on, you know, from when he came into the league.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_00: You know, he was a guy on their draft board back to the Arizona days.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, they they've cut, you know, they've long since coveted him, is what you know, president of hockey operations, Chris Armstrong, said when they introduced him.
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, they've got their guy.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, in addition to to believing in him and feeling like he's ready to play in the NHL, you know, they brought him in because they wanted to have, excuse me, a backup goaltender that that they feel that they can trust.
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_00: You know, that's been a big issue for them over the the last couple of seasons.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_00: And especially in Utah, that's that you know, that's been a primary issue, you know, with their uh inability to rely, you know, they had the whole Connor Ingram situation and they had to deal with.
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_00: And that's why you know Vamilka stepped up and had to play as many games as he did in the inaugural season.
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_00: You know, they tried things out with VTek Vanichek, it just didn't work out.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_00: You know, he struggled to produce wins.
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_00: And so they looked at this season and went, okay, you know, we don't want to just have this revolving door of backup goaltenders.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_00: We want to find a guy that we can believe in, that we can trust.
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_00: I know that they do.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, for Kosa, I think that you know, the split between him and Vamilka is going to very heavily depend on, you know, how is Kosa performing?
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_00: You know, his first start against Columbus, you know, he was fantastic.
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_00: He looked really good at 17 of 18 stops, you know, did never look you know out of place, didn't look uh nervous or anything like that.
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_00: But then, you know, he goes into a Boston game where the team's not playing their best and he, you know, he struggled a little bit, right?
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_00: I think he finished the night three for eight and they ended up pulling him in the first period.
• 15:17
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, but it's a good learning opportunity.
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_00: You know, he he you know recognizes, you know, he takes accountability for it.
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_00: You know, he recognizes that it's a learning opportunity for him to figure out, you know, hey, I have to be at my best all the time.
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_00: Doesn't necessarily matter about you know what's going on in front of me.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I've got to you know produce and I've got to be there to to stop pucks.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_00: And so I think, you know, yeah, there's a lot of people that are a little bit worried about it, but I'm like, it's his second game.
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_00: You know, he's still learning, he's still figuring things out.
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_00: I do think that, you know, he's he's gotta uh he he he's he's a he's a monster.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, he's huge, you know, he takes up all the net, but I think he's really he's really smooth and you know in the way that he covers his crease, how he goes, you know, uh post to post, how he comes across.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_00: And yeah, I think that there's a lot of uh a lot of belief in him, and you know, we'll see how things you know kind of come to fruition this year.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_00: But you know, the the the the split in the tandem is gonna be dependent on on how Kosa I think can perform uh you know over the next few starts that he gets.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, we'll see what happens.
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think uh right now, you know, it might be kind of a you know a 70-30 type thing going on.
• 16:15
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I would expect it um you know that number goes up the more that you know he kind of proves himself.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_00: And I think he's gonna get an opportunity here this week, you know, with Utah having to play Edmonton twice.
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_00: I think that Kosa will get one of those starts, and yeah, we'll see what he can do.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_01: The team's defense was top 10 in goals against last year, and offensively from the back end, it's led by veteran Mikhail Sergachev.
• 16:39
  SPEAKER_01: He produced 59 points last season.
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_01: How important is his offensive contribution from the blue line?
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's huge.
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, I think he's you know really coming into his own and and being a leader, you know, leading by example.
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_00: You know, this is this is a defensive core that you know continues to develop, that continues to get better, right?
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, they they they go out and they trade for for McKenzie Weager to join uh Sergachev on that top pairing.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_00: You know, they they traded for John Reno two years ago.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_00: They bring him in, you know, they they they invested in him during the offseason, right?
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_00: You know, they paid him, they gave him a big extension, you know, and he's he's been really good.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_00: I think he's one of the most underrated defensemen in the NHL.
• 17:18
  SPEAKER_00: You know, he just he makes the right decisions most times, and you know, he started to get involved himself offensively.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_00: You know, they pick up Nate Schmidt, who, you know, those two were one of the best pairings uh analytically, uh, especially in terms of you know true defensive defensemen in the league last season.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, now you know they it was kind of an interesting summer because you know they had to move off of of Ian Cole given his age.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, they traded Sean Dersey to to bring in Vincent Trochek, which I think was it was a good move for all parties.
• 17:45
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I think I think Dersey needed a new um a new place to play.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I think he needed you know new scenery, whereas you know, and you had to give up something good to go and get Trochek.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_00: And that that's obviously working out really well.
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_00: But in terms of their defense, you know, they think there were some concerns about the the overall depth, you know, getting into that third pairing, worrying about you know, how ready is Dmitry Simyshev?
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_00: You know, how you know and who's gonna be his partner?
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_00: Was it gonna be Maverick Lamro?
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_00: You know, it was Nick D.
• 18:13
  SPEAKER_00: Simone, was it gonna be Andrew Peak?
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_00: Obviously, you know, Lamro uh, you know, uh has an unfortunate injury.
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_00: I wish him the best in his recovery, but Andrew Peak has stepped up and been a phenomenal ad for this team.
• 18:23
  SPEAKER_00: You know, they got him, I think, uh, you know, at a bargain.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_00: I think it was like one year, uh, one million AAV.
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_00: And I think it was a kind of a situation of uh, you know, not necessarily a break glass and type of emergency, but it was definitely a depth piece of, you know, hey, if if one of these young guys isn't ready, if it's if something's not working, we can call upon him.
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_00: But I think that both him and Simishev have been a really good defensive pairing.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_00: You know, they play well together, peak scored against the Rangers, you know, last week.
• 18:46
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, Simashev has showed a lot of uh, you know, flashes of of elite play jumping into the offense.
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, but to go back to the original question, yeah, I mean, Sergachev is a major part of this offense.
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_00: You know, he's he's the driving force at the blue line.
• 18:59
  SPEAKER_00: He quarterbacks the top power play unit, and you know, he's he's feeding the forwards.
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_00: And I think what they're trying to do is to is to get him, you know, get that effort to kind of trickle down through the rest of the defense to, you know, they all those guys, you know, during their exit interviews and then during during media day this season, you know, they talked about wanting to be more involved offensively, to feed the forwards, to get you know better breakouts and and to make sure that they're creating offense, you know, throughout all five skaters on the ice.
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, when I was looking at the numbers, I was surprised to see Schmidt with a great plus 32 last year.
• 19:30
  SPEAKER_01: All right, time for some trending now.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, interim general manager for the Detroit Red Wings, Sean Horkoff has said today that he has zero interest in trading Simon Edmondson, which is very intriguing to me because he went to camp, then he went back to Sweden, he said he wants to be traded, and now apparently he's come back to North America, he's trading with a guy that's a little bit more the North American style, which him coming back, and now his general manager that he's currently on the team says he's has zero interest in trading him.
• 20:13
  SPEAKER_01: How would you feel between this relationship between between the two and in Simon Edmondson for him hearing that?
• 20:23
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's an interesting situation.
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, I've I've actually got a buddy of mine who's who's a big Red Wings fan, and you know, he's uh he's definitely a lot more um knowledgeable on the situation.
• 20:35
  SPEAKER_00: He's he's actually my my podcast host on the Utah Hockey Podcast.
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_00: Uh does a great job.
• 20:39
  SPEAKER_00: And we actually had a conversation about Simon Simon Edmondson last week when you know rumors started to circulate about him wanting to be traded and Frank Saravali reporting that Utah was a front runner for it.
• 20:49
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, as as we kind of you know speculated, um, you know, I it's an interesting situation because I think that um obviously Simon Edmondson, you know, he wants to get paid.
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_00: You know, and he you know, this is a a big defenseman, a big defenseman that can move that that that I think proved last year that he's starting to come to his own.
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_00: He's starting to figure it out.
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I think he had something like 25 points last year, and I think you know he has a lot of potential.
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_00: Um and you know, in my mind, I think what's happening here is that you know it's it's Detroit kind of doing what Detroit does, you know, playing hardball, not wanting to overpay in their minds, you know, wanting to to try and get you know more team-friendly deals and and you know, to to try and you know build in their minds, you know, a proper uh you know, hockey club.
• 21:33
  SPEAKER_00: But you know, with with the with the you know increasing salary cap, with you know how um you know, I think rare defensemen like him are, you know, to be as big and to be as good of a skater and and to be as as offensive-minded as he can be while also being a shutdown guy, you know, I think that they they're just they're struggling to see eye to eye on this, you know, obviously.
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, the fact that you know Edmondson you know left the country and you know told him, hey, you know, trade me, I I would assume that you know they're just not they have not reached you know a point where you know they feel confident about uh you know staying long term in Detroit.
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_00: And I can't blame him either.
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, Detroit, you know, has proven consistently over the last, I mean, they haven't made the playoffs in what, over a decade?
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, that that organization is is struggling in a lot of ways, I think, to to rebuild properly.
• 22:16
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that's why Utah fans are as lucky as they are to have a guy like Bill Armstrong at the helm who understands what it takes.
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, Armstrong has been an absolute wizard with his contracts, even with the rising cap to get Dylan Gunther on seven and a quarter million dollars per year and to get Logan Cooley at 10 million AAV and you know, uh all the other guys that they've signed.
• 22:35
  SPEAKER_00: While, you know, you're seeing, you know, I feel like every day there's there's a brand new contract that sets you know sets a new higher bar for you know the highest paid player in the league, right?
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, look at what the ducks have done.
• 22:45
  SPEAKER_00: You know, they've got their talent, but you know, they they're they're paying twice as much, you know, for Gothier and um and Carlson as Utah is paying, yeah, as Utah is paying for for Cooley and Gunther.
• 22:57
  SPEAKER_00: So um yeah, it's it's an interesting situation.
• 23:00
  SPEAKER_00: We'll see what happens.
• 23:01
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, I it's hard.
• 23:04
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, is is does Detroit really want to continue to play this hardball game when you know salaries are continuing to create to increase?
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_00: NHL has you know the most money it's ever had, and you know, you've got guys who are valuing valuing themselves higher.
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_00: Now, the number that I had heard thrown around was for Edmonton was like 12 million AAV.
• 23:23
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, if if anybody's heard differently, feel free to correct me on it.
• 23:27
  SPEAKER_00: But uh, you know, in my opinion, I think that's that's a probably a little bit much.
• 23:31
  SPEAKER_00: Um again, he's he's he's um he's kind of a unicorn in terms of his size and and the way that he plays the the game.
• 23:38
  SPEAKER_00: But he you know, he he's proced, he's produced only 25 points at this point.
• 23:42
  SPEAKER_00: There's guys you know that have that have produced 60, 70, 80 points, you know, that are getting less than that.
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_00: And so I don't know.
• 23:49
  SPEAKER_00: It'll be it'll be interesting to see kind of you know how it uh how it continues here.
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_00: But you know, one thing's for certain, I think that Detroit really needs to take a hard look at the mirror and figure out the direction that they want to go.
• 24:00
  SPEAKER_01: I find it peculiar with them being second most in cap space and not willing to budge a little bit and give the guy you know even closer to what he's asking for.
• 24:13
  SPEAKER_01: That's just my opinion.
• 24:14
  SPEAKER_01: Cole, thanks for joining me.
• 24:17
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, absolutely.
• 24:18
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks for having me.
• 24:19
  SPEAKER_01: And fans, remember to subscribe to the show and your listening app.
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_01: And if you have any questions for us, follow us on X at JBLAM support.