Fact From Fiction: Utah Mammoth Rumor Roundup

Fact From Fiction: Utah Mammoth Rumor Roundup

rumors continue to swirl around the Utah Mammoth off season and we are going to separate fact from fiction on today’s Locked on Mammoth [Music] you are a Locked On Mammoth your daily podcast on the Utah Mammoth part of the Locked On Network your team every day hello everyone and welcome in once again to Locked on Mammoth i’m veteran NHL voice Tom Callahan joined by longtime team analyst Robin Leano and together we bring you Locked on Mammoth each and every single day thanks for making us your first listen we appreciate you being here whether you’re an everydayer a longtimer or you’re new to the show well we hope to graduate you into every day because we’re going to be here every day right through the month of June and uh even into July a little bit with free agency happening we’ve got the draft coming up uh eventually the conclusion of the Stanley Cup final although Robin sometimes I feel like that ends in October these days um but it’s it’s a busy time right now for the Mammoth with rumors flying yeah rumors are always flying this is a like absolutely wild time if for if your team is not in the final because you have all these rumors start hitting and it’s more like I don’t even necessarily rumors was more of like uh people just spewing random stuff just to get attention just to see just just to see what sticks like who picks it up and thinks it’s true because maybe they uh maybe they saw a post from uh you know Pier Lev rather than Pierre Lebron right and they thought it was the same person or or there’s like a the real number one LeBron or something like that it’s you know you have to check uh and even now it’s hard because verification is paid for so even the fake accounts could get verified but yeah you you do have to verify your sources things break they get misreported but even Robin when it comes to the mammoth we’ve seen it conflicting reports uh and all of this started honestly I don’t think the Utah Mammoth would be as much in the crosshairs as they are of the national and international hockey media were it not for them ending up with the number four pick in the draft all of a sudden everything has centered on the Mammoth and that number four pick yeah because like very rarely do you get a situation where not one but two teams made a massive jump to win you know to win in the uh in the lottery like who would have thought who would have thought that it would be the it would be Islanders Mammoth uh winning it so Islanders at number you know getting number one overall pick and then Mammoth getting the four because they can only move up 10 spots but who thought who no one would have thought that no and it’s it’s a gift for the Mammoth to be sure that has been dropped in their lap and so let’s start with that number four pick i think that’s one of the the big big sources of all these rumors that are going around right now because if you’re picking at 14 it doesn’t have the potential to change your franchise in the immediate future but if you’re picking at four that can change your franchise in the immediate future now whether you hold that pick whether you trade that pick Robin I was as I was compiling notes for this episode I have read from different NHL sources people who are plugged in and have been at this 20 30 years reporting different things i’ve heard people say “The fourth pick is in play the fourth pick is on the move the fourth pick is not going anywhere the fourth pick will be traded for a top six young proven NHL center the fourth pick will be turned into a chance to move up like I’ve heard all of that going around right now and see I think what h what we I think what happens is um people will hear what they want to hear right so when when Bill Armstrong when you first asked Bill Armstrong that question when it happened right he was open and pretty much said “Yeah we’re open to it it’s going to be in play like it you know we’re well we we’ll see what you know we’ll kind of see what the options are but people can can uh perceive that and taking that info and taking bits and pieces this is where misinformation and disinformation kind of tends to happen where they kind of take pieces of what they want to hear and then they will bring it severely out of context or they’ll do completely what um the opposite of what they meant and again I think it’s important to say that Bill Armstrong did say was in play um but there was no guarantees it was being moved there was no there was no way it’s like “Hey it’s not going to happen we’re just going to listen.” There was none of that like it pretty much just said “Hey we’re just going to we’re really just going to listen to offers and it’s it could happen.” So the facts around the fourth pick right now kind of start and stop at it is in play and the Utah Mammoth are listening to offers on the fourth overall pick does not mean they’re going to trade it doesn’t mean they’re going to keep it yeah it’s again it’s it’s still in a 5050 zone but like if you’re if you’re saying that there’s a guarantee they’re going to trade for a top for a top six center or a top six forward or there’s no way in hell that they are going to draft they are going to trade it and they are going to draft James Hagens or whatever you know no whatever it is again you’re just hearing what you want to hear now speaking of which if they keep the pick speaking of rumors let’s truck right on into that because a bunch of things came out of the scouting combine in Buffalo and the reports came out and we talked about it at the time that the Mammoth had dinner with Michael Misa James Hagens Jacob Bryan Brady Martin and Porter Martone those are the five players they had dinner with brady Martin was nowhere on anyone’s radar as far as the potential for him going to Utah or even that high in the draft because Central scouting had him all the way down at 11th for North American skaters um some people said “Oh maybe he’ll sneak up to the top seven.” But all of a sudden because Utah had dinner with him now well the Mammoth might you know pick Martin at number four overall and what kind of crazy reach would that be and even Bill Armstrong himself has said “Look we wanted to spend time whether it was dinner or not dinner with all the players in that potential pick range as much as we could learn what we could about them that doesn’t mean that players on the radar to be picked at number four.” No absolutely and it there is there is what the player what could be on Dolong Strong’s big board who can be kind of where he sees these players are at um and again there’s also the there’s also the potential um you know this is and I’m not saying it’s gonna happen and I’m not saying it’s it’s fact or anything but I will say like if you wanted to you can theorize and I’m again I’m I’m using I’m picking my words very carefully here you could theorize that maybe because they don’t feel like they need it they could trade down get you know get those uh uh get but get you know get a good prospect out good roster player out of it in trading down um and get to a player in where maybe Brady Martin is within that right range it’s like yeah I like we Brady Martin will be available at around this range so like yeah we’ll you know we’ll trade down if you really want James Hagen if you really want Deoier okay you can trade up and then we’ll trade and we’ll still pick our guy but it’s not a guarantee because they still had uh dinner with all these other guys and here’s the other thing that makes sense Robin is that Utah unless they’re moving up for whatever reason that movement of a pick would not happen until that pick is on the clock correct because if I don’t know let’s just say the Mammoth really want Fondell let’s just say he that’s the guy that they’ve said “Well that’s our guy but we think he’s going third but for whatever reason he doesn’t.” Fondell slips to four then you don’t trade the pick you make the pick and get the guy that you’ve wanted all along but if you get there Fondell’s not there and you’re like “We could slide back to six seven eight and still be cool with who we come out of this pick with.” and pick up another asset in the meantime then I could see that happening correct and I think that’s you know that’s the most important thing and again we um we already knew that uh of the other players that that Utah did have dinner with as well and I think it’s important to note that because a lot of them are you know top players like Moraton and like Misa um they’re up there right they are uh they are top five picks consensus right they’re among the top five misa is like is on number two number one on some on some draft boards and Martone is three four or five yeah and again it’s to me it’s about picking the best player available at the time uh and I I feel like that’s the the strategy for Utah and their scouts is they want the best what they believe is the most talented player available so um I can at least appreciate that but there’s so much that could happen with this fourth pick uh but just trying to sell separate the fact from fiction just be careful of reaching is a lot of what we’re we’re saying here and you’re going to hear a lot of rumors swirling between now yeah and the draft i mean it and I and I think the word I will say this the word reaching has been used too loosely in the last couple of years i mean again people considered Arizona’s drafting of Dimmitri Shimmerv and Daniel Boot a reach at the time and a lot of those people are actually eating their own words now so yeah well well everybody’s an armchair scout armchair GM you know yeah because everyone at the time I again this I this is for a whole another whole another thing but people are always talking about NHL and I’m like please stop please stop yeah hashtag fancy stats uh all right Robin and I are going to talk about more it’s a Mammoth Rumor recap episode uh we are trying to wrap our arms around all the offseason rumors up next we’re going to talk about the Mammoth are they actually going to make a big splash in free agency or not and today’s show is brought to you in part by Monarch Money ever check your bank account and wonder where did all my money go well between dining out online shopping entertainment streaming it’s easy to lose track and that’s where Monarch Money comes in your personal CFO giving you full visibility and control over your finances monarch Money isn’t just a budgeting app it’s a complete financial command center you can track all your accounts your investments and your spending in one place so you just stop managing your money and you actually start building wealth when I started using Monarch Money uh it kind of makes you realize it made me realize where my spending was going where my dollars were going and and in some places it was a little loose um understanding that it’s like wow once you start to do the math on everything you’re paying for all those little expenses that you say oh it’s five here 10 here 10 how fast it adds up and now I budget smarter and I save more plus managing money with your partner is smoother than ever you can track your shared and personal accounts set goals and stay on the same page without the stress take control of your finances with Monarch Money use our code locked on NHL at monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year that’s monarchmoney.com code locked on NHL for half off your first year tom Callahan Robin Leano Locked on Mammoth Podcast hey if you’re still here and you like what you hear please subscribe to the show we appreciate you being a part of it also if you’re on YouTube click that thumbs up for us helps us with the algorithm helps you also with your algorithm to find more great hockey content just like this and the locked on family of shows so uh Robin talking about all these rumors around the mammoth i know folks are still going to have questions and you can certainly drop those in the comments or reach out to us on social about trading keeping the fourth pick what they’re actually going to do and we’re going to keep updating you about it but the other thing that’s going around right now is okay the Mammoth have picked number four and about 20 million roughly in cap space coming up for this year now in the future and we’re going to talk about this they’re going to owe some contracts to some people you’ve got some RFAS coming up uh Jack McBain is this year next year you’ve got Kulie uh and Don so you have to have an eyeball on that but right now Utah could still make a splash because the cap will go up again next year still afford to give out those extensions to those other players whether they’re long-term short-term bridge whatever mhm so Robin we’re hearing it from everywhere they’re going to make a splash no they’re not going to make a splash well they want to make a splash but it’s going to be a trade splash they don’t want to make a free agency splash i mean it’s just it keeps going around right all we know is that water will be flying they want to make a splash yeah absolutely and and I think it goes back to the reminder and I’ll say it you know I’ll keep saying it of Bill Armstrong pretty much being open and saying that Ryan Smith straight up told him you know checkbook is open spend how you how you feel you need and we’ll you know um and and we’ll make it work let Bill cook yeah let Bill cook but the important thing to remember and again this everyone needs to be grounded here remember that Bills I said you got to let Bill cook you got to understand that he’s on his schedule he knows where where to dole out the money he’s not going to go out and you know give uh you know Mitch Mner $17 million right now like it’s like like to him that doesn’t make sense so here’s a good indicator I think of where Utah might be willing to spend if if it was going to be a free agent splash your highest paid forward for the next three years is Clayton Keller 7.15 just under that is Dylan Gunther at 7.14 and then your highest paid defenseman at 8.5 is Muel Sergeev now that is the guy you have basically designated that is your star player all the way through 2031 you’ve got gone through through 2033 but Sergeev they’re all in on Sergeev 6 million then for Jersey he’s in second place on the defense i think if you’re attracting a top line forward maybe maybe that 7 million is kind of telling you where that benchmark is and it might be a little more or maybe the 8.5 is telling you but that is where I think we have to as as mammoth observers and even as fans who are who are watching and listening have to realize that just because the money is there doesn’t mean it’s going to be spent well and I think Bill Armstrong’s very aware of that and is not just going to go after Mitch Martner because I said “Hey I’d like Mitch Marty.” Yeah and again because it goes with how much money that player is going to ask for right because like if you’re if if you’re coming up on a player who wants you know a seven-year deal at 12 million plus all of a sudden how they you know where’s the money going to be for when Logan is due to get paid we’re going to talk about that later on this week we’re going to talk because that’s going to be a really important uh really important discussion because that’s I mean that’s you know that’s going to be huge um but that goes with everybody else too who also is due to get paid you know and due for new contracts is if you give a guy $12 million for seven years you restrict yourself on being able to pay guys you really want here and so again separating fact from fiction here are the facts number one we know Bill Armstrong’s going to listen to pretty much all the options mhm there are not Robin a lot of teams that can say that they’re in the free agent market with this kind of cap space about $20 million and have tradable assets and Armstrong has said he’s willing to deal some assets from this Utah team and have this fourth overall pick that is quite a bit that makes and again we talk about why the Mammoth are in the press so much all of these things together like this is a delicious tasty media snack and everybody wants to take a bite of the apple right they all want to say this is Utah’s going to do as long as a Leafs fan isn’t trying to propose that you that Utah trades away Clayton Keller and Logan Kulie for uh for a bag of pucks like for the rights to Mitch Mner like no like no absolutely not yeah it uh and and the other thing too Robin that when you’re talking about a big splash in free agency if you it doesn’t have to be the biggest fish to be a big splash to Utah right so it can be it can be not Mitch Mner could be someone else who does come in at a 5 million mark at a 6 million mark who makes a giant impact on your team now it might not not be the biggest headline or maybe even the top three or four biggest headlines of the summer signings but if it impacts the mammoth in the right way makes them the best team possible that’s what they’re going to do i’m still on team Besser brock Besser that is an attractive name and a and it’s closer within a right dollar value for Utah so but again that’s again we’re still talking speculation here right we don’t like that’s again we can go further into that later but we’re we’re talking about kind of kind of weeding out from the rumors and saying what’s true and you know and what is true is right now Utah’s just kind of taking a look at their options and they they’re going to make a splash we just don’t know how big or with what assets and what in in in what form and here’s the other thing with the cap going up I would expect a player like a Marner or whoever to test free agency and really try to push the boundaries of what money they can make utah can actually be a player and a shaper from the team side of what may be given out in the future and believe me I think most not all most NHL GMs are very cognizant of that fact now you vote you’re always going to get somebody who gives out the crazy contract it always happens but I think that there’s very much an awareness that hey the cap is about to get out there that doesn’t mean you still don’t want cost control yeah absolutely i mean that’s you can’t look past that and and even though I mean look the Mammoth are fortunate that they have an owner who says “Yeah we can spend it.” So all right so the facts of the matter here on Big Free Agency Splash number one yes the money is available the cap space is there yes the Mammoth are open to sign and trade that moving assets the Mammoth are interested in potentially wrapping that number four pick if it makes sense to then not end up making a big splash in free agency robin that leaves us with the other speculative part of the Mammoth Rumor recap uh that didn’t quite I didn’t have enough space to get it on the the video here but trades speculation running rampant around trades we’re going to talk about that here in just a moment tom Callahan Robin Leano here with you on the Locked on Mammoth podcast and Robin uh we’ve talked about the trading the fourth p pick keeping the fourth pick big splash in free agency or not uh but the other way to make a big splash and again this is some NHL media have said yes the Mammoth are looking to make a trade because they don’t want to spend that money necessarily right now they’re looking down the road or maybe it’ll be a little bit of both um it’s not quite like it used to be with the sign and trade deals as much but once you get past July 1 sometimes you do still see those things happen it’s it’s weird there’s like that weird legal tampering window now and you know you could talk to guys before anything really h it’s it’s strange but we all know that stuff happened before that anyway um so now do you make trades and if you’re another team looking at Utah like if I’m a I don’t know just random team GM I think they’ve got a pretty loaded blue line i think they’ve got some really good young players uh and some upand cominging talent i don’t know that I’m picking Utah’s cupboards for the goalending uh but I also realized they’ve got some kids in the farm system that if I am a team on the rebuild could make me look really good in a year or two so there’s plenty to offer if you’re Utah there is there really is plenty to offer and I think the other thing too is Utah’s in a very unique situation where and I have mentioned this before I’ll say it again they are kind of on the next step of their rebuild they still technically are in the re in in their rebuild but they’re in the next step they’re moving the next phase moving into competitiveness kind of going through the emergence period um but that also means that they have an a an an excess of assets that they could really use to their advantage they have so many more draft picks and they know what to do with um they’ve got so many prospects who they drafted who not that they decided weren’t going to pan out but that just based off of the decisions that Bill Armstrong has made and the development that some of their other draft picks have done kind of don’t really have a huge future with the franchise or other players who played well they’re a part of the team but they just don’t want to be there or they kind of see them that they want to take a next step elsewhere um so that puts Utah in the situation where yeah they could really trade assets and there these players are still on a you know relatively decent enough value especially if you can package them to kind of bring back and improve your team even more and don’t forget you don’t have to make all these trades in the off season some of them there’s two times when you’re going to see it busy and if you’re new to the NHL uh this is a good thing to know number one in the early part of the season injuries happen so and it did to the mammoth last year right we saw the the defense obliterated by injuries training camp in the early part of the season Robin and guess what bill had to be busy he had to work the phones he had to you know work some magic work the waiver wire just to get a workable NHL defense going for a while honestly I think from from July all the way through the first the first month of the of the season it’s trade season and then and then again once and then close to trade deadline there really is like very little down period for that i mean I still would love to talk about again even though I you know in retrospect of how and ended up doing more harm than good in the future like again I like to talk about what my you know my hometown San Jose Sharks did at the time when they in 2019 or 2018 to 2019 when they traded for Eric Carlson it was a huge trade but that happened right before the season started it was like they had the training camp was about to was about to hit and all of a sudden Eric Carlson stands down like I’m sorry what so we see some of these happen sometimes we might not know about it until training camp robin for the record to this day i don’t understand that trade i don’t I don’t know what they were doing i was excit I was so excited at the time because I knew what he could bring norris Trophy winner with alongside another Norris Trophy winner ray hindsight terrible trade but that’s not that that that’s not for the show there’s only one puck Carlson and Burns i just didn’t know how they were going to do it turns out they didn’t either um so the chance to always make a trade is is there and I think it will be the only way the trade gets done here’s the So we’ll wrap our arms around the facts here uh the only way a trade like that gets done is if Utah feels like it wins by making themselves better because next year the the target is make the playoffs right that’s where we’re at now make if you don’t make the playoffs I’m calling it right now middle of June if you don’t make the playoffs in the spring of 2026 your season was a disappointment is that fair am I being too too critical i do feel like a lot of people are putting a lot more pressure on playoff or bust um I feel like there is a there’s a line to me you have to draw because I feel like a true playoff or bus is difficult because I think the central division we already know has always been really tough right um the Western Conference is tough um but to me if it came down to the to the last game right if it like like we thought it could very well could have happened this year right between uh between Utah and St louis right we’re like theoretically it it could come down to that last game if that happens next year where it comes down to the very last game it’s off by a point yeah it be it using the point disappointing would still be the correct term but I don’t think there will be an overreaction as if let’s say they finish like sixth in the division to seventh in the division or something like that look Winnipeg Colorado and Dallas are better than you you cannot let Chicago and Nashville leapfrog you and you’ve got to be better than St louis and Minnesota correct that’s that’s the way you’re going to make it so I I I think five teams probably make it from the Central again next year anyway but I think you’ve got to find a way into that four spot you really do and at I mean it’s you take advantage of the uh the Pacific Division still going through some turmoil so do what you can yeah and you never know who’s going to have a surprise turnaround you really don’t so that’s but that’s why we talk about it we try to separate the fact from the fiction here on the show and and do our best on the rumor recap uh if you have any questions or some rumors that you’ve heard or things that you want to say hey what do you know about this have you heard anything about this feel free to reach out to us whether it’s in the comments here through the episode or Robin where can they find us on social media yeah they can find us everywhere on social media at Locked Onmamoth that’s locked on mammoth it’s literally everywhere primarily I I I monitor the Twitter account a lot more the uh Blue Sky account is also active somewhat so you can also mention us there but uh if you want to really get to us as soon as you can you can do go towards the Twitter side i’m Robin Leano there as well i’m on Blue Sky totalks and on Twitter on air thank you so much for joining us everybody we appreciate you being here hey tell your friends and join us for the next episode of Lock on Math

Utah Mammoth’s offseason moves: Fact or fiction? Rumors swirl as the NHL team holds the coveted 4th overall draft pick.

Tom Callahan and Robyn Leaño dissect the latest buzz surrounding potential trades, free agent targets, and draft strategies. Will GM Bill Armstrong trade the pick or select a top prospect like James Hagens? The hosts analyze Utah’s $20 million cap space and debate the likelihood of landing a big-name free agent such as Mitch Marner. Plus, insights on building a playoff contender in the competitive Central Division.

Tune in for expert analysis on the Mammoth’s crucial offseason decisions and their impact on stars like Logan Cooley and Clayton Keller.

0:00 Intro: Separating fact from fiction

5:10 Fourth overall pick: In play but uncertain

12:48 Mammoth’s cap space and free agency rumors

18:51 Potential free agent targets for Utah

24:14 Trade possibilities and asset management

Follow & Subscribe on all Podcast platforms…
🎧 https://link.chtbl.com/LO_NHLUtah?sid=YouTube

Locked On NHL League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Prospects & More
🎧 https://linktr.ee/LockedOnNHL

📲 Follow Locked On Utah HC on X
Locked On NHL in Utah https://x.com/LO_NHLUtah
Robyn Leaño https://x.com/robyn_leano
Tom Callahan https://x.com/CallahanOnAir

#NHL #Utah #SaltLakeCity #NHLUtah #UtahHC

📢 Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!

Monarch Money
Take control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONNHL at monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year.

5-Hour ENERGY
Head to 5-hourENERGY.com to find over 15 flavors to choose from, including Watermelon, Blue Raspberry, and Peach-Mango. Need one now? Grab a 5-hour ENERGY shot at your local grocery or convenience store—they’re everywhere! Stock up today and stay energized.

Wonderful Pistachios
Get snackin’ and get crackin’ with the snack that packs a protein punch. Visit WonderfulPistachios.com to learn more!

Gametime
Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNHL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.

FanDuel
Today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Right now, new FanDuel customers can get TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in Bonus Bets if your first FIVE DOLLAR bet wins!

FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)