Utah Mammoth 2025-26 Season Preview | Steve Dangle Podcast

Utah Mammoth 2025-26 Season Preview | Steve Dangle Podcast

It’s time to talk about the Utah Mammuth. That’s how you That’s how you pronounce it, right? The Mammuth. Yes. Uh, also known as Utah Mammoth, who last year were just Utah, HC, and they finished with 89 points. Good enough for only six in the division. I’m telling you, the Central is a tough tough place to play hockey. And they went in with aspirations of making the playoffs, which I think they’re going in with the same aspirations this year. They had 89 points. The overunder is actually slightly higher. 92 and a half. So, and and to go under, better odds than over. What are we saying? Utah, Mammoth, Jesse, and Steve. Uh, that’s so mean. Do you want to go first or me? Yeah. My I’m just under. You’re under. Under. You’re not a big fan. I I have under. I’m just saying. No. If I’m if I got to make that bet, I’m going to lean under. I like the Mammoth. I could easily see them making the playoffs. Under. Okay. Uh I will also say under. Uh but I think they’re going to be around what they were last year. And listen, this is a team that has you look at it on paper like, man, there’s a lot of talent there. The problem is in the division, there’s a lot of talent. Three of the NHL’s best teams, Jets, Stars, Avalanche, one, two, three in the division. Then you got the Wild and Blues, who both made the playoffs last year. in the Wildware and people forget this neck and neck with the Jets until the injuries sort of brought them down in the regular season. It’s going to be hard work for Utah to get in. But if they are going to do it, let’s start with the goalending. Connor Ingram, as of this recording, has not been traded yet, but he will be. Uh you’ve got Vamela and you’ve got VTEC Vanichek, both 29 years old. The Vamela deal seems like a really, really good one. Uh you you got to like their goalending, even if you don’t love it. Is that fair? It’s definitely at least adequate. It’s adequate. Yeah. Vanichek’s a bit of a wild card, but Vamela is a very good goalie. Uh uh Jesse, unless you have anything crazy to add on the goending discussion, I am going to move on to defense. I think they are underrated in net. I think it is solid goalending that can win you enough games. It’s not like Seattle where it’s like, hey, we can win tonight. No, that guy’s playing. We can’t. Yeah. On like on the surface level, you’re like, there’s not a lot of star power in those names, but it’s good enough. It’ll get you through the season. Vamela had a 904 save percentage in 58 games. 58 is actually insane. That’s a lot of games. Uh in today’s NHL, especially for a goalie who maybe doesn’t have the brand name of uh other guys. Like that’s it’s like Vasileleski numbers. That’s the amount of games that Anthony Sters has played in the last two years. Honestly, like did Wall and Stallers hit that combined? I don’t even know. No, that’s really good. And like the Vanichek thing is a little h what are we getting out of Vanichek? He’s shown his moments and I think as a backup he can be he’ll be good. He’ll be good especially at 1 and a.5 million bucks. Uh that’s that’s a pretty solid deal. Now what Utah did last year sneakily is they made two of the smartest trades you could make. Sergeev and jersey. They already have John Marino as well. And those are that’s three young great players heading into their prime or already in their prime in Marino’s case. And I look at the the money that they got them locked up to. It’s all fair money. Here’s the problem though. If they’re not playing, it’s kind of difficult to ice a really good team. And Sergeev and Dury both went down long-term and early. And I think that really kind of handcuffs you. Well, Sergeev did end up playing 77 games. Oh, I Oh, for some reason, I thought he was injured. No, no, it was Well, he he has been injured in the past. It was the right side was rebuilt and then immediately decimated, right? Uh, it was Derzy and Marino. It was Okay, I got it mixed up. Sorry. Yeah, Dery only played 30 games. is Mario only 35. Uh, that’s bad. But side effect of that is, uh, Michael Kessler got to play a bigger role, proved he was pretty good, and ended up being a big trade ship for them, which allowed them to go out and get JJ Purka, right? But they don’t have him here. Yeah. They allowed him to No. And now those two are back thing. Those two are back. Very good. I thought it was too. What does a full season of these two I’m just giving you What What does a season full season of those two guys on the right side give you? Cuz Jersey is a power play, puck mover, learned under Drew Dowy, really really good player. I mean, it almost like you you go into these videos going, “What were they last year? What are the pluses? What are the minuses?” And it almost makes them uh like the one of the teams in the league with potentially the biggest variation from one year to the other. And they didn’t even have to do much to to do that. Um you didn’t even get a full season combined out of guys who were supposed to be the top four of your right side. Um, so in a way, yes, I’m grading on a curve and shoehorning it in there, but in a way, uh, those are two huge ads to the team, even though they’re guys who were on the team last year. And you’re looking up at the forward here, uh, the top name, the highest paid player on the team is, uh, other than obviously Sergev is Jason John Purka, who did not want to play in Buffalo anymore and no longer has to. What does he bring to this team just on his own that they didn’t already have that was worth parting with a guy like Castle Ring for?w he’s he’s a crazy shooter, great sniper, unreal offensive talent, and I’m just looking at the uh at Utah. and Schmaltz both have really good playmaking ability, but it’s difficult to I mean, you can’t pass the puck into the net. Like those guys have great playmaking ability, but Keller had 60 assists and led the way. I think they had a bit of a bit of a scoring issue, right? Like a bit of a finishing issue to add an elite finisher to all those guys who can really sling the puck around. I think it might be a fun season in Utah. You might say they had a check issue. They solved it. Hey with JJ Perka. Jesse, what do you think about this forward group? The part they’re lacking is right down the middle. Like I know Koulie’s gonna grow into his role there and he’s going to be good eventually. Barrett Hatton’s your other center you’re looking at. You got Keroot who’s probably going to make the lineup in some respect when he’s healthy. Um and Jack McBain and Stenland down the middle. So, it’s just that’s the only part I look at and I look at the forward group and I say you’re still light down the middle and I wish like they’re one name away there for me to really be like, “Oh, this is a team that’s kind of solidified up and down.” Cuz I like their defense and JJ Partner like on the wing there. You’re going to get so much that you were missing out from him. And I think he’s going to be even better than he is cuz he’s 23. So, he’s only going to get better. He’s already a 28 goal scorer. So, he’s going to enter that echelon where he’s scoring 30 goals. Maybe he has 40 goal potential and they’re going to get to to feast on th that part of his career, which is great. I just I just need a little bit more from the from down the middle to solidify this group. And they can be a surprise team if one of those centermen hops up into this next category of center. I I don’t think it’s an apples to apples comparison, but there’s a little bit of Seattle there where I look at the team up and down and there’s nothing I look at and I go, “That’s a weakness. So that’s real bad. It’s just how high-end like is enough. Yeah. I don’t think their ceiling is very high, but they like you said, they have a good variance where they could jump into a playoff spot very easily, but I don’t expect them to be at the top of the division. Yeah. And what’s exciting is Gther Coulie Purka 22, 21, and 23. Give that three or four years. That’s going to be one of the most, if they can keep them together, one of the more formidable lines in the league. Yeah. They don’t do the Buffalo Sabers thing where you just collect young guys and you’re young forever and now the young guys can learn because they’re all so young. Like they are getting the circs of the world to try and supplant that. Like they are trying to not do that. So hopefully they continue that with their forward group as well. Now this this is a is such an interesting group like we we we discovered on one of our podcasts in the in the spring that the Vancouver Conucks still do not have like a dedicated practice facility. I don’t know if you guys saw this, but Utah just opened theirs up and it looks amazing. They’re going to be doing renovations to the United Center before the Olympics come. This is a very exciting time to be in Salt Lake. And I think you can’t tell me that doesn’t affect you. Oh, I think it’s a huge deal. I mean, that was part of the reason John Tvaris left the Islanders was the arena situation and where are they practicing and how getting to Brooklyn, remember? Like that is important, man. Absolutely. This ownership group seems like one of the more exciting and dynamic in the league. And I I just I’m really excited for the future of the franchise. Yeah. Uh because it feels like there’s a ton of hope and there’s a ton of excitement and going to those games is going to be a really exciting and and great experience. And hopefully we get another market like Vegas where they’re just people are just rabid and passionate. Just before people yell at you in the comments, uh wrong airline, Delta Center. Oh, Delta Center. How dare you? United Center Chicago. Oh, what’s the difference with these Delta and whatever? But, you know, yeah. Um, uh, yeah, I I’m I’m I’m just excited for the future of the franchise. And for anybody who’s worked there since the Coyotes, I’m sure they are, too. Uh, so let’s talk about where we think they’ll finish. Clearly, the future’s bright in Utah, but is it bright enough to get them past the line and into the playoffs this season? Uh, I’m going to go with odds on no. It wouldn’t shock me in the slightest if they made it. Um they made a real good push uh towards the end of the season there. Um they just had to contend with the Blues who had this crazy win streak. Really good strategy of never losing games uh that uh got them hard to compete with. Yeah. And and like the reason I said under on the overunder, I mean it’s a division 92. It’s Yeah. It’s going to be so hard now. It might be because it’s a division of killers. It might actually be a low threshold to get in because the points are so spread out. Yep. It’s not necessarily a division of halves and have nots, but out of the playoffs sixth, Jesse Blake. Yeah, their range here is I think that you got a chance for a four to six finish for the Mammoth. They might be on the high end, they might be on the low end. I’m going to put them at the low end because of where I had the other team. So, six in the division. I agree with you guys both and that’s a bad sign for us that means they’re going to win the division. But I I you know I look at the Wild and I look at the Blues and I go here’s two teams that have done it and when I’m doing these predictions I always look at it like okay but have you done it yet? They have not done it yet. The Wild and Blues have. I think the Wild are better than what they showed last year if they’re healthy. The Blues are surprising. We’ll see where they finish. Utah in sixth until otherwise. But man, I think the future’s bright in Utah for the Mammoth. So that is your Utah Mammoth season preview.

Steve Dangle, Adam Wylde and Jesse Blake preview the 2025 Utah Mammoth. Will they make the playoffs this season? How will J.J. Peterka slot into this lineup? Find out all that and more here!

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