AHL Votes this Week on Tucson Relocation & How Valuable is Schmaltz to NHL Utah?
coming back from the weekend the AHL Board of Governors are set to vote on the road runners later this week what to know about that also let’s get to know you’re some of your players again we talk Nick schaltz on today’s episode of Locked on NHL in Utah you are locked on NHL in Utah your daily podcast on all things hockey in Utah part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day welcome to the show everybody this is locked on NHL in Utah your daily podcast on the NHL in Utah I’m your host Robin leano alongside Tom Callahan today’s episode brought to you by Fu will make every more right now new customers get $150 in bonus Bets with any winning $5 bet that’s 150 bucks with any winning $5 bet visit fel.com lockon to get started we’re coming back from weekend hope everyone had a good uh uh weekend I think it’s technically I think today is still like the last of your three-day weekend if you uh celebrate if if you’re you know living here in the states which I know most of you listeners are um so let’s let’s get let’s get into it though Tom because the over the weekend and something that I kind of prepped for on Thursday’s episode um when talking about the g- league situation for the Suns but it gets it even a little bit more because the AHL Board of Governors will apparently be voting on The Road Runner situation later this week on May 30th yeah it’s a really interesting situation right now for the AHL Tucson road runners and you know Robin you and I have touched on it before where the road runners even back to my tenure with the coyotes had talked about trying to get out of Tucson uh and I think the plan always was that eventually the coyotes would get a new building in Arizona they would stay there the road runners would move up and fulfill the lease in mullet Arena well now the interesting uh thing that kicks in there’s a gap between what the marello ownership Group which still owns this road runners team wants to see happen and you know knowing that behind the scenes there’s already been you know talk for years about uh that team and how disgruntled the the former coyote St office was in cases with Tucson which personally me being boots on the ground in Tucson I never saw the reason for but that was just the talk uh that there was a lot of dissatisfaction for whatever reason uh and some of it was building related but um getting past all of that but knowing that is important because to get the road runners out of that lease uh is a little sticky right now um they do have Provisions in the lease in Tucson to play up to five games at a different site the marello ownership group wants the road runners to play I believe it is 14 games at mullet Arena so there’s a gap there and that’s what has to be approved by the AHL Board of gr Governors but here’s the thing even if the AHL Board of Governors approves to let them play all of those games or however many games at mullet Arena which I think ideally the road runners or and Marella’s ownership group wants to play everything at mullet I don’t think they want to be in tucon anymore period but it’s can they get out of that lease and regardless of what the Board of Governors votes yes or no contractually legally will there be a battle from the City of Tucson will there be a battle from the marello group will there be a battle from because remember there’s still contractual obligations at mullet yeah that are now not going to be filled so there’s a lot of stickiness here um and more than one set of feelings will be hurt in the proceedings but Tucson wants this team they have spent money on that Arena they have upgraded it uh they brought facilities up to an AHL level and they feel like they have sunk the money into it plus hockey wise they are losing their other primary tenant the University of Arizona which in a couple of years will have its own building so in the meantime if the road runers are not there I’m sure U OFA would be pleased because they’d be top dog again but if they’re not there um and Arizona’s leaving soon that’s a big loss for the the Tucson Convention Center and so I know the TCC is going to do and by extension Rio noo which for those who don’t know you’re reading about Rio noo Rio noo is a uh a group of folks local business people put together they work with the city they are not city employees but they work with the city to bring things like road runners hockey to downtown and try to improve the downtown core and make Tucson you know a more friendly place and a more acceptable place to live and and you know bring amenities to the area it’s not just hockey but that’s what Rio noo focuses on they have a board of directors they were very heavily involved with the road runners in the beginning I had a lot of meetings at Rio noo uh when we were setting up that road runnner hockey team so we’ll see we’ll see how well um you know it’s going to go first of all and the first hurdle is as you mentioned on the 30th the vote if that’s a yes or a no there are dominoes that will fall either way from that and so I mean Robin this is interesting stuff and let’s remember it has to be like a a quote like super majority of those uh of the AG Board of Governors I believe it’s uh 24 of 32 24 of 32 exactly so it’s that’s a significant amount that has to vote in favor of this in favor of this uh and it’s a and is a very tricky subject to talk on because again you have the tuon fans who I very from my discussion are very you know very upset um although here’s the interesting thing is there are there is a select few who who have said you know what like with the alternative being that gone forever from Tucson like it’s a half win I guess I mean ideally that’s they said ideally they don’t leave at all especially when you’re splitting with between two between two cities by the way if you’re those that aren’t inclined of everything that happens here in Arizona uh Tucson and Tempe even outside of the uh the university life I think it kind of because it’s so tight in those two cities overall hate each other yes there’s that um there is the Tucson has the little brother syndrome with Phoenix is the big brother and they don’t want to be like big brother Tucson Prides on being different and being separate from Phoenix uh and they do a lot of things and and this is a whole other kettle of fish but they do things differently on purpose sometimes to the detriment I think of the City of Tucson but the city wants them to stay the Rio noo board wants them to stay um I don’t think the marela group group wants them to stay I think they want out of Tucson they have a lease for two more years now I don’t know what the Clauses are to get out of that lease at this point uh and how Ironclad that is if there are ways but um the only and and it was interesting reading some of the different viewpoints I I read from a bunch of different media markets uh Robin the thought process one of the things I read talking from the Utah perspective KSL was talking about wanting this team eventually to become the Grizzlies in the American Hockey League now right now the Grizzlies are in the coast but it was say and I don’t know if they were saying on their own or if this is something they kind of brought in from somewhere else and by the way everybody is doing this out west they’re kind of having their teams almost inhouse in this case they wouldn’t be they’d be in the same town playing in a different Arena Allah Las Vegas right right uh so Vegas has you know the the Henderson uh silver Knights Vegas is right there Henderson’s a suburb if you didn’t know that um It’s that kind of thing now the bar Barracuda and San Jose are moving into their own building they used to play in the same building it saves teams millions of dollars to have that same town for their development team so um it makes sense that Utah would want that eventually uh but that was the first I’d actually heard of it mentioned and of course if that’s going to happen does marello sell that team too and in the meantime he has hasn’t which I thought was interesting that it wasn’t part of the sale which is I think maybe a part of it has to deal with the hope that the coyotes return the coyotes 2.0 in some capacity five years down the road um it does leave to a tricky situation on the affiliation because the Assumption will probably be that the road runners if they’re still around will still you know will return to being the Coyote’s affiliate and that’s something something I mentioned on Thursday’s episode uh and that’s kind of where where what you mentioned comes into play is do you get a a situation like the Colorado Eagles who Pro promoted from the ECHL up to the AHL to be the uh the Avalanche AHL affiliate do you see like so do do you see the same thing with Utah does the G do the Grizzlies do that um well that franch has to come from somewhere at the AHL level there’s only 32 AHL franchises now whether they’re dormant or they’re fulled or they’re taken back by the league or sold there’s 32 so if you were to see that Utah might purchase that team down the road that would necessitate then the future coyotes as a 33rd NHL team if that happens then needing a 33rd AHL team uh so right now the way the NHL wants it is one to one to one down to the ECHL level as well now it doesn’t always work out that way even in the American Hockey League there’s some shared affiliations um it’s like baseball I mean sometimes you just don’t like your parent Club so you know everybody’s got a different philosophy but um that is kind of how it works um with with Affiliated hockey and so you’re right you bring up a lot of good questions what is going to happen in the future uh are they hanging on just in case which would then necessitate the Utah ownership group buying an eventual 33rd AHL team if they wanted it inhouse or someone else could purchase a franchise locate it somewhere uh maybe even in Salt Lake and it would just be separately owned but you would have the affiliation agreement then with Utah NHL you know what’s interesting and I know um we are running a little bit out on on this segment before we get to get to a break but I do want to mention this is uh I I kind of made a call out to some of our listeners here uh and one of the the couple of the suggestions came in on potential sites for an AHL affiliate for uh for this team um and one of the ones that was not mentioned on anywhere else that someone said said hey why not take a look at it and is you know is St George Utah you’re getting close to that Vegas area but try to take since it’s Utah you want to be able to see if if you you can take those take that market of fans with you uh as a certain possibility it’s not that not that farfetched of an idea uh obviously the Grizzlies and or you know having the Grizzlies move up the biggest was like the most popular idea out there but there’s there’s many different ways you can take a look at it and ideally probably that they stay in state right and you would or at least that they’re close um and you know an hour or two preferably by a car ride because you can’t always get flights um you know it it was interesting there were some teams that had affiliations much further away and some still do uh from where the teams located in call-ups take half a day to a day to happen and when you have somebody go down and morning skate to injury you can’t fill that spot that quickly in the Pro Club so and some teams don’t max out their contracts at the NHL level you can have two guys signed but you don’t necessarily end up you know having them all called up at the same time because then you’re paying them you’re paying a AHL salary and if you’re budget conscious you’re carrying probably one plus the Max uh so if you’re dressing 18 and two that’s 20 you might have 21 not 22 or 23 so it’s all it’s all different um you know once you get to that NHL level but yes ideally and that’s why I talk about like the Barracuda it was great you pack your bag and walk down the hall you know uh or even in the case of the Ontario rain getting to LA or the San Diego gulls going to Anaheim or Tucson going to Phoenix couple hours you know wasn’t that wasn’t that bad of a scenario especially in the west travel is a big consideration in the west because it’s not a bus league in the West in the Northeast it is but the American Hockey League is a a most of the time you’re flying out west very much so let’s let let’s continue this conversation later this week maybe we can talk about it more as we get closer to that that AHL Board of Governor’s Vote or maybe even after that vote when we know a little bit more of the of all the details but we do got to talk a little bit more about Nick schaltz and we’ll talk about Nick schaltz let you guys get kind of get you guys a load on on what to expect from uh from him for Utah we’ll talk about that right after this and today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel with winner take all time in the NBA and NHL and FanDuel is giving you a shot to bring home a win of your own right now new customers get $150 in bonus Bets with any winning $5 bet that’s 150 bucks to bet on spreads money Lions player props and more just like picking the Dallas Stars to win the Stanley Cup or even whoever you want to win the NBA visit fanduel.com lockon to make every playoff shot count FanDuel America’s number one sports book let’s keep things rolling on today’s episode of lockdown NHL in Utah Robin leano and Tom Callan Tom let’s let’s move on um from you know from that uh discussion of the of the situation for Tucson it’s it’s always great especially since you know you and I that’s that’s how that that’s what we know we know all that stuff that happens down there but but let’s talk about Nick schaltz because I feel like a lot of people want to talk about who these core players are we talked about Clayton Keller last week um people seem to be pretty excited for him there’s a lot of discussion some people said hey let’s give let’s let’s maybe give Clayton Keller the captaincy but let’s talk up a little bit more of what many many in Arizona have considered uh Clayton Keller’s right-hand man these two the player who is always attached at Keller’s hip in Nick schms yep Schmaltz uh is an American kid uh you know came up through Chicago was drafted 20th overall by the Hawks ended up traded to Arizona and uh has really been when he’s healthy um he’s been very good and want talk about fantasy hockey for a second he is a guy who can play both Center and Wing gets a little extra value there in your Yahoo League or your FanDuel if you’re picking you know you can do some some looks into that I mean it’s uh so it’s kind of neat to have a guy who can be a bit of a a Swiss army knife as a forward um not quite a point of game this past year you’re GNA see a lot of minuses on this coyotes team he’s going to be one of them um I don’t think he’s a guy that you’re going to talk a lot about his defense and it’s an aspect of the game that I think he knows he needs to improve on does try to get better at but again trying to stay healthy is key for Nick schaltz and last year for the most part he did that 79 games that number to me is extremely important I’m glad to see that he was in there most of the time cap hits not too bad 5.85 um he is Cash heavy this is the second year of his deal uh which uh is going to run out all the way through uh or sorry uh this is uh yeah so this year he’s coming into 2425 I have to remind myself of that Robin it’s not 23 24 anymore uh but so this year in his deal it’s uh eight almost eight and a half million cash uh so it’s not the cheaper part of the deal but again that cap hit is what matters for a lot of teams remember how we talked about uh just the other week about how for some teams what matters is the cash out if you’re a budget team you can take a guy with a cap hit if you’re Utah NHL because you have cap space but if you’re paying him very little that’s to your advantage doesn’t matter that the cap hits 5 million if the cash outlay this year is a million you’re $4 million to the good as far as your actual per strings go so things like that do matter yeah and that’s why that’s why H so many people absolutely loved those front loaded contracts right know those many years ago um which has changed a lot you know in the last in the last decade but it’s still you still see them every now and then um but you talked about this situation yeah this is a you know an expensive year for his you know for his contract but he still made himself worth it I want to say it’s interesting that you brought up his health because I think a lot of uh NHL fans a lot of hockey fans in general just can remember his earlier years is like before he left Chicago and right right he joined Arizona and where he just could not stay healthy forgot what those injuries were at the time we’re talking you know almost a decade ago at this point but it’s yeah had a lot of a lot of issues a lot of issues that just could that just kept coming back he has just been getting healthier since then which is a good thing as you said those 79 games versus I think 63 in the previous so that’s a good sign if you’re if you’re a Utah fan you want a guy like Nick SCH to stay healthy um because he’s only been getting better actually you take a look at his points I feel like even despite his injury situation he still stays consistent when it comes to his point production and think that’s the thing that you should look at the most well and the other thing too with with Schmaltz and I I look at his playoff production it was only with Chicago and I I want to mention that because again since the trade over um this has been kind of a rough go for him and back in 2223 I know he also you know struggled with uh staying healthy as well and you know you look at all right well what kind of numbers you really going to put up here and the problem is for schmalz is when he’s healthy and he’s on a line with guys who can score which he has been and we talked about you know Schmaltz he’s at times I’m gonna use the word dynamic for Nick Schmaltz he can make things happen uh and it’s fun to watch him when he’s able to get through uh you know defenses and and kind of knife through create Havoc make plays um I don’t mind that he shoots the puck I wish he would shoot the puck a little more and believe it or not in today’s NHL I think we say that about a lot of players I wish they’d shoot more um but you know what uh he’s he’s a dynamic player when he’s on uh and part of being on is being healthy uh and I think again with schmalz plus he’s he’s getting you know into the more experienced veteran role now with this coyotes team he is part of the leadership group uh that’s a very important aspect for him and he has to lead by example now this is a franchise that Utah fans from day one are going to expect to turn the corner and be in competition for a playoff spot and Robin I believe that too these guys should be knocking on the door for a playoff spot this year and if they’re not that is not acceptable to me there’s a lot of pressure on this Utah roster by extension there’s a lot of pressure on Schmaltz but he can produce I would love to see him get into that 80 90 point range if possible and honestly I believe that’s what it’s going to take guy gets almost 20 minutes of ice a night last year I think he was at 1911 uh toi average so he really has to be able to put more than 60 points up and I think that that goes for that entire Top Line yeah and I feel like that there that that definitely I want to kind of tie that in with uh something you mentioned earlier in the sense that you know he’s that he’s that Dynamic that he can play both you know wing and Center I feel like ideally you you know if if you look at the way he’s played he stays on the wing we’ve made I’ve made the joke in the past multiple times I think in the very early days of lck on coyotes is uh is having uh is where he said you know if you have Nick schaltz as your number one Center it feels like you have an issue of depth but if you have him as a number one you know as your top Wing alongside Clayton carer and let’s say Logan for example is your number one number one Center year or two down the road like that seems like that that would seem like a point like a point Juggernaut we’re talking offensive Jugger not there that would definitely work um I have always liked Nick schaltz on the wing I’m not sure your opinion on that but I feel like he’s that’s where he seems more comfortable at and that’s where it seems that uh there seems to be a lot better Point production for uh for that Top Line the reason why I think players do better sometimes on the wing than at Center is because they don’t have that added defensive responsibility uh the center is always the first guy back after the defenseman are back the next guy on the back check has got to be the center uh the wings can occasionally pick up slack if the center gets caught deep but the primary responsibility is as a third defending player uh when the puck goes the other way I think Schmaltz is a little freewheeling for that um you know I think that that’s and that’s part of being the playmaker right and and you know you take chances when you’re trying to be Dynamic you take chances uh and I think that you know I I look at his point progression and it’s gone up but and you talk about Seasons hampered by injury with him I mean last year 79 games it’s only the third time in his whole career he’s cracked 70 the last time he did it was 1920 and hit exactly 70 and he only did it once with the Hawks 1718 he played 78 everything else has been severely limited for him and so you know you look the last three seasons 63 63 550 part of that is staying healthy uh and those those last two 63o seasons he was actually a little closer to a point a game 59 and 58 points this year 16 more games but only two and three more points he ended up with 61 so I think you you want that Dynamic to increase uh the shooting percentage actually kind of came back to Earth a little bit but it’s still pretty good 13.9 that’s not bad uh but here here’s the other thing that I think was big about Schmaltz and this is something we have to talk about his contribution to special teams 21 Power Play points this year 10 of those were Power Play Goals like he’s able to put the puck in the net on special teams Coyote’s actually had a very good power play last season so this Utah NHL team this year special teams uh I think is going to be incredibly important because that’s what keeps them in games and it’s kind of funny they were always lurking they were always kind of around this wasn’t really a team that got blown out at all they just found ways to hung around and sometimes they find ways to scratch out those wins but again I need more production out of this Top Line whether it’s five on five or on a power play situation and that and I think that’s certainly going to be the goal hopefully when you know once training camp hits that that’s kind of the focus and again we talked about who’s on that Top Line you know it’s I think no doubt the Winger the wings have always you know H has been and seems to it will be for a while and Keller and schaltz like I said those two are attached at the hip the question is who do they really decide to be at that Topline Center do they give it to kie or do they give it to somebody else who do who do they think is going to complement those two players the most to make sure that they stay Dynamic well I think you would give a look uh but I also think and this I don’t want to say this is going to be an unpopular opinion but it might be um free agency there’s not a top five Center in the league available however you can get a very good Center who on some other teams might be a two uh C but can fill in on that Top Line what you’re really looking for is in my opinion a guy who can one of two things if if schmalz is going to be on the wing and going to run around and be dynamic and try to create plays and then you’ve got you know Keller over there as well but you know are do you want someone who’s going to bring you know the shovel and the hard hat and do all the hard work and just try to get the puck to those guys and let them Freewheel or do you want someone who’s a little more defensive minded to let them Freewheel like what what are you looking for in that one C spot and I think that that is the hardest thing to get right the chemistry on the ice and the distribution of responsibilities across the lines but honestly I would probably be looking for a really really good good two-way Center to slot in between those two guys and that certainly is the I think would be the ideal thing to look for because again you know there you know you have two offensive Minds you need someone who at least has a little bit of Def who has that extra defensive cap capability otherwise the teams you know that Top Line sure they might be strong offensively but they’ll fit like you’ll see that like and like I said I I’m not a huge fan of plus minus but you can still use it as a tool you see it if they’re getting like like Nick schaltz for a minus 16 again like you could see that there are some issues with possession right and and again we’re talking about a guy who had 61 points 21 of those points are on the power play so he only had 40 points at five on five this year that’s got to be higher it has to be you’re right uh how how like how exactly are you gonna see his his his production this this year at Utah like we’ve we talked a little bit about what we’ve seen from him already and how we can expect it but what what do you hope to see like his like maybe what’s a point total you want to see from from schmalz this year uh maybe even just like something that might be a more uh abstract statline or in about him what do you want to see from schmalz this year I I want to see a couple of things uh number one I want to see the Power Play points continue uh I think that that this Utah NHL team’s power play will be very good he’s a big part of it uh and if he stays healthy I expect that he now needs to raise his game to about a point aame level uh you’re a first round pick I know 20th overall is not the panach of a top three but um you’re still a highly talented highly skilled individual and you’re now a veteran guy on a team that needs more scoring that role falls on your shoulders and so to me specifically five on five I want to see those numbers improve I want to see the plus minus up uh the shooting percentage as I said was not bad it’s actually come down he was almost shooting 20% a couple of years ago that’s almost unheard of to sustain that at all um but he really does need to to Really find that effort at the five on five uh situations and I think that again depending on who the center is that slots in on that line um you know do you whether you go free agency or not I mean no matter who ends up there they have to increase the level of assuredness at five on five because clearly you put out you know a different line against the other team’s Top Line if you can but when you’re getting the attention of the other team’s top defensive pairing the other teams you know best Checkers best four Checkers you know best you know just guys at being annoying and playing defense and keeping you off the score sheet you’ve got to continue to improve and I think that’s the name of the game for Nick schaltz is I think he’s got another level in there somewhere we just need to see it last week when we were talking about Clayton Keller we we mentioned uh Keller being among the top names uh for you know to receive the c patch um I’m not saying we’re you know we talk about the same thing or maybe we can like is the conversation is there a conversation started with schala do you see it or do you see him just essentially having you know sticking with the a for the foreseeable future yeah I I mean again us not being in that dressing room makes it a little bit more difficult to know um certainly the guys in the room will have their opinions about that but at least as far as what we’ve seen outwardly what we have seen from you know being around that team and from I don’t I don’t have a problem with him having a letter by any means I just don’t think he’s the cap which I which is interesting because I feel like that has been the consensus just among the media that’s begin like you said it’s been there for a little bit um I think so many of us as we mentioned on last week’s EP last week’s episode is in this situation it really is like a Keller or Krauss maybe maybe you can find someone else but I think just at least out of the existing players those two names are the only two that I feel like are the uh are the only two viable and what talk about Krauss a little bit more probably later this week and uh kind of dive deep into why that’s the case but it just seems that that’s that I mean sure I mean I feel like an a he at least deserves he’s been he’s been the team for a long time enough and you never know they might just run with a bunch of A’s this year and not even award to see which I’m not a fan of but I mean lately that’s been a thing with teams I don’t know I I would like to see somebody actually have a sea on their sweater it’s always nice to have a single like like a single person to wear the C letter because it’s more of like sure like we talk about a lot more responsibility that that player is going to that that player is going to receive and it might put a lot of pressure on that player but from the from the perspective of looking at us it’s like you want somebody that like anyone can talk to any moment like you can say like this is the guy to talk to you have any issues this is your guy to talk to and and that’s I think the situation why we want to see a captain then yeah you can have that Captain by Community with uh with a bunch of rotating alternates but then there’s no true you know Point Guy s to speak there’s no true person that you want to be that you can say I feel most comfortable talking with this person because they’re gon because they’re there full-time right right I agree I I think it’s important to have that that guy there who’s uh who’s you know been identified and again I mean whether the coach chooses it the GM chooses it the players in the room choos it whoever picks the captain that’s fine I don’t I don’t really care about the process I just think you need one yeah which by the way I want I do want to address that because someone did comment on that last episode and said hey it’s the players that choose it not the coaches well that’s only partially correct some teams do that some teams some teams have it where the coach and GM do it by committee or it’s just the coach it really is it really does depend on on the organization I Robin I worked with a coach who shall remain nameless but uh he said the players will vote but I will assign the captain that’s I mean that I mean that works I guess I mean that’s that that’s that that just tells you an idea that it’s it’s it’s not always the players the players may have a vote they may have a say and certainly they do have a say yeah but some coaches just say I know my players and I know more importantly the coach as the leader of the X’s and O’s as well as the psychology of the room knows the guy that he wants to get his message across and just because the players vote for one guy doesn’t mean the coach wants that guy as his Emissary so you got to think about that too because you also got to remember that that that player is is not just the point guy in the locker room but also maybe the goet between the players and the coach and maybe also just that quote face of the team the one that’s going to be looking that’s that’s kind of that that first man that everyone looks to um even that fans will look to um for this for the team yeah and I mean some guys handle it better than other some guys cannot handle it some guys put undue pressure on themselves to be a captain uh whatever in their mind that means and it doesn’t always work out for the best so yeah you really do have to make a careful choice because a bad choices Captain if you get to a point where you have to take that c away it just which just happened and that turn that that causes a lot of ter it’s such such a a Ruckus when that happens and you just it’s unfortunate when it does um you know whether the captain loses it because of his play on the ice off the ice whatever it is his conduct or his lack of leadership or just you know a loss of Confidence from the coach uh or the players whatever it can a million things but you just have to Choose Wisely yeah anything I didn’t ask that maybe that you feel like we should highlight about about Nicks well so just to go back to cap implications um one thing I thought was interesting so uh he is in the no movement um portion of his contract now which kicked in last season after this he’s got one more year next year and again it’s 5.85 on the cap hit cash due this year uh is 8 .45 next year it’s 8.5 so keep in mind knowing that the cap hit is reasonable but because of the cash outlay he’s not really a tradable asset uh so you do have to build with him and around him which I I don’t mind to me that’s not a huge deal um but again you know last year being the dash 16 the five on five play suffered it was his worst year plus minus um the other thing too that you you keep in mind with a guy like this who’s 28 so his contract uh will be good this year the next year is year 29 I don’t like buying players past the age of maybe 32 so here’s the the flip side for Schmaltz this year and next year Robin he is playing for his final impactful career deal now he’s going to be looking at age 30 I guarantee you for five six years he’s going to want security again so ideally this is a player who puts his best gate forward for the next couple of years you get Dynamic production out of him he’ll get paid at the end of it whether it’s by you or somebody else uh or becomes a tradable asset at the end of next season at the so spring of 26 um but man this is just it’s a critical juncture in his career for him players Peak at about 27 28 years old this is where I think you’re gonna see Peak Nick SCH Nick Schmaltz and it has to be again just a rebound of the five on five for him this year but the the potential is there for the next two years to be an absolute wildbride for him and I think a lot of that really can just really depend on the uh on on The Supporting Cast I feel like that you know The Supporting Cast is what really helps Nick Schmaltz and or all the people on top on the top lines really uh well that said I feel like we can close things off as we approach uh you know the close to the 40 minute Mark we a little bit longer we normally do but you know that’s okay we uh we had we had a really good conversation I feel like we would hate to take take away much of what we talked about today um out so you guys get it you guys get a little bit extended episode today um I heads up guys later this week we’re gonna talk with uh with T Ferrari of uh um another Prospect expert we’re going to talk about it maybe a specific Prospect you guys want to know so we can say hey who’s coming up for in this upcoming draft specifically we we’ve already know some of the players that Utah might be targeting let’s dive a little bit deeper maybe get get get to know one of these players we we’ll do that with with uh with Tony Ferrari coming up later this week but that’s it for today’s episode I’ve locked on NHL in Utah if you like what you heard don’t to leave a review leave a leave a like a comment subscribe if you have yet to already we’re available everywhere you get your podcast including on YouTube serus XM also ad free listening on Amazon music don’t forget to interact with us on social media we are on the app formerly known as Twitter now known as X lore NHL Utah I am robbinor leano you can follow Tom Calahan on air interact with us ask the question we might answer right back on a future episode of the locked on NHL in Utah podcast thanks again everyone for listening to today’s episode and we’ll see you all next time
Robyn and Tom discuss the pending AHL Board of Governors Vote on the Tucson Roadrunners partial relocation. What does this mean for Tucson Hockey, for Arizona Hockey, and for Utah Hockey? PLUS, what value does Nick Schmaltz bring to the table in Utah? How does Schmaltz fit into Utah’s first forward line? We’ve all seen his capabilities when healthy but what still lacks? With just 2 years remaining his current contract, can we expect prime Nick Schmaltz this year?
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