Cole Bagley: Thoughts on JJ Peterka Trade and NHL Draft Preview
the sports you love The teams you can’t live without You have a sense of urgency This is Jake Scott and Ben Anderson on 975 the KSL Sports Zone Jake and Ben 975 the KSL Sports Zone You can win big every Wednesday on the KSL Sports Zone with Win Ticket Wednesday this win uh ticket this Wednesday win tickets to uh the uh the Sandman Adam Sandler the you’re my best friend tour October 26th at the Delta Center Tickets go on sale uh today at noon or you could listen all day next Wednesday for your chance to win We are live at the XG Games Find out all the info you need xgames.com We’re super stoked to be here It’s going to be a huge huge weekend Uh Ben I had you do this for Bartle Let’s have you do it for our next guest If if what event would best fit Cole Bagley
let’s see Cole is super cool He’s super reserved I don’t mean like you know quiet but Cole Cole keeps it keeps it calm I’m going to go with I’ll go with Vert I’ll Steve said he thought but you got to be a kind of a cool calm demeanor Those guys actually aren’t the the wild people
See I was thinking like the the uh what do they call it the the street events
Okay Uh because don’t you have to be kind of cool to pick your different things and don’t you have to like strategize it so you get the most in at the right time
you have to be a little bit of a lunatic Those guys are crazy Those guys are truly crazy And Cole’s not
Well Cole likes hockey I mean hockey is not the sest sport in the world Uh he covers the Utah Mammoth for kslports.com He’s our buddy Cole Bagley What’s going on Cole happy draft day
Yeah same to you I think Ben nailed it there I’m Yeah I do love hockey but that’s about as crazy as I get Uh Cole I I get the feeling that Bill Armstrong feels like a kid in a candy store I feel like he got the shackles off uh and he’s walking out of the pipe from uh Shaw Shank Redemption and he raises his arms in the air and now all of a sudden he can he can actually do things and spend money and make moves that benefit the team because my understanding is Arizona was just so restrictive and the ownership group just did not allow him to go and make big moves and make big swings Everything was about getting smaller trading away your good players getting more things for the future And now they’re going out and making huge trades days before the draft They did the same thing last year when they got male Sergev They’ve got the number four overall pick They just feel like they’re in an extraordinarily advantageous position
Yeah I mean Bill Armstrong’s been let loose and uh you know actually was thinking about it this morning Um Arizona never would have traded Josh Stone Never Um but you know now that this organization’s in Utah and they’re looking to compete you know tough decisions have to be made And you know if if you want to get a great player well you’re going to have to give up you know a sizable package um you know to go and get that guy And that’s what they did in acquiring JJ Purka was you know giving up Josh Stone and Michael Ker I do think that you know Utah you know off off of you know first glance um initial reaction that Utah did win that trade you know but they they did have to give up you know a legacy guy in Josh Stone And like I said Arizona would have never done that But now you know now that the the shackles are off like you said Bill is is just feasting You know he is making deals left and right He is improving this team seems like every week whether that’s you know bringing up you know his uh former draft picks you know Denil boot and Demetri Simichev you know whether that’s you know being uh blessed by the hockey gods with the fourth overall selection or making trades like he did to to acquire Purka You know Utah has arguably the most momentum of any team in the National Hockey League um you know maybe aside from the Florida Panthers who just can’t stop winning but in terms of younger teams who are trying to establish themselves as as you know contenders down the road you know Utah’s definitely up there You mentioned that uh the Mammoth won the Peter trade Dive into that a little bit uh uh more You know why is uh why is that why are they coming out on the best side and what is he going to bring on the ice yeah I mean if you look at if you just Google JJ Purka and you look at all the headlines whether it’s ESPN the Athletic Sports Net uh NHL Network everybody is saying that Utah won this trade And I think I think they’re right You know obviously it takes years to really break it down and see who won the trade but off just the initial you know knee-jerk reaction it looks like Utah won this because you gave up you know Josh Don who Yeah He’s he’s a good player You know he’s he’s got a lot of heart He you know he he’s got a very complete 200 foot game but it was almost like you know when you look at the roster where does Josh Don fit in here you know that this was a guy that was you know not seeing as many minutes you know he was stuck on that third line And not that that was a bad fit for him but what what did the future look like you know h how was Josh Stone going to contribute to this team um and then you look at a guy like Michael Kessering good defenseman uh but not an asset that you couldn’t afford to lose especially with bringing up Dmitri Simichev and you’ve got Maverick Lamaru down in Tucson This team is totally fine and set in terms of their you know defensive depth Um obviously as long as everybody stays healthy and they don’t repeat what happened last season Um but in terms of what JJ Purka brings this is a guy that is 23 years old He had 68 points a season ago careerh highs in both goals and assists and has continued to just improve every year uh you know from from once he when he took uh he made his NHL debut You know over the last two seasons he’s seen a 36 point increase 18 points each season Um and it just kind of looks like sky’s is the limit for this guy And so you’re you’re you’re adding another player to your forwards who’s going to fulfill exactly what you need You know Bill Armstrong said you know once the once the offseason start for the Mammoth they need size and they need scoring Well they got their size in Denil Boot Demetri Simichev and now they’ve got their scoring in JJ Purka And so you know this this team you know where they’re at even now I think is a playoff team And they’re still not done I still think there’s moves to be made I still think there’s acquisitions to be had Uh but they’re definitely bridging that gap uh for an organization that was only eight points out from a playoff spot Now that you’ve added Purka and these these young prospects you have the fourth overall pick You can you can keep it you can trade it and there’s still free agency ahead of you next week I think this team is is you know not not I don’t know if I necessarily see them dominating the division but I definitely think that you know I think your floor is a wild card spot for sure
Uh Cole before we get to the draft quickly on Purka if he’s moving into one of those top two lines whose job is he taking who is he pushing out well I mean I think Bill was smart to do this because Utah has they’ve got a quite a few players that are that are going out the door right you’re losing um a couple guys to free agency that they don’t plan on bringing back and that’s Carone that’s Nick Bugstead that’s Robert Bortuzo I know that they’re looking to trade Matias Machelli Um and so you know the second line was an interesting one for Utah last season It was almost a revolving door you know they tried everything and everybody to figure out that line So I don’t know that he’s necessarily taking anybody’s job Um you know like I said that line was was constantly moving around It was always you know inserting guys and and switching them out So I don’t know that he’s necessarily stealing anybody’s job Uh but it’ll be interesting to see does he fit on the top line does he fit on the second line now now what I would expect is to start the season he’s probably on that second line And I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s Nick Schmaltz Barrett Hayden and JJ Purka on that second line while you have Clayton Keller Logan Coulie and Dylan Gunther on the top Now of course like I said lines are ever changing but that’s what I would expect going into the season So let’s get into the draft a little bit What do you think uh I know we’re going to hear the best player available cliche all night but what are actually the needs for the Mammoth do you think that they need to address well you know I think that you know stereotypical answer of taking the best player available that really kind of rings true in the NHL just like it does in Major League Baseball right you know these are guys that are going to go and develop for a few more years before they’re ready to jump up to the big club Um and so you know you take that best player available because you don’t know necessarily what you’re going to need two or three years down the road Uh but with that being said size and centerman are you know are are really tough to come by in the NHL Um especially you know top six centermen And so I anticipate that that’s what Utah’s looking at That’s what a lot of people are kind of speculating and reporting on um here you know here in the last few hours before we do see who uh who they pick And so I I would keep an eye on guys like Caleb Deoy Jake O’Brien maybe Brady Martin think four is is a little high for both those players Uh but as well you know if you’re simply just looking for size a guy like Porter Martone comes to my mind You know he’s had comparisons to the the Kachchuck brothers He’s 6’3 He’s got a lot of individual brilliance And the same thing with with Caleb Denoier Now Marton is a winger Denoier is a center but I think those are really the two that I think will be available uh when Utah is on the clock And I would expect them to be heavily considering those players just given their positions their you know their size They’re both big guys and just how good they are offensively
How confident are you that they make the fourth pick i would probably say 80 somewhere between 70 and 80% Um not because they’re hesitant to make the pick Um but just given um you know Bill’s uh mindset you know he told us yesterday after we talked to him about the the Purka deal that look anything anything’s on the table Um we are you know that Utah is constantly looking to improve their roster and doing whatever it takes Now obviously you know they’re not going to move guys like Kulie or Gunther you know Sergeev or Keller or something like that But I do believe that if an organization jumped on the phone and became really desperate and said “Look we’ve got this player he fits your timeline he can help you now he can play now he doesn’t necessarily fit our team.” Similar to what we just saw with Purka where he wanted out of Buffalo and he didn’t fit you know didn’t fit the fit that organization anymore so they gave him up That to me is the type of deal that Utah would have to be approached with in order for them to move off the forced selection So uh I think it’s more dependent on how desperate you know teams are to to maybe jump into that top five and if there’s a guy that they really like Um but with that being said I I do think that Utah does just end up making this election Cole I know I’ve asked you questions like this uh in the past but I think it’s helpful as we have fans out there that are getting to know uh hockey a little bit better but you know if they do keep the pick for make the pick you know how long is the timeline of development until they’re producing for the Mammoth at Delta Center yeah I mean generally unless you’re the first overall selection you’re going back to the juniors or you’re going back to college Um and you know sometimes the second and third pick you know can can be that good It depends on the class You know with with the 2025 draft class I do anticipate that the first overall selection uh who I believe is going to be Matthew Schaefer will probably play in the NHL this year Um you know and then given the fact that San Jose and Chicago um are both you know very bad teams who have a lot of youth I wouldn’t be shocked to see uh you know whoever they whoever they pick whether that’s Michael Misa Anton Fondell James Hagens you know I think those guys are going to have a chance to play But for Utah um you know it’s a it’s a good draft class It’s not a great draft class And I think when you get to four and just given the fact that Utah has so many young players on their roster already and they already have a deep prospect pool I don’t I don’t suspect that this is this is a player that you’re going to see for probably a year two maybe even three It just depends on you know how they develop because these guys are 17 years old You know a lot of them weigh 170 you know 170 to 180 pounds you know they’re not ready to go up against the the the Brady Kachchucks of the world the the Sam Bennetts who you know are well over 200 pounds and you know standing you know between six and you know 63 64 So um I think it’s it’s probably two seasons away from from seeing this guy play Do you get the impression that you know the big splash has been made by the Utah Mammoth or do you think even after adding Purka that there’s maybe a major move still in the pipeline
i think the biggest splash has been made Um you know given how much cap space they have remaining I believe it’s about $15 million Uh which is a good amount but you have to uh remember they have to extend Logan Culie And yeah his contract doesn’t that new extension doesn’t kick in until next season but you have to consider that Now obviously you know the the uh the cap is going up which is which bodess well Uh but I think with with the extension that they signed up Purka to the fact that they have to extend Logan Culie they want to extend Jack McBain I don’t think that you’re going to see Utah in any of the major sweep stakes for guys like Mitch Mner or Sam Bennett or or even you know Nicola Ellers or Brock Besser I think those conversations have maybe gone away Uh but I don’t I wouldn’t be surprised if we see another you know decent splash in terms of moving the fourth overall pick or you know maybe finding another trade or you know maybe there’s been a lot of reports that Utah is interested in adding a guy like Brad Marshian um as a veteran to this squad and and I I know that there’s a lot of people that go well that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense but I think you know in my mind a guy like Brad Marshian would be a perfect veteran contract to take on because if you listen to Bill Armstrong this team is not going to be competing for Stanley Cups for probably four or five years You know Kulie and Gunther and and Purka they’re all in their their early 20s And as as Armstrong said you’re not competing until you’re 27 28 29 Um and so there’s there’s a few there’s there’s experience to be had You know this is a team that hasn’t even made the playoffs for a long time So if you could bring in a guy like Brad Marshian yeah he’s 37 but if you could sign him to a two or threeear deal and you allow a guy to come in who yeah he’s a smaller player but he plays so big and he’s so obnoxious and he knows what it takes to win and he can teach your younger players like Pulley and Gunther and Peter and these prospects how to to to replicate his style of hockey I mean that would set you up once his contract’s up to really start to step into that that uh competitive window and and compete for Stanley Cups Cole we know you’re going to be covering the draft tonight top to bottom jumping on uh on air with our draft show here on the station of course uh covering it at kslports.com And we appreciate you jumping on with us in preparation So thank you very much Cole
Of course It’s an exciting day Uh it’s my first ever NHL draft so I’m happy to to jump on and uh feel really lucky to talk about hockey all day long
Yeah enjoy it man Draft draft coverage is super fun so we’ll be glued to it Appreciate you
Utah Mammoth Insider Cole Bagley joined the show to talk about the big trade the club made earlier this week, landing JJ Peterka from the Buffalo Sabres. Also, what should we expect from tonight’s NHL Draft with Utah picking 4th Overall?
