Lawson Crouse has pretty much seen it all.

Having spent all of his nine NHL seasons with the Arizona Coyotes-turned-Utah Mammoth, the 28-year-old winger has seen plenty of change. Uncertainty. Angst. But underneath it all, there was budding excitement in what the franchise was building, with young players like Logan Cooley and Dylan Guenther adding to a veteran core that includes him, Nick Schmaltz and captain Clayton Keller.

All they needed was stability at the top. And they’ve found it the past 16 months with owner Ryan Smith and the whirlwind transition to Utah. But as much as the first year in Salt Lake City was special and often emotional — Crouse brought many family and friends to their home opener — there was a different kind of feeling at the end of the season.

The Mammoth improved by 12 points in the standings. They sold out the Delta Center. But guys were ticked off that they missed the playoffs.

Now they’ve got a brand-new, world-class practice facility. Their arena has been upgraded. But there’s a sense among the group that the rebuilding, the growing, isn’t enough — that this is the year they make the postseason for the first time since 2020.

“It’s our time now,” Crouse said. “We’ve done everything we can. Now we’ve got to go do it.”

(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Mammoth left wing Lawson Crouse (67) prepares to pass during a preseason game for The Utah Mammoth at Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Oct. 2, 2025.

The Mammoth were in the hunt until the final couple of weeks in 2024-25. They finished seven points behind the Minnesota Wild and six behind the St. Louis Blues and Calgary Flames in the wild-card hunt. And they could have been closer.

Coach Andre Tourigny and general manager Bill Armstrong lamented how many points they left on the table because of mistakes in the final 10 minutes of games and just not being able to get that extra goal. With added maturity this season and offseason acquisitions like JJ Peterka, they think they could have the right mix to get over the hump.

“We went from thinking or hoping or believing we were capable of really going through the adversity — ‘You’re good enough’ — to realizing those little details make a difference,” Tourigny said. “Now we’re at the stage where we’re confident. We know what more we need to do, what we weren’t good enough at. We’re confident we can translate that — fix the holes in our game.”

Tourigny pointed out his team was much better last season in underlying scoring metrics than in actual scoring. Natural Stat Trick had Utah 10th in the league in expected goals (258.19), but tied for 20th in actual goals (240). Being unable to finish scoring opportunities isn’t just a sign of bad luck, but the Mammoth should improve in the area as young offensive talents Cooley (25 goals, 65 points) and Dylan Guenther (27 goals, 60 points) continue to come into their own. Cooley, 21, was the No. 3 pick in 2022, and Guenther, 22, was No. 9 in 2021.

Armstrong also thinks acquiring Peterka from the Buffalo Sabres gives the team a strong top two lines. Peterka signed a five-year, $38.5 million contract after coming over in June in exchange for Josh Doan and Michael Kesselring.

“He’s the kind of guy who can finish, can generate offense, can score big goals,” Tourigny said. “The other thing we like about JJ is he’s competitive. He’s really fast and has a lot of character. We really believe in him as a person and a player. He’ll be a perfect fit in our DNA.”

(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) The Utah Mammoth locker room is pictured during a tour of the 146,000-square-foot practice and training facility at the southeast end of The Shops at South Town in Sandy, during a soft opening celebration on Wed. Sept. 17, 2025.

Cooley is noticeably bigger this season after summer training. He was happy with the jump he made last season, especially in his two-way game, and said he takes pride in being counted on at both ends of the ice. He turned down an eight-year, $77 million extension offer from Utah, according to Victory Sports Plus’ Frank Seravalli, but is expected to be a franchise player for years to come. He’s a restricted free agent next summer.

“Everyone has their own definition of a star,” Tourigny said. “I think Logan Cooley is absolutely phenomenal. His numbers are even with others who are classified as superstars. He’s really good everywhere. I think for me, a guy like Cools, he’s got huge potential on every level. Not just producing. It’s defense. He’s really strong on the puck. He’s really fast. He’s good down low. Wins battles. He’s relentless on the forecheck. He has that complete game.”

The Mammoth were hit hard by injuries last season, especially on the blue line, where Sean Durzi and John Marino played a combined 65 games. They’re both back, and Utah brought in Cup-winning defenseman Nate Schmidt, who’ll help in the room and play on the third pair. The anchor of their defensive core is Mikhail Sergachev, who Tourigny calls “everything you want in a No. 1 defenseman.”

Sergachev, a two-time Cup winner with the Tampa Bay Lightning, knows what it takes to win and said he’s starting to see the mindset change that’s required.

“Whatever I’ve seen from our young guys last year, from veterans, I just want to see more of on a consistent basis,” Sergachev said. “For myself as well — just being a little bit more involved. Our additions are great. There’s a lot of character in the room. It’s fun to be in there. I just think about games and how we stack up against the best teams, like Colorado, like Vegas, those teams in the West, L.A. Because last year we had a lot of great games against them.

“We were still lacking a little bit of maturity. New team, new market. You’re trying to show yourself, you think as a player, ‘I should be playing more.’ You’re not settling into your role. That comes with maturity. I feel this year, more guys are going to be settling into their roles and just thrive instead of being, ‘I deserve more. I should be playing this position and that position, this power play.’ What excites me the most is knowing the guys are going to buy in more.”

Armstrong talked about how they blew leads last season simply because they didn’t “play the situations right.” There was some improvement in those areas down the stretch, but it wasn’t enough to catch up in the wild card. Armstrong thinks the additions of experienced players like Schmidt and Brandon Tanev can help, saying there are “10 (Stanley) Cups” in the room. Those seasoned voices should help when things get tense.

“Our kids have grown a year older, a year wiser, a little hardened,” Armstrong said. “That’ll help us fight for a spot.”

(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Jazz coach Will Hardy, left, and Utah Mammoth coach André Tourigny join owner Ryan Smith on the ice of the new Mammoth practice and training facility at the southeast end of The Shops at South Town in Sandy, during a soft opening celebration on Wed. Sept. 17, 2025.

Tourigny said the veterans will “ignite more fuel to change” and instill the mindset that “it’s OK to play well, but you need to win.”

Utah’s record against the top three Central Division teams (Winnipeg Jets, Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche) was 4-6-1 in 2024-25, and its record against the top three in the Pacific (Vegas Golden Knights, Los Angeles Kings and Edmonton Oilers) was 1-6-2. Utah beat up on the Wild (3-0-1) and took two of four from the Blues — but got smacked 6-1 by St. Louis in the season finale, when it could have knocked the Blues out of the playoffs with a win.

The Mammoth are going to continue leaning on No. 1 goalie Karel Vejmelka this season after he reached career bests in games played (58), goals-against average (2.58) and save percentage (.904) in 2024-25.

“If you look at our numbers or our performance against L.A., Winnipeg, Dallas, those veteran, heavy teams, our underlying numbers were really, really good,” Tourigny said. “But every time in the last 10 minutes, we make one more mistake. We’re nose-to-nose with them all the time. One more mistake. It was the maturity of our team and really understanding how to play in those situations.

“I think when you’re a rebuilding team and you play against Cup champs and you play a hell of a game and you dominate the metrics, you’re happy. But last year was a shift of saying. ‘No more of this. Who cares?’ The underlying numbers normally are what will maintain your success or performance consistently, but we need to find a way to win those big games.”

(John Amis | AP) Utah Mammoth right wing Dylan Guenther (11) scores on Nashville Predators goaltender Juuse Saros (74) during overtime in an NHL hockey game Saturday Oct. 11, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn.

The Mammoth realize they’re playing in an extremely competitive division where five teams made the playoffs last year. Winnipeg, Dallas and Colorado aren’t going away. Minnesota, St. Louis and Utah will be in a dogfight. Chicago is better. Nashville is bound to rebound to some extent.

“This is not a slam dunk,” Tourigny said of making the playoffs. “But we believe in ourselves.”

You can hear it in the voices of their top players. Keller talked about the steps the group has taken each year, “realizing how hard it is to win.” Cooley said they have “everything we need … the pieces to push for the playoffs.” And they have $4.5 million in cap space, which could allow them to make in-season moves for reinforcements. As Armstrong put it, with the new ownership, they have all the resources and “there’s no excuses.”

The fans showed up in droves in the first year for the Mammoth. Players and staff said it’s their turn to show up for them and reward the faith.

“We’ve got to make the playoffs,” Smith said. “Last year was kind of a test year. We improved our team. Everyone believes that we can. We’ve just got to go do it.”

This article originally appeared in The Athletic.