{"id":482024,"date":"2026-03-03T03:10:23","date_gmt":"2026-03-03T03:10:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/482024\/"},"modified":"2026-03-03T03:10:23","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T03:10:23","slug":"who-should-the-utah-mammoth-target-at-the-trade-deadline-deseret-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/482024\/","title":{"rendered":"Who should the Utah Mammoth target at the trade deadline? \u2013 Deseret News"},"content":{"rendered":"

As rumors swirled around the Utah Mammoth ahead of NHL free agency day last summer, GM Bill Armstrong gave a word of caution<\/a> to the local media: \u201cDon\u2019t believe everything you read, alright?\u201d<\/p>\n

While everyone was saying the Mammoth would pursue big fish, such as Brad Marchand, Sam Bennett and Aaron Ekblad, they instead targeted sensible, veteran depth players who could fill specific roles: Nate Schmidt, Brandon Tanev and V\u00edtek Van\u011b\u010dek.<\/p>\n

With Friday\u2019s trade deadline approaching rapidly, the rumor mill is active once again \u2014 and the Mammoth are again at the center of everything. It\u2019s clear that Armstrong and his staff are looking to add, but, again, don\u2019t believe everything you read.<\/p>\n

Armstrong explained in a recent interview<\/a> with the Deseret News that patience has been the name of the game throughout the rebuild.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we\u2019ve been pretty disciplined in the deals we\u2019ve chosen to go with and who we\u2019ve chosen to go with,\u201d he said. \u201cI think that\u2019s a huge thing and you watch a lot of teams, they press the \u2018go\u2019 button too early and sometimes it can really affect them later on.<\/p>\n

\u201c \u2026 We\u2019re not like those Canadian teams where they\u2019re putting their chips in every year and then sooner or later, there\u2019s nothing left. We\u2019ve done a slow, steady, patient rebuild, and we\u2019re pretty aggressive in the sense (that) we want to get better. I think we just do it with a good outlook and being smart about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Does that mean the Mammoth won\u2019t target big-name players? No. But don\u2019t expect them to empty the cupboards for a 35-year-old. Not yet, at least.<\/p>\n

With that in mind, here are some reportedly available players whom the Utah Mammoth should target at the 2026 NHL trade deadline.<\/p>\n

Robert Thomas, St. Louis Blues<\/p>\n

Age: 26<\/p>\n

Position: Center<\/p>\n

2025-26 production: 43 GP, 12 G, 35 P<\/p>\n

Contract: $8.125 million, 6 years remaining; Full no-trade clause<\/p>\n

If you have an X account, you\u2019ve probably seen at least half a dozen trade proposals from Mammoth and Blues fans regarding Robert Thomas. Of course, Mammoth fans expect to get him for pennies on the dollar while Blues fans want the Quinn Hughes package, but his true value is probably somewhere in the middle<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Remember, though: There are far more sellers than buyers this year. The principle of supply and demand dictates that prices drop in scenarios like this \u2014 and the Edmonton Oilers\u2019 acquisition cost<\/a> for Connor Murphy is evidence of that.<\/p>\n

Thomas\u2019 age puts him right in the Mammoth\u2019s wheelhouse, and the fact that he\u2019s signed for a reasonable salary through 2031 guarantees that he\u2019d be around for the long haul. This season has been among his worst in the NHL, though that\u2019s likely at least partially due to his team\u2019s lack of success.<\/p>\n

Skill-wise, Thomas is somewhere between a 1C and a 2C, meaning he can handle the top job until Logan Cooley reaches his prime, at which point he could slide perfectly into the second-line role. It makes even more sense if Nick Schmaltz opts to walk in free agency this summer.<\/p>\n

Oh, and don\u2019t forget that Armstrong knows Thomas well. He was the Blues\u2019 director of amateur scouting when they drafted him. Perhaps that relationship would make Thomas more comfortable waiving his no-trade clause.<\/p>\n

Shane Wright, Seattle Kraken<\/p>\n

Age: 22<\/p>\n

Position: Center<\/p>\n

2025-26 production: 59 GP, 11 G, 23 P<\/p>\n

Contract: $886,666, 2 years remaining<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t that long ago that Shane Wright was the obvious choice to go first overall in the NHL Draft. You can imagine the shock that hit the hockey world when he slid to fourth, as three GMs, including Armstrong, passed on him.<\/p>\n

Four years later, all three of those managers look like geniuses. It\u2019s not that Wright is a bad player, but he\u2019s no Logan Cooley or Juraj Slafkovsk\u00fd.<\/p>\n

As a two-way center, Wright\u2019s offensive stats aren\u2019t the only thing to look at. But the fact that he seen less than three minutes of penalty kill time in his 154 NHL games isn\u2019t an encouraging sign, nor is the fact that he\u2019s only started 28% of his shifts in the defensive zone this season.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t forget, though, that Wright is only 22 years old. I don\u2019t know what you had accomplished at that age, but I certainly hadn\u2019t scored 74 points in the NHL. The point is that he still has plenty of time to blossom into a highly productive NHL player \u2014 and perhaps a change of scenery would be beneficial.<\/p>\n

The Mammoth would be foolish to burn several first-round picks to get Wright, but if they can pry him out of the Kraken\u2019s grasp for a couple of B-level assets, that\u2019s a good gamble to take.<\/p>\n

Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Carolina Hurricanes<\/p>\n

Age: 25<\/p>\n

Position: Center<\/p>\n

2025-26 production: 36 GP, 2 G, 9 P<\/p>\n

Contract: $4.82 million, 5 years remaining; Modified no-trade clause<\/p>\n

Like Wright, Jesperi Kotkaniemi\u2019s draft position shocked the hockey world \u2014 but for the opposite reason. Nobody thought he\u2019d be remotely close to the third-overall pick.<\/p>\n

Kotkaniemi has struggled to live up to his draft ranking. It may have to do with the pressure of playing in Montreal at the time, and he might have entered the league too early (he was the youngest player in the NHL in his first season and the seventh-youngest in his second).<\/p>\n

His play this year in no way justifies his contract, so this could be a situation where the Hurricanes give up assets just to get rid of him. The Mammoth have plenty of cap space, so it could be a good gamble to take him with hopes that he gets his career back on track.<\/p>\n

Jordan Kyrou, St. Louis Blues<\/p>\n

Age: 27<\/p>\n

Position: Right wing<\/p>\n

2025-26 production: 50 GP, 14 G, 33 P<\/p>\n

Contract: $8.125 million, 6 years remaining; Full no-trade clause<\/p>\n

Is it really trade season if Jordan Kyrou\u2019s name isn\u2019t in the mix?<\/p>\n

The 27-year-old winger seems to always be on the trade block, though nothing has actualized yet. He continues to produce through it all, totaling 36 goals last season. Like Thomas, his pace has slowed down this year, but that\u2019s the case with most Blues players.<\/p>\n

Kyrou is another example of someone who could grow with the Mammoth\u2019s young core. He will likely be in his prime, more or less, until the end of his current contract, and his cap hit is very manageable for the type of offense that he produces.<\/p>\n

Elias Pettersson, Vancouver Canucks<\/p>\n

Age: 27<\/p>\n

Position: Center<\/p>\n

2025-26 production: 51 GP, 13 G, 35 P<\/p>\n

Contract: $11.6 million, 7 years remaining; No-move clause<\/p>\n

If Armstrong were to make this trade, it would be important to make it clear that he wants the forward Elias Pettersson, not the defenseman (the Canucks have one of each with the same name).<\/p>\n

Pettersson is the riskiest name on the market, but he also comes with the highest potential. His contract is nearly impossible for any team to add to its books, but if he can get back to the 102-point player he was three years ago, it\u2019s well worth it.<\/p>\n

The Vancouver spotlight has reportedly been tough on the Swedish center. In a market like that, any cold stretch becomes the end of the world \u2014 and much has been said about Pettersson\u2019s tendency to pay lots of attention to the things that are said about him. He might thrive in a place like Utah, where there are only two full-time beat reporters.<\/p>\n

At his best, Pettersson is a playmaking weapon who uses his deceptively good shot to beat goalies cleanly. He\u2019s also good in his own end, and has received Selke Trophy votes for the NHL\u2019s best two-way player in two different seasons.<\/p>\n

\"\"Utah Hockey Club goaltender Karel Vejmelka (70) attempts to stop Vancouver Canucks center Elias Pettersson (40) from scoring during an NHL game at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As rumors swirled around the Utah Mammoth ahead of NHL free agency day last summer, GM Bill Armstrong…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":482025,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5,1442,4,51,5290,232,5291,5289],"class_list":{"0":"post-482024","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-utah-hockey-club","8":"tag-hockey","9":"tag-news-feed-national","10":"tag-nhl","11":"tag-utah","12":"tag-utah-hc","13":"tag-utah-hockey-club","14":"tag-utahhc","15":"tag-utahhockeyclub"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116163053970788903","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/482024","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=482024"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/482024\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/482025"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=482024"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=482024"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=482024"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}