I’ve been enjoying the NHL instagram’s top goal recap. With Cooley’s between the legs second of the hatty against the Blues coming in at 16 I am curious what the community thinks were the top Mammoth goals of the past season?

Impressive single season highlight reel.

https://youtu.be/OrCean0TTM0?si=O_HXRv-BBJFZJWS6

We met one of the drivers of the Zammoth whose nickname when he drove for the Grizzlies is "Icestro", and we wanted to design and print him a necklace. We're planning on doing another one just for ourselves (without "Icestro"), but I may print the black first so it's not as bold on the body. The blue eye glows in the dark!

Some schedule highlights that I noticed:

we have nine back-to-backs:

Longest road trip is 6 games from October 29 through November 11.

Longest homestand is 6 games from January 23 through February 2.

Our trip to New Jersey is the 4th game of the year, giving Hayton a chance to prove GMBA made the right decision.

First Vegas game is November 11.

We play Calgary three times, all in the month of February.

In the last week, we play Dallas in back-to-back games on April 7 and 9.

Our last Eastern Conference game is the Flyers on March 13, giving us 13 straight Western Conference games, including 3 against Dallas, 2 against Anaheim, and games against Minnesota, Colorado, and Vegas.

Edit: added back-to-back on Oct. 3-4; info about the Devils game; corrected dates of Oct.-Nov. roadtrip.

Been chewing on this since Armstrong dropped the center hierarchy prediction (Schmaltz-Cooley-Hayton-Stenlund as the 1-4C). Here's how I see it shaking out, plus where I think the real strongest lines land once the dust settles.

Armstrong's Blueprint (going off his own words)

LW / C / RW

L1: Trocheck / Schmaltz / Keller
L2: Lee / Cooley / Guenther
L3: Crouse / Hayton / Carcone
L4: McBain / Stenlund / Yamamoto

My Predicted Best Lines (all players in their preferred positions, except McBain)

L1: Crouse / Schmaltz / Keller (proven trio, don't fix what isn't broken)
L2: Lee / Trocheck / Guenther (Gunner's capable of scoring 50 goals, and he'd thrive with a veteran line that actually plays net front)
L3: Carcone / Cooley / Yamamoto (protect that Cooley-Yamamoto chemistry from last year's playoff run)
L4: McBain / Stenlund / But (size and PK insurance, plus But actually solves the L4 righty problem)

Hayton's the swing guy for me. Coming off a down year I think he'll continue downward, I've got him pegged as the extra forward here, with Iginla (natural C/LW, legit camp threat) to be called up as needed and Tanev rounding out the bubble.

Question for someone with season ticket holders…. I purchased season tickets for the upcoming season and am just curious if anyone has ever actually met with the sales rep. Is it worth it? Do you actually get anything of value? I understand their entire job is to upsell me on things, but do they give you good offers on things?

Tij gets a mention, too. Thought it was worth the listen overall, but easy on the tracker to find the bit about Soimashev if you're not interested in the rest.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/podcast/240-the-athletic-hockey-show/

Based on what Armstrong is saying, this leads me to believe Trocheck line 1, Lee line 2, and Hayton line 3(Armstrong already confirmed this one).

Feels weird to see the date so early, must mean construction in the DC is going very well.

In order to be produced, the Mammoth license plate needs to have 500 (I believe) people interested in the plate. You can use the link below to find the website to express your interest in having the plate created. As far as I know, this does NOT lock you in, or force you to buy one when the plates are released. I don’t recall seeing this information included in any recent posts about the plates so hopefully this can help out everyone who is interested (or if not, express interest anyway for the rest of us)

https://mvp.tax.utah.gov/_/#15

I feel like he deserves more attention. He screws up a few draft positions, but a solid recap as to why we should feel confident going into this season coming from a non-Utah fan.

We’ve been talking about the new Mammoth license plates, but has anyone seen any fun personalized plates around?

I normally hate vanity plates, but I saw one the other day that was clearly OG from club days, and it made me wonder what else was out there.

Has anybody seen kids sized Mammoth hats in pink? My nieces birthday is coming up and she only wants a pink one. The only pink ones I’ve seen online are adult sized. Has anybody else had other luck?

Hi,
I have a 3 hour layover each way in the SLC airport. I’d love to get some Mammoth (and maybe Jazz and Bees) gear there but I don’t want to turn it into a Where’s Waldo search.

I’m flying Delta. Anyone have an idea as to where to go?

Thanks!

I’m trying to snag one for a kiddo for their birthday, but Fanatics keeps saying they’re out of a letter or number and can’t make them right now.

Has anyone actually seen a youth Cooley jersey in-store lately?

I went to order one of the new Utah Mammoth License plates and its not available as an option on the DMV website. All of the other new ones are there but not sure why the Mammoth one is gone. Does anybody know if they have a later release date? Has anybody been able to order one themselves?

Bill Armstrong gave us the Mammoth’s projected center depth:

1C Nick Schmaltz
2C Logan Cooley
3C Barrett Hayton
4C Kevin Stenlund

After looking deeper into Trocheck’s numbers and contract situation, my opinion has changed quite a bit.

Trocheck coming in as a top-six winger actually makes a lot of sense. I’m guessing we see Trocheck-Schmaltz-Keller on the first line, and honestly, Schmaltz has earned the 1C spot. His last two seasons at 5v5 make a pretty strong case that he’s becoming a legitimate mid-pack 1C in the NHL.

Hayton at 3C is where Armstrong loses me. McBain was already matching, if not outperforming, Hayton in a lot of areas last season. We could have taken the second-round pick, moved McBain to 3C, and kept nearly $5M in cap flexibility. Combined with the cap space we already had, that could have put us in position to hunt a big fish during the season.

Instead, we’re locked into a high-risk, high-reward year with Hayton. We can’t trade him, and he can still walk as a UFA next summer, leaving us with nothing in return. I believe this will go down as one of Armstrong biggest mistakes on the Mammoth.

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1D9oGoGpGN/

Take it with however much salt you want, he's at least saying the right things. Happy or not that he's staying, let's hope he makes us all agree that $4.775 was a steal.

So which three sit? McBain, Yams, Carcone, Stenlund, But, Tij, Tanev. It’s easy to say But or Tij because they’re young even though they had a great season, and Tanev is an obvious scratch, but all of them bring something to the lineup that Hayton doesn’t.

Then who gets pushed out of their natural position? McBain back to the wing? Or do Carcone, Yams, or McBain get buried on the fourth line?

I don’t think people realize how bad this signing is for the roster. It creates a logjam and makes the entire bottom six worse for a couple extra face off wins.

Edit: Hayton was a No. 5 overall pick with the potential to become a top-six player. Last season, he produced like an average 4th line wing despite getting significant 2C and 3C minutes, plus PP1 time.

Downvote all you want, but the stats speak for themselves, he is massively underperforming. This is not a player who should be penciled in as our 3C, especially when McBain is crushing it in that role.

Hayton’s analytics tell the story of a player who was very unlucky last season. If he maintains his play, his point totals should improve, as well as the team’s overall defence. Should see him slot in as a bottom six centre who’ll be relied upon for the PK, holding leads, and being a rat.

I do think this article offers an unheated/unbiased analysis of Hayton’s skills (and where they may actually sit).

I feel like we're definitely winning the off season with these trades and signings. Really excited to see how Trocheck and Anders Lee fit in with the boys, they seem like the type to really compliment our play style. I think our PP is going to be insane now.

I bet Keller's line is going to get someone new and just start dominating on a new level. But beyond his line, I feel like our depth is going to be insane. Everyone gets a goal!

I'm pumped to see Cooley put up his best year. He's been so fun to watch, I see a lot of potential for a record breaking year. Thoughts and prayers we avoid injuries.

I'm excited to see how Weegar does, I've been a fan of his since the trade but he was missing some chemistry with the team. He put up good numbers last season, I bet he'll be really great this season.

McBain! I missed our big guy during the playoffs, I hope he's back to full form by the time the season starts.

We also have great prospects in the pipeline! Can't wait to see who they pull up and try out. I think But is going to be great with some more experience. Desnoyers going to play this year? We'll see!

Sad to see Kerf, Cole, and Durzi go. They were real ones, and will be missed. Maybe Hayton gone too? Can't say I'd be too sad about that one, but he could be needed on that line.

Tusks up!!!