Note: Once the Utah NHL team implements a name and branding, the team now known as “Howlin' Hockey” will follow suit and change its own identity to reflect the franchise's relocation and revamp.
Suffice it to say, excitement is building in Utah as the honeymoon phase is underway regarding the newly relocated NHL team. When former Arizona Coyotes players and coaches came to introduce themselves to local fans last week, they were greeted by 100 youth hockey players and thousands more joined a packed Delta for a celebratory event. The center was packed. And more than $20,000 in season ticket deposits are in hand, deposited within days of the move being officially approved.
There's an undeniable excitement about NHL hockey in Utah, even though there's no team name, no brand name, and about a million steps to take between now and the time you hit the ice. That's how it should be.
I may be preaching to an already rousing choir, but Utahns may be even more shocked to read these three reasons why they should absolutely be excited about the dawn of a new NHL team.
Utah fans following the team's performance at Arizona State last season would be wise to focus on the first half of 2023-24 rather than the second half. Last season, as the calendar was set to flip to 2024, the Coyotes posted a 19-14-2 record, earning them fourth place in the Central Division and the Western Conference's first wild card spot.
This strong opening was engineered by a talented young core that will be immediately familiar to Utah fans. Clayton Keller is only 25 years old, but he has scored 70 goals over the past two seasons and is already a four-time All-Star. Logan Cooley, the No. 3 pick in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft, is coming off a 20-goal rookie campaign. Additionally, Matthias Macelli, Lawson Crouse, Sean Durge, and Dylan Gunther are all young, skilled players who could be important pieces of this roster for years to come (all (signed, or at least under team control for next season).
The second half of last season highlighted how much further this organization still has to go, but there's something here. Internal growth is absolutely promising, and the upcoming draft lottery will allow the franchise to add even more high-level assets to its impressive pool of potential prospects (7.5 chance of Utah taking the No. 1 overall pick). %be). If Josh Doan can carry on the success of his late-season NHL debut and other top prospects can make it to the major leagues, this could be a club poised for big things long-term.
Utah sports fans have been talking about new owner Ryan Smith after spending more than $2 billion to buy the NBA's Utah Jazz, MLS' Real Salt Lake and NWSL's Utah Royals in recent years. I got to know him well. But it can't be overstated how much of a change Smith's NHL ownership (another $1.2 billion) would be compared to the penny-pinching Arizona group anchored by Alex Meruelo.
To be fair, Meruelo follows a long line of Coyotes owners who simply can't justify spending money on an asset that isn't making money. And because of the land dispute, the organization will play in a 5,000-seat college arena and minimize spending on on-ice merchandise while obtaining injured player insurance policies to meet the salary cap floor. , an embarrassing pattern of cost reductions ensued.
Enter Smith. All early signs from the 45-year-old tech billionaire are very positive, with plans to hold a parenthetical fan vote on the new team name and reportedly asking players to decide on the ownership period. He said he asked for feedback on what he was looking for inside. Introduction to golf. He also understands the importance of continuing the momentum from the honeymoon period, reportedly telling his players:[…] The first year you get everyone here, but it's your job to keep them here. ”
Unlike expansion teams in Las Vegas or Seattle, which were given the opportunity to build from the ground up (not to mention early successes), relocated clubs carry on the legacy of their former home bases, for better or worse.
But while that might mean inheriting the failures of previous iterations of the organization (well-run teams usually don't need to move, after all), in terms of what you get, Utah I've been pretty lucky. Utah's management certainly looks like it will continue with current GM Bill Armstrong and head coach Andre Tourigny, but it also has a young roster, a wealth of prospects, and most of its key future draft picks. It has everything.
If Smith intends to approach next year's salary cap of $87.7 million, the club will have more than $40 million in space. Yes, that includes a roster of just 11 players and a whopping 10 expiring contracts, but that's three of the organization's four LTIR veterans (Jakub Voracek, Brian Little, and Travis Boyd). This means that there will be two players remaining, including Shea Webber. ), and does not include many of the roster spots likely to be filled by players on cheap, rookie-sized contracts.
All of this may not be exciting for fans who want to focus on hockey rather than the finer details of the salary cap, but all of this is in the context of a team that has a ready roster and is ready to hit the ground running in trades and free agency. It shows. We hope to develop candidates as soon as possible.
Utahns looking 400 miles to the southwest and hoping for instant success like the one enjoyed by the Las Vegas Golden Knights in the 2018 Stanley Cup Final may be disappointed. That being said, there are plenty of reasons to be excited – not only because of the presence of a newly relocated and soon-to-be rebranded franchise, but also because of the quality group of players and assets they are poised to retain going forward. It's getting better.
