Mikhail Sergachev and John Marino: Welcome to Utah.
Utah: Welcome to the playoffs.
That's an incredibly bold statement for a team that finished with 77 points last season, but with a talented, young roster, it's clear this team is ready to turn heads in its first season in Utah. The franchise formerly known as the Arizona Coyotes seems ready to take the next step, and two new additions to the blue line should go a long way to helping that cause.
Heading into the offseason, defense was Utah's biggest concern, with the main issue being a lack of quality personnel. Sergachev has put that concern to rest in one fell swoop as a player who has shown promise as a number one defensive player throughout his career. He moves the puck well and can generate a ton of offense from the backline. He's exactly the elite offensive driver this team needed.
The same goes for Marino. He's a top-four shutdown defenseman with excellent puck-moving abilities. Marino had a tough 2023-24 season, but his performance from the previous year suggests he'll bounce back. On top of that, his stellar record shows he excels at recovering pucks, breaking out pucks, joining the rush, and defending the blue line. He's very efficient with the puck and is a big improvement over Jannis Moser, who went the other way in the trade for Sergachev.
Sergachev and Marino's greatest value comes from their high-level play with the puck in all three zones, something the franchise has lacked for years and a problem area that was addressed in just 20 minutes at the draft.
Their presence should revitalize a forward core that was already extremely strong at attacking from the flanks and looked undervalued.
Sure, the center is still shaky, but Utah has some real offensive firepower in the outfield that will be tough to deal with. Clayton Keller and Nick Schmaltz lead the way as top-line players, but Utah also has the dynamic duo of Matthias Macelli and Dylan Guenther to complement them nicely. Guenther, the ninth pick in 2021, was amazing down the stretch. There may not be a superstar among those four, but Utah's top six wings are among the best in the league from top to bottom. Add in Josh Doan and his impressive 11-game audition and Utah's top nine looks solid.
The team's offensive potential will depend on how much Logan Cooley can develop in his second season, but there's clearly a chance he could take a big step forward. He and the other centers will be well protected with support from the wings and stronger back-end support.
The additions of Sergachev and Marino make the rest of the defense work well, with Sean Durji and Juuso Valimaki providing a solid second pairing and Michael Kesselring remaining a healthy third pairing.
If this group still lacks defensively, Utah not only has the offensive firepower to make up for it, but also seems to have a relatively solid goaltending staff. Connor Ingram has had two straight excellent seasons, and if he can keep up that form, the team's goaltending corps looks pretty solid.
As it stands, this team has the potential to make the playoffs if the young players develop as expected. Their expected net rating is currently at plus-20, with an extra nine age-adjusted goals. With that in mind, next season could be a breakout season for the team, and the additions of Sergachev and Marino make sense. They're players who can help propel a relatively inexperienced team into the playoffs.
Inexperience and a terrible blue line sunk this team last year, with a terrible record of 7 wins, 21 losses and 3 draws in the middle of the season, followed by a 14-game losing streak. This negated the goodwill that came from a strong start (19 wins, 14 losses and 2 draws) and a strong finish (10 wins, 6 losses and 0 draws), but this team should be able to learn from this and put together an 82-win season next season. The additions of Sergachev and Marino will add stability and should definitely help them perform more consistently throughout the season.
What might help even more is that Utah might not be done yet: The NHL's newest team entered the offseason with the league's highest salary cap situation, some of which was spent on two new defensemen, but still has plenty of room to do some serious damage.
Maybe it's a center to bolster the middle, or maybe another top-four defenseman, but either way, Utah's situation is looking very promising heading into the 2024-25 season.
A playoff berth is never a guarantee for any team, especially one that finished with 77 points last season, but as things stand, Utah likely enters next season with a better than 50% chance of making the playoffs, which is huge for a team in its first year.
It may seem like a bold move, but I feel this team has what it takes to be a problem in the West next season. After years of patient planning, it seems like Utah has acquired the right people at the right time to be a playoff team. Year 1, Utah is poised to reap the seeds sown in Arizona.
(Photo of Mikhail Sergachev skating in front of Nick Schmaltz by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
