Bill Armstrong doesn’t care about “winning the summer,” but that hasn’t stopped him from making some important moves this offseason.
Run this story whenever you need one this weekend
Utah Mammoth GM Bill Armstrong has repeatedly made it known that “winning the summer” means nothing to him if it doesn’t translate into success in the winter — but like it or not, he’s had a pretty good summer.
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Here’s a letter grade for each of his offseason moves. Factors in these grades include:
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On-ice and off-ice qualities of the players
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Contract values
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Contract terms
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Trade returns
Trades
JJ Peterka
Buffalo Sabres right wing JJ Peterka (77) skates during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Minnesota Wild Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024, in Buffalo, N.Y. | Jeffrey T. Barnes
Grade: A+
The Mammoth had a lot of middle-six forwards and bottom-four defensemen — too many to keep long-term. As beloved as Josh Doan and Michael Kesselring were in Utah, JJ Peterka’s ceiling is probably much higher than either of theirs, meaning this was an upgrade.
Peterka’s age and position are exactly what the Mammoth needed. They had the third-most overtime losses in the league last year, and Peterka’s offensive game should provide that extra bit of offense to help them avoid those tight situations this season.
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Matias Maccelli
Grade: B
If you’d told Arizona Coyotes fans a year ago that Matias Maccelli would be traded for a conditional third-round pick, they’d give the deal an F. But it was clear from the first month of the season that things just weren’t clicking for him in Utah.
The trade was good for both the team and the player. Maccelli gets a fresh start with a good team, and likely some great opportunities with a Mitch Marner-sized vacancy on Auston Matthews’ wing. The Mammoth free up a roster spot and the morale in the locker room is no longer weighed down by a player who didn’t get the playing time he wanted.
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There’s a good chance that Maccelli turns back into the top-tier playmaker that he was two seasons ago. If that’s the case, Leafs fans will be glad to dunk on the Mammoth for giving him up for so cheap — but remember: things weren’t going to work out for him in Utah, so any resurgence will be a result of the change of scenery.
By the way, if Maccelli hits 51 points and the Leafs make the playoffs, the third-round pick that Utah receives will become a second-rounder. That should give Mammoth fans another reason to cheer for him next year.
Free agent signings
Nate Schmidt
Grade: B-
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Stop me if you’ve heard this story before: An offensive defenseman has a number of excellent seasons with a team in the desert. He gets traded to the Vancouver Canucks, where things don’t work out for him. He eventually gets bought out, signs a league-minimum deal with the Florida Panthers, plays well, wins the Stanley Cup and then signs a decent-sized deal elsewhere the following summer.
That was the story for Nate Schmidt this year and Oliver Ekman-Larsson the following year.
Ekman-Larsson had a decent season with the Toronto Maple Leafs after leaving Florida last year, and there’s no reason to believe Schmidt won’t do the same — but it is risky to give a 34-year-old a medium-term, medium-dollar value deal when things didn’t work out just a season ago.
Off the ice, though, Schmidt will be a great addition. Utah needed a big personality who can keep things light, and that’s exactly what he does.
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Brandon Tanev
Grade: B-
Brandon Tanev poses for his official headshot for the 2024-2025 season on September 18, 2024 at the Kraken Community Iceplex in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Liv Lyons/NHLI via Getty Images) | Liv Lyons
Speaking of guys who keep the atmosphere light off the ice, Brandon Tanev is another good addition. Like Schmidt, his contract is a little long for someone approaching the end of his career, but the dollar value is low enough that it shouldn’t matter too much.
Tanev replaces Doan as a crash-and-bang, high-energy player who can round out the third or fourth lines. He also adds to the penalty kill group, which is an area that can always use more depth.
Vítek Vaněček
Grade: A+
As much as everyone hopes Connor Ingram is ready to return soon, Utah needed surety in the crease to give Karel Vejmelka occasional breaks. Vítek Vaněček does exactly that — and if Ingram does come back, there’s always a market for goalies like Vaněček.
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His contract is a year long and it comes at a modest $1.5 million. That’s a tidy bit of business by Armstrong and his staff.
Scott Perunovich
Grade: A
With the number of defensemen Utah has, it’s hard to imagine Scott Perunovich playing much of a role for the Mammoth. That being said, you can never have enough depth.
He’s on a two-way deal, so it’s likely that he mainly plays in the AHL and gets called up if needed. In that case, he’s a great guy to have around.
Contract extensions
JJ Peterka
Grade: B
The details of Peterka’s contract weren’t particularly shocking, which means it was likely a fair deal for both sides. Much can change over the course of his five-year term, but as of right now it seems to be nothing but fair.
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Jack McBain
Grade: C-
The general assumption about McBain was that he’d either get good term or good money. He got both.
He’s had a few decent seasons and his teammates love him, but giving that kind of commitment to a role player almost never works out. Remember when Jim Benning did that for Antoine Roussel, Jay Beagle, Brandon Sutter and Micheal Ferland? Those deals killed his career and they ruined a franchise for years.
It’s not the end of the world to sign one player to that contract, but if it becomes a habit, the Mammoth could quickly dry up their cap space.
Michael Carcone
Grade: A-
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You can’t go wrong with a depth player on a league-minimum deal. Michael Carcone had a decent season last year and he’s not from removed from a 21-goal campaign. He has the potential to severely outplay this contract.
Nick DeSimone
Grade: A-
Like Perunovich, Nick DeSimone could be an odd man out with the number of defensemen Utah has. Regardless, his contract is barely above league minimum and he proved last season that he belongs in the NHL.
Entry-level contracts
Dmitri Simashev and Daniil But
Grade: A
Contract details for Simashev and But
There’s not much differentiating the situations of Daniil But and Dmitri Simashev, so we’ll group them together here.
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It was a win for Utah to get them signed. Sometimes, Russian players are more comfortable playing at home, so they reject the NHL altogether. The Mammoth dodged that bullet by signing them.
A lot remains to be seen about where they’ll play and what impact they’ll have, but fans have lots of reasons to be optimistic about both guys.
Draft
Grade: TBD
Every draft has steals and busts. As of right now, it seems like the Mammoth fared pretty well at the draft, but time is the only thing that will be able to tell how they actually did.
Other business to take care of
Utah Hockey Club center Logan Cooley (92) takes a shot on the goal while guarded by Calgary Flames defenseman MacKenzie Weegar (52) during an NHL game held at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, April 1, 2025. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News
Next up is Logan Cooley’s contract extension. Much of the franchise’s future depends on this deal. Once it’s done, management will have the clarity they need to start planning how they’ll allot the remainder of the budget.
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The club locked Dylan Guenther up after just 78 games’ worth of NHL experience, and at this point it looks like a steal for the team. As much as they’d love to get Cooley signed at a similar number, it’s probably not going to happen.
He became eligible to sign on July 1. Guenther signed his deal during training camp in September, so there’s no need for fans to worry right now.
Source: Utah News