The Utah Mammoth have gotten off to a sharp start this season and they appear to be on their way to a season that could end up with an appearance in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
The oft-quoted benchmark in the NHL is that if teams are in a playoff position by Thanksgiving, they will be a playoff team at season's end. That usually occurs shortly after the 20 game mark and the season reaches the 25 percent mark. The Mammoth have gotten off to a 9-5-0 start and the team finds itself in third place in the Central Division of the Western Conference.
If they can maintain that position, the Mammoth will be a playoff team in its second season in Salt Lake City. This is not a fluke, as the Mammoth have the personnel to play winning hockey throughout the year and light up the scoreboard on occasion. Players like Clayton Keller, Nick Schmaltz, Dylan Guenther, Logan Cooley and Mikhail Sergachev are leading an offense that has scored 3 goals or more in 9 of their last 11 games.
Mammoth thriving in all aspects
This team represents a far cry from the Arizona Coyotes. According to the NHL, that team no longer exists and the Mammoth are their own entity. In reality, the Mammoth left the desert following the 2023-24 season after years of struggling in Arizona both on and off the ice.
Keller explained the differences between Arizona and Utah, and how much more enjoyable it is for the players.
“We were more settled in in Utah,” Keller said, per Chris Johnston of The Athletic. “Just our group as a whole has gotten so much better year after year. Our young guys have made such a big step in a quick amount of time — like quicker than most young guys would take. There’s just a good beat about our team right now.
“We’re having fun, we’re working for each other and we’re a really close group. We just want to do everything we can to win.”
