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The Utah Hockey Club are playing their inaugural season in Salt Lake City, the first campaign since relocating from Arizona and their former identity as the Coyotes.
The decision by the NHL to move the Coyotes to Salt Lake City was a difficult one, as the league (and commissioner Gary Bettman in particular) had fought for years to keep the franchise in the desert. Despite multiple ownership changes, financial struggles, and attempts to secure a stable arena solution, the Coyotes' situation became too impractical to continue.
The puck dropped at Delta Center, which was principally known as the home of the NBA's Utah Jazz, on October 8 against the Chicago Blackhawks; the sellout crowd roared with excitement when Dylan Guenther lit the lamp for the first official Utah Hockey Club goal en route to a victory.
But since then, the Utah Hockey Club has battled inconsistent performances from their top players; they find themselves in sixth place in the Central Division with a record of 10-11-4.
What are the biggest surprises and disappointments from the first quarter of the inaugural season for the Utah HC?
Utah Hockey Club's biggest surprise to start 2024-25 season
The aforementioned Guenther is off to a great start for Utah, having already scored 10 goals in 25 games. While he's had offensive flair to his game, he's already on pace to break his previous career high if he can keep up his current performance.
And he's proving Utah management did the right thing when they signed him to an eight-year extension before the season began when he was labeled as elite by GM Bill Armstrong via NHL.com.
“Dylan is elite in every aspect on and off the ice,” said Armstrong. “He is a young, highly skilled forward with a shot that’s evolving into one of the best in the NHL. He’s also a first-class person with a strong determination to be great. We look forward to having Dylan as a core player for this organization for many years to come.”
“This is a very happy day for me and my family,” said Guenther. “Everything about this organization is on the right track, and I know we have an opportunity to do some special things here for a long time. Utah is where I want to be, and I'm proud to commit to my teammates and the organization long term.”
His previous career-high was 18 goals set last season with the Coyotes in 45 games. While Utah expected offense from him, he's exceeding expectations.
Utah Hockey Club's biggest disappointment to start 2024-25 season
Named the captain of the franchise before the season began, forward Clayton Keller hasn't quite lived up to his previous statistical outputs. He's coming off seasons of 37 and 33 goals in 2022-23 and 2023-24 with the Coyotes, respectively.
But through 25 games, Keller has lit the lamp only seven times; he's on pace to reach only 23 goals. While a good many players would consider reaching 23 goals in a full season to be a very positive accomplishment, it would be much less than what Keller is accustomed to scoring.
Meanwhile, fellow forward Nick Schmaltz has scored only three goals in 25 games, hardly the kind of production that they need out of him. He may have 17 assists, but Utah will need him to find the back of the net more often.
Both Keller and Schmaltz were involved in the offense in a 5-2 shellacking of the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday, and the duo will look to continue producing against the Flyers in Philadelphia on Sunday night.
