Can Utah push higher up in the Central Division?

After relocating to Salt Lake City, the Utah Hockey Club began their existence with three straight wins, becoming the talk of the hockey world. But since their hot start, the club is 4-8-3 and struggling to produce offense.

Forward Dylan Guenther scored five goals in his first three games, but has only mustered two in his last 15. Clayton Keller had three goals in his first three games, but only has three in his last 15 contests. Nearly a quarter into the season, fans and those who cover the team are now wondering if they have a serious shot at making the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

On Tuesday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Frank Seravalli and Tyler Yaremchuk go through the Central Division to separate the contenders from the pretenders, and ask themselves whether Utah HC can climb into the top half of the standings.

Tyler Yaremchuk: Utah HC has three wins in their last 10 games. When you look at Utah, do you think they have a chance of jumping into the upper-tier of Central Division teams?

Frank Seravalli: I don’t, I mean, who are they knocking out? Maybe they could run down the Minnesota Wild? To me, they’re backend is just too depleted: how many teams can withstand two of their top-four defensemen for a four-month stretch of time? Making the small trade for Olli Maatta is not going to be enough to dig them out of it.

Unfortunately for them, they’re hitting a bit of a rough patch when it comes to the goal scoring. Look at Lawson Crouse, essentially flogging himself for his start to the season, with three goals and one assists for four points in 18 games. Look, I thought a fully-healthy Utah team would be right in the mix and be a playoff team this year. I think that ship has sailed.

You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode here…