What should the Mammoth add to put them over the top?
The Utah Mammoth are living up to some of their preseason hype and looking like a real possibility to come out of the Western Conference. They’re a tick behind Edmonton and Minnesota for the best record in the conference, but at 10-6-0, they’re firmly entrenched in the second tier of Stanley Cup contenders leaguewide.
After an aggressive summer that saw him make a big trade to land veteran center Vincent Trocheck from the New York Rangers, general manager Bill Armstrong still has plenty of tradable assets and salary cap space to take another big swing to really cement the Mammoth as Stanley Cup contenders.
Armstrong was reportedly involved in the race to land star goalie Connor Hellebuyck before the New Jersey Devils ultimately got the deal done, landing plenty of credence to the notion that a star goalie would make the most sense as an upgrade for the current roster.
On Thursday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, host Tyler Yaremchuk and co-host and former NHL goaltender Carter Hutton were joined by Cole Bagley of KSL Sports to discuss where Armstrong’s attention should be focused as the season goes on.
Carter Hutton: Bill Armstrong has been a guy that he’s always kind of mixed veterans with core, and now their name has been swirled around a lot, whether it’s Hellebuyck, [Simon] Edvinsson, and now I guess Kucherov in that sense. What area do you think they would most benefit from adding a piece to put them into that inner circle and become a legit Cup contender?
Cole Bagley: A more solidified goaltender probably wouldn’t hurt, but I don’t know that they necessarily would make a move in that direction because the tandem that they have the most belief in moving forward is the Cossa/Hrabal tandem. Right now Vejmelka is just kind of that bridge goaltender that’s gonna get them through these next couple of years who can help them achieve the goals that they have right in front of them. Right now the goal is just to get back to the playoffs; it’s not to compete for the Stanley Cup… They want to win a series, and they’ll go as far as they possibly can, but the goals in front of them is, ‘Hey, we just want to get back,’ and there’s a lot of belief in Sebastian Cossa. That’s why they gave up a first round pick to go and get him… While goaltending would make sense, that’s a lot more difficult I think to achieve. Where I think they would probably really benefit would be their defensive core. I think they’ve got a solid core so far. They’re scoring quite a few goals… I think it’s more that defensive depth.
You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode below…
