How the Utah Hockey Club is handling free agency – Deseret News

The Utah Hockey Club made a big splash on the second day of the NHL Draft on Saturday, generating a huge buzz among the crowd at the Sphere in Las Vegas by signing defenseman Mikhail Sergachev from the Tampa Bay Lightning and then adding defenseman John Marino from the New Jersey Devils.

In less than an hour, UHC General Manager Bill Armstrong solved his club’s biggest problem at the start of its inaugural season in Utah: the lack of defensemen.

On June 27, Utah did not have a single NHL-level defenseman on its roster, but now it has five after re-signing Michael Kesselring, Juuso Välimäki and Sean Durzi and trading Sergachev and Marino.

The 26-year-old Sergachev will immediately become Utah’s best defensive option and lift the UHC blue line. The 6-foot-3, 215-pound Sergachev is a key part of two Stanley Cup-winning teams and was ranked by ESPN as the 53rd best player in the NHL ahead of the 2023-24 season.

In addition to his defensive skills, he scored 64 points in his final fully healthy season in 2022-23, demonstrating his ability in both directions.

Sergachev’s 2023–24 season was derailed by a broken leg and he played in only 34 games overall, but returned late in the season to play in two playoff games.

“Mikhail Sergachev is a proven winner and point scorer and has been one of the best defensemen in the NHL for a long time,” Armstrong said.

“Mikhail is a top two-way defenseman in the NHL, and you can’t win in this league without a star defenseman. We are very excited to welcome Mikhail to our organization and look forward to many more years with him leading our defensive line.”

In exchange for Sergachev, Armstrong traded defenseman JJ Moser, who played 80 games for Arizona last year, as well as promising center Conor Geekie, pick No. 199 in the 2024 draft and a 2025 second-round pick from the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Marino, 27, is another player who fits Armstrong’s schedule. Although Marino had a rather down year with New Jersey last season, Utah is banking on a comeback season for the 6’1″, 180-pound player, who had a great season in 2022-23 and got the Devils to the playoffs.

For Marino and a 2024 fifth-round pick that was converted into defenseman Ales Cech, Utah traded the No. 49 pick in this year’s draft and a 2025 second-round pick to the Edmonton Oilers.

By signing two top-tier defensemen and re-signing much of last year’s defense in the form of Kesselring (21 points for Arizona last season), Durzi (41 points) and Välimäki (17 points), Utah has made great strides in improving its defense.

Could Utah make a push into the playoffs with an exciting offense that includes Clayton Keller (76 points), Nick Schmaltz (61 points) and Matias Maccelli (57 points), as well as Lawson Crouse (42 points), All-Rookie team member Logan Cooley (44 points) and Dylan Guenther (35 points)?

Some league observers, such as Dom Luszczyszyn, national NHL writer for The Athletic, believe so.

After signing Sergachev and Marino, will Utah make big moves in free agency to win now?

“Pump the brakes,” says Armstrong.

“You have to temper your expectations and not expect too much because you had two good players who made you a little better,” he said at a press conference in Salt Lake City on Sunday.

Armstrong reiterated the importance of organic growth for his young team, citing Tampa Bay as an example.

“We want to make sure we build a Stanley Cup winner, but that takes a moment,” Armstrong said. “And one of the things I’ve always talked about is the patience that our fans and the media have to have with this team. And if you look at the teams that have done it right, the rebuilding process, while slow, is fun.”

The next step in this rebuild, now entering its fifth year, is to become a more consistent team. No more 14-game losing streaks, although it should be noted that those came at a turbulent time in Arizona as rumors of a move became more and more loud. Utah wants to play big games and be in the race in the home stretch.

The Sergachev and Marino signings may have changed Utah’s free agent plans, as there is currently no pressing need for a top defenseman, although UHC could certainly add more defensemen.

Armstrong said Sunday that the team is looking for free agents who could help with the penalty kill.

“One of the trends these days is that the power plays of the elite teams are so good, the high-end skills are amazing. Now, there’s another side to that too, which is you better have a great penalty kill, and that means faceoffs, blocking shots, long distances and goaltending needs to be taken to a higher level,” Armstrong said.

Improving the shorthanded game could “have a huge impact on the synergy of the team and help us take the next step,” Armstrong said.

“I think we can look for guys in the PK that can maybe help us out and block shots. And if we can fix that little component, whether it’s up front or back, by signing one or two players as free agents, that could really help our team,” Armstrong said.

With over $22 million in salary cap space, Utah has money to work with on free agents, but Armstrong won’t spend all of it on free agents this offseason. Some of it will go toward Utah’s restricted free agents, as UHC has extended qualifying offers to forwards Barrett Hayton, Jan Jenik, Milos Kelemen, Curtis Douglas and defenseman Victor Soderstrom.

“We have all this room,” Amstrong said, “but if you use all this room this year, what are you going to use next year?”