Last season: 36-41-5, did not make the playoffs. COACH: André Tourigny (89-131-26 over 3 seasons with the Arizona Coyotes). SEASON OPENER: Oct.
8 vs. Chicago. DEPARTURES: F Jason Zucker, D J.
J. Moser, D Mathew Dumba. ADDITIONS: D Mikhail Sergachev, D John Marino, D Robert Bortuzzo.
GOALIES: Connor Ingram (50-23-21-3, 2.91 GAA, 0.907 save percentage) and Karel Vejmelka (38-13-19-2, 3.
35 GAA, 0.895). BETMGM STANLEY CUP ODDS: 60-1.
With new surroundings, Utah hopes for better results than it had before departing for Salt Lake City after 28 years in the Phoenix area, most recently as the Arizona Coyotes. The Coyotes made the playoffs just once in their final 12 seasons. General manager Bill Armstrong likes to refer to this season as “the fourth year of the rebuild.
” All that said, with a core of homegrown talent led by returning leading scorer Clayton Keller, Utah could push for a postseason spot. To help get there, Armstrong made upgrading defense his offseason priority, and landing Sergachev might be the NHL's free-agency coup. There is a lot of energy with a new fan base, giving Utah a home-ice advantage it had long lacked in Arizona.
The good: This has been a slow build and this season could be a significant step forward. Keller led the club with in goals (33), assists (43) and points (76), but it's not all him. Utah returns its top 11 scorers from and now — thanks to Armstrong's deals — a much-improved defensive corps.
Sergachev not only brings the skill of a playe.
