MAMMOTH MOVES AHEAD FOR OUTLAWS IN UTAH?

TORONTO, ON — The Utah Hockey Club is in the final phase of its naming process with the Mammoth, Outlaws and Hockey Club monikers up for a fan vote.

You decide what you like best, but whatever they end up being called for the long haul won’t adjust their plans to spend big over the next six months.

Sitting eight points out of a wildcard spot in the Western Conference, Utah may not qualify for the playoffs in their first season in Salt Lake City, but that doesn’t mean they won’t try to improve their team ahead of the deadline and over the summer.

Utah’s had to deal with some injuries woes this season and while that may have cost them a few games, their big guns have been firing nicely this season and GM Bill Armstrong hopes to add some reinforcements ahead of next season.

Word on the street suggests Utah wants to add and plans on spending big going into the 2025-26 campaign. Armstrong may try to get some groundwork done over the next four-to-five weeks before the March 7 trade deadline and that could translate into bigger moves made over the summer, perhaps around the NHL Draft.

We began to hear noise at the start of January that the Chicago Blackhawks were aiming to be major players this summer in the free agent game, but they will have company.

The belief is that Utah is willing to spend to lure top-tier free agents and that could result in them being players in the Mikko Rantanen and/or Mitch Marner sweepstakes – with the hopes of signing one of them – should they hit the open market on July 1.

With a motivated ownership group, led by Ashley and Ryan Smith, Utah is poised to be a serious contender this summer. They have plenty of salary cap space leading up to the deadline, and $26.575 million in total cap space for 2025-26 with no significant free agents of their own due for major raises.

Whatever Armstrong pulls off later this season – and he may entertain selling off pending UFAs like Alexander Kerfoot, Nick Bjugstad, Ian Cole and Olli Maatta – it may only compliment what this team could do once July hits.

HERE AND THERE

• At one point on Friday, some folks within the San Jose Sharks organization thought Cody Ceci was going to Vancouver. As I reported on Saturday on X, the Sharks and Canucks are believed to have discussed a trade involving Ceci before Vancouver acquired Marcus Pettersson from Pittsburgh. Ceci was then dealt to Dallas, a move finalized Saturday morning.

• More on the Sharks: Trade talks with Dallas regarding Mikael Granlund go back a couple of months. It’s believed San Jose had interest in defenceman Lian Bichsel, but that would have resulted in a larger move for the Stars to consider.

• Final SJ note: Mario Ferraro is indeed in play. The Sharks are listening, and there’s some chatter that the Colorado Avalanche are one of the teams interested in him.

• The Boston Bruins spoke to Justin Brazeau’s camp about a contract extension in December, but it’s been crickets since. He’s a UFA in July, if he goes unsigned, and there’s some interest in him out there.

• Columbus has certainly spoken with Vancouver about Elias Pettersson, but I never got the sense from those around the Blue Jackets organization that talks intensified at any point based on the asking price.

• Buffalo continues to talk to teams about Dylan Cozens. Chicago and Calgary are among the teams interested. Something to keep an eye on.

• The Rangers offered Vancouver Filip Chytil, a young defenceman and a first-round pick a few years ago for J.T. Miller before the 2022 trade deadline. The Canucks wanted Braden Schneider, but New York declined. I’m not sure who the young blueliner was back then, but fast forward to Friday’s deal and pretty much the same deal, this time with Victor Mancini in it, was accepted this time around.

• As Dennis Bernstein first reported, Los Angeles is looking for a right-shot, scoring winger to add to their lineup. With limited salary cap space, any impact addition will result in at least one player coming off the current roster.