Is Utah Hockey Club playoff-bound after adding Mikhail Sergachev and John Marino?

Mikhail Sergachev and John Marino: Welcome to Utah.

Utah: Welcome to the playoffs.

That’s an incredibly bold proclamation to make about a team that finished with 77 points last season. But it’s clear in looking at their talented and young roster that this group is poised to make some noise in its inaugural season in Utah. The franchise formerly known as the Arizona Coyotes looks ready to take the next step and its two new additions to the blue line should really help the cause.

Defense was Utah’s biggest concern heading into the offseason, with the main issue being a lack of high-end talent. Sergachev immediately changes that as a player who has shown No. 1 defenseman promise throughout his career; he’s a strong puck-mover who can create a ton of offense from the back end. He’s exactly what this team needed: an elite offensive driver.

So, too, is Marino: a top-four shutdown defenseman with serious puck-moving abilities. While Marino had a tough 2023-24 season on the surface, his work the year prior gives plenty of reason to expect a bounce-back. That, and his sparkling tracked stats — he excels at retrieving pucks, breaking pucks out, joining the rush and defending his blue line. He’s incredibly efficient with the puck which is a huge improvement over Janis Moser, who went the other way in the Sergachev deal.

Where Sergachev and Marino bring the most value is in making high-level plays with the puck in all three zones. That’s something that’s been lacking for years in this franchise; a problem area that was solved in a span of 20 minutes on the draft floor.

Their presence should unlock what was already looking like an underrated forward core, one with a lot of strength off the wing. 

Yes, things look dicey down the middle still, but Utah has some real offensive strength off the perimeter that will be tough to handle. Clayton Keller and Nick Schmaltz lead the way there as top-line guys, but Utah also has a dynamic duo of Matias Maccelli and Dylan Guenther behind them that complements them well. Guenther, the ninth pick in 2021, was a revelation down the stretch. There may not be a superstar among that quartet, but Utah’s top six wingers are still among the league’s best from top to bottom. Add Josh Doan and his excellent 11-game audition to the mix and Utah’s top nine looks stacked. 

The team’s ability up front will hinge on how much Logan Cooley can progress in his sophomore season, but the potential is obviously there for him to take a significant step forward. He and the other centers will be insulated well with support off the wing, and now some stronger support on the back end. 

With Sergachev and Marino in town, the rest of the defense falls into place nicely. Sean Durzi and Juuso Välimäki make for a solid second pair while Michael Kesselring is fine on the third pair. 

Even if that group is still defensively inadequate, Utah not only has the offensive firepower to make up for it — it looks to have relatively stable goaltending to help as well. Connor Ingram has been fantastic in back-to-back seasons and if he can keep that up, the team looks pretty set between the pipes.

As is, the team looks good enough to be a playoff team — if its young players progress as expected. Its projected Net Rating currently sits at plus-20, with nine goals added by way of age adjustment. With that in mind, next season feels like it could be a breakthrough season for the club, which is why the additions of Sergachev and Marino make a lot of sense. They’re the exact players who can help push a relatively green team into the playoffs.

Inexperience and a dire blue line helped sink the team last year, with an abhorrent 7-21-3 midseason stretch headlined by a 14-game losing streak. That undid a lot of goodwill from a strong start (19-14-2) and strong finish (10-6-0), a lesson this group can use next season toward putting together a complete 82. The stability added via Sergachev and Marino should certainly help with the full-season consistency needed to do so.

What also helps is the likelihood that Utah isn’t done yet either. The NHL’s newest team entered the offseason with the league’s best salary-cap situation and while some of that was spent on its two new defenders, it still has a ton of space to do some serious damage.

Maybe that’s a center to beef up down the middle. Maybe that’s another top-four defenseman. Either way, Utah’s situation looks extremely promising for the 2024-25 season.

The playoffs are no guarantee for any team, let alone one that finished with 77 points last season. But as things stand now, Utah will likely enter next season with playoff chances north of 50 percent — a big deal for the team’s inaugural season.

That may seem like a bold take, but this team really does feel like it has what it takes to be a problem in the West next season. After years of patient planning, Utah looks to have added the right pieces at the right moment to become a playoff team. In Year 1, Utah is ready to reap the seeds sown in Arizona.

(Photo of Mikhail Sergachev skating ahead of Nick Schmaltz: Christian Petersen / Getty Images)