(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Hockey Club center Clayton Keller (9) as Utah Hockey Club hosts the Tampa Bay Lightning, NHL hockey at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, March 22, 2025.
Utah Hockey Club held exit-day interviews for all of its players last week, following the end of the franchise’s inaugural season.
Here are some key takeaways.
Clayton Keller chuckled when asked if he has fully processed everything that has transpired in the last year — from the Arizona Coyotes’ relocation to Salt Lake City, earning the new franchise’s first captaincy and charging towards (but ultimately missing) a spot in the playoffs.
“No, not yet,” Keller said. “Maybe once I get back home for a little bit. Kind of relax, see some family and just lay low for a little bit and enjoy it.”
While this season was Keller’s ninth in the NHL, he is only 26 years old, making him one of the youngest captains in the league. Rasmus Dahlin, Brady Tkachuk, Nick Suzuki and Quinn Hughes are the only ones who beat Keller out; they are all 25.
It’s a heavy responsibility on any team to wear the “C.” Even more so when entering an unknown market. Keller was the face of the Arizona Coyotes for the eight years prior — this was a whole new challenge, though.
“I think it was a bit of a learning process the whole year,” Keller said. “New city, new franchise, being named captain. It was a lot and I’m overall pretty happy with how I was able to handle it. Both being a captain and still taking care of business on the ice.”
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Hockey Club center Clayton Keller (9) as Utah Hockey Club hosts the Tampa Bay Lightning, NHL hockey at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, March 22, 2025.
After going on a 12-game goalless drought in November, Keller caught fire. The forward finished the year with a career-high 90 points (30 goals, 60 assists). The 60 assists were his most ever, too.
It helped that Keller had an up-and-coming supporting cast. He finished the season skating on the first line with youngsters Logan Cooley and Dylan Guenther, who were two of the biggest bright spots of the season. Their development — and being second and fourth on the team in points, respectively — has made Keller better and vice versa.
Keller admitted that despite the clear production in his playmaking ability, he wants to shoot more. Things actually open up for his linemates when he’s putting the puck on net, he said. Keller had 37 goals in 2022-23, which is a high he is still looking to break. More than that, though, he wants team success.
(Chris Samuels | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Hockey Club center Clayton Keller looks toward the net versus the Seattle Kraken at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Tuesday, April 8, 2025.
“It’s nice but that’s not what drives me. What drives me is winning,” Keller said. “You want to be a player that’s impactful in the playoffs, in big situations when it matters the most. Until that happens — the rest is good and I care tremendously about my game and things like that.”
Matias Maccelli was supposed to be a difference-maker. Instead, he watched a quarter of Utah Hockey Club’s games from the stands.
The forward — who had 57 points (17 goals, 40 assists) last season — was a regular healthy scratch for the Club in the second half. He ended the year with a surprising 18 points (eight goals, 10 assists) in 55 games. Maccelli never found the consistency or numbers that Utah needed from him, and he was given a long leash in the beginning to do just that.
“Obviously not what I was expecting or anyone was expecting for coming in this season. There’s still stuff to learn,” Maccelli said. “Just have to get back at it this summer, get better and have a better year next year.”
It seems the organization still has faith in Maccelli — he was, after all, the second-highest scoring rookie in 2022-2023 with 49 points and made the NHL All-Rookie Team — but his role in Utah is unclear now.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Hockey Club left wing Matias Maccelli (63) skates, in NHL action between the Utah Hockey Club and the San Jose Sharks, at the Delta Center, on Friday, Jan 10, 2025.
He was beat out for lineup spots by guys like Michael Carcone, Josh Doan and, down the stretch, Kailer Yamamoto. When given a second chance in March, nothing seemed to change in his two-way game. So, Maccelli was shelved again. Given these circumstances, is Utah still a place Maccelli wants to be?
“I still have one more year [on my contract]. I would like to be here,” Maccelli said. “Like the guys here a lot, love the fans. It’s been a good city to play in. Would be good to get back on track here.”
Next season is the last of Maccelli’s three-year, $10.2 million contract he signed in July 2023. Barring an offseason trade — which is not off the table — Maccelli will have another go to prove himself to the Club.
The whole thing is disappointing, though, and you can hear it in the way Maccelli talks about his season. He will head home to Finland for the summer and look to use that as a reset, physically and mentally.
“It’s a lot when you’re not playing,” Maccelli said. “You want to be out there with the guys, help the team win. But you’re not. It’s a mental grind. Just trying to go through it.”
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Hockey Club left wing Matias Maccelli (63) during an NHL hockey game at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Friday, Jan. 31, 2025.
Ian Cole did not care to put a flowery flair on how Utah Hockey Club finished things — that is, out of the playoff picture.
“I think the way the season ended with the team was certainly disappointing. I think to say anything else would be a bit of a lie,” the veteran defenseman said. “I think there were positive aspects to it, absolutely, but I think not making the playoffs was something that was disappointing. And it should be.”
This is Cole’s first time not appearing in the postseason since 2011. He and other offseason acquisitions like Mikhail Sergachev, Olli Määttä and Kevin Stenlund have had the expectation of competing past 82 games. They have all won Stanley Cups.
“It is disappointing — couldn’t get to the playoffs and that’s the goal you have to have every season,” Määttä said. “The standard you’ve got to have and what we’re trying to build here. I think it leaves a little hunger — a lot, actually — for the next year.”
(Chris Samuels | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Hockey Club goalkeeper Karel Vejmelka (70) and defenseman Ian Cole (28) converse during a stoppage in play versus the Seattle Kraken at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Tuesday, April 8, 2025.
While Utah finished with 89 points (12 more than the Arizona Coyotes had last season) it was not enough to clinch the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference. The St. Louis Blues secured it with 96 points, just seven more than the Club.
It is easy, in retrospect, to say what if — especially with the games that Utah continually let slip away. The Club had the second-most overtime losses in the league with 13. Those 13 extra points would have the team in the playoffs. But, it doesn’t matter. The growing pains will have to be a learning opportunity.
“It stings. It’s frustrating. That was a huge goal of ours. Something each guy wanted so badly. It stings and there’s hunger as well. Watching teams clinch playoff spots — honestly, it pisses you off. Sucks that we’re not in that position. All we can do is take that into the summer and grow,” forward Barrett Hayton said.
“We learned how to win games. We learned how to play those top teams and compete every night. I think we’re a night and day different team.”
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Hockey Club forward Barrett Hayton (27) as Utah Hockey Club hosts the Los Angeles Kings, NHL pre-season hockey in Salt Lake City on Monday, Sept. 23, 2024.
Utah is coming out of the fourth year of the rebuild that general manager Bill Armstrong started in 2020. Excuses for losing will begin to run out and the grace of being a first-year team will, too. The players seem to know that.
“There’s only one goal in that locker room. The rebuild is over. We know what we have to do now,” Jack McBain said. “It is not really if, it’s when here. There’s no uncertainty anymore. It’s go time here.”
Defenseman Mikhail Sergachev will spend the summer in his native Russia; don’t worry, the defenseman said he is hiring someone to watch his backyard chickens while he is away. It is where Sergachev does his off-season training and, this year, he is looking to include Utah prospect Dmitriy Simashev in some sessions.
“I’m trying to plan our summer skates so he can come and join me and we can skate together,” Sergachev said.
Simashev — who is from Kostroma, Russia — was the sixth overall pick of the Coyotes in the 2023 NHL Draft. He is a highly anticipated blueliner for the Club, standing at 6-foot-4, 198 pounds with a strong dependability about his game at a young age.
Simashev is currently playing in the KHL for Lokomotiv Yaroslavl. Sergachev said he had texted Simashev earlier in the season, but is leaving him alone right now as he and his team are competing in the playoffs.
(Chris Samuels | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Hockey Club defenseman Mikhail Sergachev handles the puck versus the Seattle Kraken at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Tuesday, April 8, 2025.
Sergachev never played in the KHL — and has a different, more offensive style on the ice — but his past and path to the NHL will be useful for the 20-year-old Simashev when he eventually makes the transition.
“I’ll do my best to help him out,” Sergachev said. “And that goes for the guys that I’m not a role model for. I’ll do my best to help the guys because I want the best outcome for us. If I can help, I’ll help.”
Fellow Utah prospect, forward Daniil But, is on Lokomotiv Yaroslavl with Simashev. He was the 12th overall pick in that same 2023 NHL Draft. The hope is that both players will be able to come over from the KHL and join the organization — whether that is in Utah or with the AHL’s Tucson Roadrunners — next season.
“I think there’s a good chance of that, yes,” Armstrong said. “I think there’s a good chance they will come over. We’ll see how it works. There’s a long process to get that done.”
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