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How soon could NHL Utah be a contender? A look at their top prospects and young players

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How soon could NHL Utah be a contender? A look at their top prospects and young players


Hockey fans in Utah have recently learned that the Arizona Coyotes will be relocating to their state. I’m sure one question fans have is: What are they getting in the former Coyotes organization, what do they have, what do they still need and where are they in the contention cycle?

To highlight this, I’m going to focus on the core players either on the roster or in the pipeline who are age 25 or under, who can be part of the foreseeable future in Utah.

Centers

Logan Cooley, Barrett Hayton, Conor Geekie, Jack McBain

Cooley may be the most important player currently in the Utah organization. Having an elite NHL player or two is a near necessity for winning a championship. Clayton Keller is excellent but isn’t an elite NHL player. Cooley is the organization’s best shot at that type of player based on his talent level and how he’s played at various levels the last few seasons. As a 19-year-old rookie, he recorded 44 points in 82 NHL games. He’s a dynamic skater, puck handler and passer who can make a lot of high-end skilled plays at a top pace. He’s not that big but competes well. He has the makings of a potential star No. 1 center that Utah can build a winner around.

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Hayton and Geekie are both very good young centers. Hayton is a several-year pro who hasn’t lived up to the billing of his fifth overall selection in 2018, but is a middle-six center in the league. Geekie is a recent top-15 pick still in junior hockey, but was very good in the WHL this past season. Geekie is a bit bigger than Hayton, Hayton is a little more skilled, neither are great skaters, but both compete well and make a lot of plays with the puck. The hope is they can be the 2/3 punch down the middle, in some order, with Cooley leading the charge for this organization.

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Wings

Daniil But, Josh Doan, Dylan Guenther, Clayton Keller, Matias Maccelli

This is the strongest position for Utah currently. Keller is a star who was a high pick from the beginning of the current rebuild. He’s a dynamic forward with high-end skill and hockey sense who plays with pace and will be a high-producing forward for a while.

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Maccelli has developed phenomenally — after being a fourth-round pick in 2019 — into a legit NHL scorer. He went that low because he’s not that big or fast, but has overcome those issues because of how good his puck play is. Maccelli is super smart and skilled with the puck and can run an NHL power play off the flank. To go with Keller and Maccelli are top-tier young prospects in Guenther and But.

Guenther’s first full year as a pro went very well. He was a productive AHL player before coming up to the NHL and scoring 35 points in 45 games for the Coyotes. He’s a big winger who skates well and while he can make plays, it’s his elite shot that defines his offensive value and should make him a valuable top-six wing on a good team with a chance to be a legit top-line winger.

But was a high first-round pick a year ago. He had a strong year versus men production-wise even if his ice time wasn’t amazing on a top KHL team. The toolkit he has looks like an NHL player. He’s huge at 6-foot-5 and maybe taller. He skates quite well for a guy his size. He has very good offensive skills and he’s able to finish chances well. But is a year or two away from the NHL, but he has the potential to be a top-six wing as well.

Josh Doan is a high second-round pick from 2021, and the son of organization legend Shane Doan, who looked quite good as a rookie pro as well and is showing indicators he could be a middle-six wing in the league given his skill, size and compete level.

Between Keller, Guenther, But, Maccelli and Doan, Utah has a potential large part of its future on the wing built out already especially since that’s a position that can be more easily plugged in through free agency.

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Dmitri Simashev, the sixth overall pick at the 2023 NHL Draft, has the potential to be a major-minutes, all-situations defenseman in the NHL. (Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)

Defensemen

Sean Durzi, Maveric Lamoureux, J.J. Moser, Dmitri Simashev, Juuso Valimaki

Utah has some good young talent at defense, but between their forward and blue-line situations, there is a need for more on defense in terms of building a contending group.

They made a good initial step last summer though drafting Dmitri Simashev with the sixth overall pick. He will play in Russia for another year, but he’s a big, athletic defenseman who has some skill and competes hard. He has the potential to be a major-minutes, all-situations defenseman in the NHL.

Lamoureux has some offense/puck-moving questions, but his massive frame, plus strong skating and physical play could make him a second or third-pair defenseman.

Moser and Durzi have played big roles on the recent Coyotes teams. I don’t know if on a contender they are going to be the leaned-on type of defensemen they were this season given that neither are amazing skaters. Both are very smart and competitive players though, and Durzi has the creative mind to run an NHL power play well.

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Goaltender

Michael Hrabal

Utah used a high second-round pick in 2023 on Hrabal, who is one of the better goaltending prospects in hockey currently. He doesn’t project as a true impact starting goalie, but he looks like a future NHL goaltender given his massive frame, good quickness, and hockey sense. He projects at least as a tandem starter with a chance to be a legit starting goaltender.

Projecting NHL Utah’s future

Utah has spent quite a few years rebuilding, starting way back with picking Dylan Strome third overall in 2015, and after a lot of seasons of losing in Arizona a new fan base in Salt Lake City could be in position to benefit from the assets they’ve accumulated.

They have a desirable group of young forwards. They have a strong potential top center in Cooley, and a good nucleus of talent to build a contending top-nine group around. Even though they didn’t have a good season overall, Arizona still finished middle of the pack in the NHL in goals scored and has room to grow with the development of their young forwards.

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They have some good young blueliners, but continuing to build out their group of young defensemen is still a priority for this organization. It remains to be seen how Simashev is going to be as a pro as he develops, even if he’s a highly promising player. Maybe a second-round pick like Artyom Duda hits, but for now this is the area of the organization that needs more high-end depth. Utah has another high pick this season in a defense-heavy class; maybe the team will pick up another top prospect there.

Overall, this is an organization trending slowly in the right direction. If they even got average goaltending this season they could have pushed for a playoff spot and were at points this season. I can see them becoming a legit playoff contender over the next two to three years, and if they acquire or develop one or two more premium young players they could form a core that can be a contender down the line.

(Photo of Logan Cooley: Norm Hall / NHLI via Getty Images)





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22-year-old arrested in Utah in connection to Las Vegas double-homicide

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22-year-old arrested in Utah in connection to Las Vegas double-homicide


LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — Officials have identified a 22-year-old man as the suspect in a Las Vegas homicide case that killed two people in a Southern Highlands neighborhood.

Detectives say 22-year-old Ziaire Ham was the suspect in the case. According to officials, Ham was located on Tuesday, March 3, by the Ogden City Police Department and the Utah Highway Patrol.

Ham was taken into custody and booked into the Weber County Jail. Las Vegas authorities said he will be charged with open murder with the use of a deadly weapon and will be extradited back to the valley.

MORE ON FOX5: LVMPD corrections officer arrested on multiple felony charges

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The shooting occurred Monday night at the 11000 block of Victoria Medici Street, near Starr Ave and Dean Martin Drive.

According to police, officers were conducting a vehicle stop in the area when they heard gunfire. After searching nearby neighborhoods they found a car with bullet impacts with a woman and a toddler inside suffering from gunshot wounds.

The pair were transported to hospital where they later died. The Clark County Coroner’s Office identified them as Danaijha Robinson, 20, and 1-year-old Nhalani Hiner.



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Utah nonprofit creates events, experiences for disadvantaged children

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Utah nonprofit creates events, experiences for disadvantaged children


A simple moment watching a child laugh changed everything for Ivan Gonzalez.

Eight years ago, Gonzalez was working at the Ronald McDonald House when he had an idea to throw a birthday carnival for the kids staying there.

“Let’s do a carnival, birthday carnival for the kids,” he said.

MORE | Pay It Forward

What happened during that event stuck with him.

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“There I was watching this kid play whack-a-mole, just having a blast, laughing,” Gonzalez said. “And then I see his mom kind of with happy tears because he’s enjoying himself.”

That moment led to something bigger.

Gonzalez realized the experience shouldn’t stop with just one event or just one group of kids.

“I said, wait, we can do this not just for kids in the hospital,” he said with excitement.

So he started a nonprofit called Best Seat in the House, which creates events and experiences for children who often face difficult circumstances.

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“We provide events and experiences for disadvantaged kids,” Gonzalez said.

The organization serves children battling cancer and other medical conditions, refugee children, kids living in poverty, those in foster care and children with special needs.

“These kids grow up too fast,” Gonzalez said.

For Gonzalez, the mission is deeply personal.

“I grew up very poor,” he said.

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He remembers the people who stepped in for his family when they needed it most.

“The local church, we weren’t even a part of it,” he described. “My parents couldn’t afford Christmas gifts and I still remember the gifts they gave me. They didn’t even know me.”

Today, he hopes to create that same feeling for other children through his nonprofit.

“Kids live in poverty and they don’t know where the next meal is coming from, let alone going to a play or to a game,” Gonzalez said.

But for Gonzalez, the reward isn’t the events themselves, it’s the joy they create.

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“You can give me a billion dollars, all the money in the world,” he says as tears roll down his face. “I won’t trade these opportunitieskids just enjoying life.”

Because of his work giving back, KUTV and Mountain America Credit Union surprised Gonzalez with a Pay it Forward gift to help him continue creating those moments for kids across Utah.

For more information on supporting Best Seat in the House, click here.

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‘Don’t release him ever. Please.’ Family of slain Utah teen calls for justice at parole hearing

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‘Don’t release him ever. Please.’ Family of slain Utah teen calls for justice at parole hearing


SALT LAKE CITY — Francisco Daniel Aguilar says he’s sorry for shooting and killing his girlfriend, 16-year-old Jacqueline “Jacky” Nunez-Millan, a Piute High School sophomore, in 2023.

But just as he did when he was sentenced, he didn’t have much of an explanation on Tuesday as to why he shot her not once, but twice.

“It just kinda happened. I was mad. And I stepped out (of my truck) and started shooting,” he said. “When I saw her fall, I just kind of panicked, I just went and shot her again.”

But Jacky’s friends and family members say even before she was killed, Aguilar already had a history of violence, and they now want justice to be served.

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“You don’t accidentally take a gun, you don’t accidentally grab a knife … you don’t accidentally shoot someone, those are all choices,” a tearful Rosa Nunez, Jacky’s sister, said at Tuesday’s hearing. “Keep him where he needs to be.

“Don’t release him ever. Please.”

On Jan. 7, 2023, Aguilar, who was 17 at the time, got into a fight with his girlfriend, Jacky, shot her twice and left her body near a dirt road outside of Circleville, Piute County. He was convicted as an adult of aggravated murder and sentenced to a term of 25 years to up to life in prison.

Because of Aguilar’s age at the time of the offense, board member Greg Johnson explained Tuesday that the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole is required to hold a hearing much earlier than the 25-year mark, mainly to check on Aguilar and “see how things are going.” Aguilar, now 20, is currently being held in a juvenile secure care facility and will be transferred to the Utah State Prison when he turns 25 or earlier if he has discipline violations and is kicked out of the youth facility.

According to Aguilar’s sentencing guidelines, he will likely remain in custody until at least the year 2051.

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During Tuesday’s hearing, Aguilar told the board that he was feeling “stressed out” during his senior year of high school. He said he and Jacky would often have little arguments. But their bigger fight happened when he failed to get her a “promise ring” around Christmastime, he said.

On the night of the killing, the two were arguing about the promise ring and other items, Aguilar recalled. At one point, he grabbed a knife and then a gun because, he said, he wanted to “irritate” and “scare” Jacky. According to evidence presented in the preliminary hearing, Aguilar and his girlfriend had been “trying to make each other angry” when Aguilar took ammunition and a 9mm gun from his father’s room and then drove to the Black Hill area in his truck with Jacky.

Jacky’s friend, McKall Taylor, went looking for her that night and found her. But after Aguilar shot Jacky in the leg, he began shooting at Taylor, who had no choice but to run to her car to get away. Her car was hit multiple times by bullets. Aguilar then shot Jacky a second time as she lay on the ground and Taylor drove away.

On Tuesday, Taylor’s mother, Lori Taylor, read a statement to the board on her daughter’s behalf.

“My innocence and freedom was taken from me,” she said.

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McKall Taylor says the “horrifying events of that night will forever play in my head,” and the sounds of Jacky screaming and the gunshots as well as the sight of Jacky falling to the ground, will never go away.

“Francisco is a murderer who has zero remorse,” her letter states.

Likewise, Rosa Nunez told the board that for her and her family, “nothing in our world has felt safe since” that night as they all “continue to relive this horrific moment.”

After shooting Jacky and driving off, Aguilar says he called his father and “told him I was sorry for not being better, for not making good choices, I told him that I loved him. I was just planning on probably shooting myself, too.”

His father told him that although what he did wasn’t right, “he’d rather see me behind bars than in a casket,” and then told his son to “be a man about it. … This is where you have to change.”

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Aguilar was arrested after his tires were spiked by police.

“An apology won’t fix what I did. I’ll never be able to fix what I did. But I want to say I’m sorry,” he said Tuesday. “I don’t even know how to fix what I did. I’m hoping I’m on the right track now.”

Johnson noted that Aguilar has done well during his short time being incarcerated. But that doesn’t change the fact “the crime was horrific,” he said.

The full five-member board will now take a vote. The board could decide to schedule another parole hearing for sometime in the future or could order that Aguilar serve his entire life sentence. But even if that were to happen, Johnson says Aguilar could petition every so often for a redetermination hearing.

The board’s decision is expected in several weeks.

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The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.



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