Inside look at Utah Hockey Club | NHL.com

NHL.com is providing in-depth roster, prospect and fantasy analysis for each of its 32 teams from Aug. 1-Sept. 1. Today, the Utah Hockey Club.

While most of the NHL is preparing for new arrivals in the form of draft picks and free agents ahead of the 2024-25 season, things are a little different in Utah. Players and staff for the Utah Hockey Club are picking out houses, choosing school systems and finding their way to the nearest grocery store.

But once training camp starts, the Utah Hockey Club will get started on a season that it hopes will end in a competitive spring — and maybe even in a spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

General manager Bill Armstrong won’t go quite that far, though.

“I really like the way it’s come together,” Armstrong told NHL.com in late July. “I like the way the organization is set up. It’s very rare that you don’t have a bad contract on your team, and we’ve set ourselves up to now make that next step.

“But it also has to happen organically. You can’t just make it happen on paper. The team has to make a step on the ice. And they have a chance to do that this year. If we can be playing meaningful games down the stretch, it’s going to be a hell of a season.”

The Utah Hockey Club officially joined the NHL on June 13 and purchased the contracts of Arizona Coyotes executives, coaches and players, taking over a rebuild that is in its fourth year. To go along with a bright young core, the organization has accumulated and hit on draft picks to bolster its prospect pool by taking on contracts and developing a scouting staff.

It has gotten them to the point where Armstrong will call his charges “a decent team.”

And though everyone in Utah, from the new owners to its newest fans, would welcome a playoff spot, that’s something Armstrong believes is a goal for next season. For this season, he’s keeping his expectations more tempered.

“If you look at our roster, how far we stripped it down, it’s very rare that a team going through the rebuild coming out of the fourth year makes the playoffs,” Armstrong said. “We’ve got to set realistic goals here. I don’t see us [in the postseason] — you never know — but it’s unlikely. What we want to do is take that step where we know we can be in the hunt and play meaningful games.

“If we can do that coming down the stretch and be driving in the final 20 games, it’s going to give us a lot of momentum for the following season.”