This is the first game in franchise history that Jack McBain hasn’t played.
The only guys that have yet to miss a game are Nick Schmaltz and Ian Cole.#TusksUp
— Brogan Houston (@houston_brogan) April 5, 2026
Utah
Mammoth’s Dylan Guenther makes Canucks regret trading his draft pick all over again
If the Vancouver Canucks could hit the “undo” button on one trade in the last decade or so, it would have to be the one that ultimately landed Dylan Guenther with the Utah Mammoth.
In a draft day trade in 2021, the then-Arizona Coyotes acquired the ninth overall pick from the Canucks, which the Coyotes used to select Guenther.
Five years later, “Gunner” has five goals and 11 points in 10 career games against the Canucks — including a goal and an assist in the Mammoth’s 7-4 win at Rogers Arena on Saturday.
He’s also two goals away from the 40 mark for the season. For context, Brock Boeser leads the Canucks in goals this season with 21.
The only things the Canucks have left from the deal are a pair of mediocre draft picks from flipping Conor Garland to the Columbus Blue Jackets and four more seasons of millions in dead cap space after buying Oliver Ekman-Larsson’s contract out two years later.
But Guenther’s two points on Saturday were only half of what the game’s leading scorer, Clayton Keller, contributed. Among his four points were three goals, lining up his third career hat trick and his first with the Utah franchise.
In true Keller fashion, he shrugged off his success without even cracking a smile.
“It feels good, for sure. Great plays by the guys on all of them, so, yeah, it’s good to score, for sure,” he said.
It was an all-hands-on-deck type of win for the Mammoth, with 13 different players recording points (including five of the six defensemen). Their third win in a row maintains their healthy lead in the wild card race, though they still haven’t officially clinched a playoff spot.
Through two seasons of existence, Utah remains perfect against Vancouver. The Philadelphia Flyers and the Buffalo Sabres are the only other teams that have yet to beat the league’s newest team, though each of them has only seen Utah four times, as opposed to Vancouver’s six.
How deep can you go?
Depth is a trait of virtually every Stanley Cup-winning team. The regular season is a grind and the playoffs are even more intense, so there are always injuries. The best teams find ways to overcome them.
With a few exceptions, the Mammoth have been largely fortunate this season on the injury front — unlike last year, when two of their top four defensemen missed more than half the season. But over the last week or so, guys have started to drop.
It began with Barrett Hayton, who collided with a teammate just seconds into the Mammoth’s March 24 game against the Edmonton Oilers and is now out on a week-to-week basis.
In Thursday’s game against the Seattle Kraken, Jack McBain took an Adam Larsson shot to the leg and is also out week to week. NHL Edge lists Larsson in the 92nd percentile in shot speed, so you can imagine how much that must have stung.
MacKenzie Weegar missed Saturday’s game, too, with what the Mammoth categorized as an “upper-body injury” expected to keep him out on a day-to-day basis.
It isn’t clear what caused Weegar’s injury, though he did take a fairly hard hit from Jacob Melanson with 9:58 on the clock in the third period on Thursday. That said, Weegar did finish that shift and played another three shifts afterwards.
But Utah’s depth guys are coming up big.
Liam O’Brien, who hadn’t played in precisely two months, scored what may have been the prettiest of his 13 career NHL goals Saturday, beating Nikita Tolopilo on a move to the backhand with speed.
“He’s such a great teammate, great guy, and he grinds every single day, so that’s, like, awesome to see,” Keller said of O’Brien.
Nick DeSimone filled Weegar’s spot on the back end, playing his first game since March 10. As always, he played as if he hadn’t missed a game all year.
He was on the ice for two goals against, but neither one was directly his fault — and he made up for it by being present for three Mammoth goals, registering an assist on one of them.
And with the likes of Dmitri Simashev, Kevin Rooney, Daniil But and a number of other capable role players on the outside looking in, the team is well-equipped to handle additional adversity that may come as it pushes for the playoffs.
“It’s not just having depth. It’s having guys you trust,” said Mammoth head coach André Tourigny after the game. “Both of those two guys (O’Brien and DeSimone), I trust them. They play the right way, they’re good pros, they stay ready. (No matter) how long they don’t play, they jump in.”
“We have a deep lineup and anyone that steps in is a great player and someone that knows our systems well and can contribute. O’Brien and DeSimone stepped in tonight and were great for us,” added Keller.
Goal of the game
Fans were treated to a number of beautiful goals on Saturday, but there’s one that stands out above the rest.
Kailer Yamamoto tipped a Logan Cooley shot-pass through his legs and into the net to tie the game early.
Keep in mind that Yamamoto is a guy who spent nearly all of last season in the minors and has watched a lot of games from the press box this year. It takes immense amounts of skill and confidence to pull off a move like that in an NHL game, and Yamamoto has plenty of both.
I said it on X and I’ll repeat it here: As long as players like Yamamoto are on the fringe of NHL rosters, I refuse the notion that expansion over-dilutes the game. More than ever before, the number of elite hockey players far exceeds the amount of NHL roster spots.
Yamamoto and plenty of others in similar positions deserve to be permanent, full-time NHLers with no fear of losing their jobs. Keep expanding.
A few Utah stars took one step closer to living out their dreams of playing professional football as the 2026 NFL Draft played out in Pittsburgh over the weekend.
Three Utes were phoned by NFL teams over the past three days, including two in the first round for the first time in school history.
Here’s what Utah’s 2026 draft class looked like following the seventh round on Saturday:
- Spencer Fano (OL): Drafted No. 9 overall by the Cleveland Browns
- Caleb Lomu (OL): Picked No. 28 overall by the New England Patriots
- Dallen Bentley (TE): Selected No. 256 overall by the Denver Broncos
It was the fourth time since 2020 that multiple Utah players were selected in the same draft. Fano became the third-highest drafted player in program history, behind only Alex Smith (No. 1 overall in 2005) and Jordan Gross (No. 8 overall in 2003).
As historic as the 2026 draft was for the Utes, how does their latest draft class compare to some of the previous classes they’ve produced? Let’s take a look at some of Utah’s other notable draft classes and figure out how the next batch of pro Utes fits into the equation.
Utah’s Best NFL Draft Classes
2020
- Jaylon Johnson (2nd round, No. 50 overall)
- Julian Blackmon (3rd round, No. 85 overall)
- Zack Moss (3rd round, No. 86 overall)
- Terrell Burgess (3rd round, No. 104 overall)
- Leki Fotu (4th round, No. 114 overall)
- Bradlee Anae (5th round, No. 179 overall)
- John Penisini (6th round, No. 197 overall)
Average career length: 4.6 years (four active in 2025)
Accolades: 1x Super Bowl champion (Burgess), 2x Pro Bowls (Johnson)
2017
- Garett Bolles (1st round, No. 20 overall)
- Marcus Williams (2nd round, No. 42 overall)
- Joe Williams (4th round, No. 121 overall)
- Isaac Asiata (5th round, No. 164 overall)
- Brian Allen (5th round, No. 173 overall)
- JJ Dielman (5th round, No. 176 overall)
- Sam Tevi (6th round, No. 190 overall)
- Pita Taumoepenu (6th round, No. 202 overall)
Average career length: 4 years (two active in 2025)
Accolades: 1x All-Pro, 1x Pro Bowl (Bolles)
2019
- Marquise Blair (2nd round, No. 47 overall)
- Cody Barton (3rd round, No. 88 overall)
- Mitch Wishnowsky (4th round, No. 110 overall)
- Matt Gay (5th round, No. 145 overall)
- Jackson Barton (7th round, No. 240 overall)
Average career length: 6 years (three active in 2025)
Accolades: 1x Super Bowl champion, 1x Pro Bowl (Gay)
2010
- Koa Misi (2nd round, No. 40 overall)
- Zane Beadles (2nd round, No. 45 overall)
- Robert Johnson (5th round, No. 148 overall)
- David Reed (5th round, No. 156 overall)
- Stevenson Sylvester (5th round, No. 166 overall)
- RJ Stanford (7th round, No. 223 overall)
Average career length: 4.7 years
Accolades: 1x Super Bowl champion (Reed), 1x Pro Bowl (Beadles)
2005
- Alex Smith (1st round, No. 1 overall)
- Sione Pouha (3rd round, No. 88 overall)
- Chris Kemoeatu (6th round, No. 204 overall)
- Parris Warren (7th round, No. 225 overall)
- Jonathan Fanene (7th round, No. 233 overall)
Average career length: 7 years
Accolades: 1x Super Bowl champion (Kemoeatu), 3x Pro Bowl, Comeback Player of the Year (Smith)
Where Utah’s 2026 Draft Class Stands
Obviously, only time will tell just how many combined years and accolades the Utes’ 2026 class racks up at the pro level. If Fano and Lomu each play 10-plus seasons and collect a Pro Bowl nod or two along the way, the 2026 class could rival the 2005 and 2010 classes.
Due to the volume of the 2017 and 2020 classes, respectively, it’s hard to compare the 2026 group to those classes — at least, right now it is. If either (or both) of Utah’s first-round tackles goes on to become one of the best at their position and Dallen Bentley develops into a bonafide starter who contributes on good teams, then we’d have to revisit the conversation.
For now, we’re not going to place that kind of pressure on the 2026 class.
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SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — Utah Republicans are heading toward several competitive June primaries following the state party convention.
Rep. Blake Moore will advance to a Republican primary after falling short of the threshold needed to secure the nomination.
“I have always been a convention-supported candidate, but today I’m asking you to make me the outright winner so that I will go spend the next six months making sure every American knows the difference between common sense and crazy,” Moore said, pointing to tax cuts and endorsements.
MORE | Local Politics:
Delegates instead backed challenger Karianne Lisonbee, who won more than 60% of the vote, sending Moore into a primary despite his signature-gathering effort to also secure a place on the ballot.
“There are always going to be results that you don’t anticipate,” Utah Republican Party Chair Rob Axson said.
In Utah’s 3rd Congressional District, Rep. Celeste Maloy and challenger Phil Lyman also advanced to a June primary after a tightly contested convention vote. Maloy received 51% support, while Lyman received 49%.
Maloy emphasized her legislative experience and accomplishments in office.
“Experience and know-how really matter in this job,” Maloy said. “I’ve been doing the job for just a little more than two years. I’m passing bills that fix problems in Utah.”
“The stakes are high,” Lyman said. “I’m telling you, there is a game that’s being played, and we need to understand that the stakes are very high for our children.”
Axson said the close results are likely to energize voters ahead of the primary.
“I think it will keep people engaged,” Axson said. “We’re going to have a lot of people who are interested, and they’ll be leaning into these races and their preferred candidates.”
The Republican primaries are scheduled for June, when voters across Utah will make the final decision on the party’s nominees.
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It’s a big day in Utah politics! The Utah Republican Party and the Utah Democratic Party are both holding their state conventions! Max Roth is covering the Republicans at Utah Valley University in Orem and Ben Winslow is covering the Democrats at Jordan High School in Sandy. Follow along with FOX 13 News’ live blog of coverage (keep refreshing for updates):
10:13 a.m.
Here’s who is running for what right now:
Russ Slade, FOX 13 News Russ Slade, FOX 13 News
Russ Slade, FOX 13 News
Russ Slade, FOX 13 News
-Ben Winslow
9:52 a.m.
It’s going to be a big day. Delegates for each of the political parties are choosing their preferred candidates for Congressional races. For the Democrats? The big fight will be hotly contested 1st Congressional District (Ben McAdams vs. Nate Blouin vs. Liban Mohamed vs. Eva Lopez Chavez vs. Michael Farrell vs. Luis Villareal). The Republicans have multiple candidates in that race, too, but more of the interest centers around the newly-formed 2nd Congressional District (Blake Moore vs. Karianne Lisonbee) and the 3rd Congressional District (Celeste Maloy vs. Phil Lyman).
We’ll be updating throughout the day from the conventions, but things won’t really start kicking off until this afternoon.
-Ben Winslow & Max Roth
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