Cooley, Guenther have opportunity to establish themselves as playoff performers

For a good number of hockey fans, especially those situated in the eastern time zone, the 2026 Stanley Cup playoffs will efffectively be their introduction to the Utah Mammoth. The team has had a surprisingly impressive season, and now find themselves down 1-0 to the Vegas Golden Knights in their first playoff series since relocating from Arizona.

Neutral observers are likely familiar with Utah’s veterans like Clayton Keller, Nick Schmaltz, and Mikhail Sergachev, but young forwards Logan Cooley and Dylan Guenther have a chance to truly make a name for themselves on the national stage. The early-twenties duo represents the future of the Mammoth franchise, and if they can prove themselves as big-time players this postseason, they can put Utah on the map as a team to watch in the coming years.

On Monday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, hosts Tyler Yaremchuk and Carter Hutton were joined by KSL Sports’ Cole Bagley to discuss the opportunity these playoffs offer for Cooley and Guenther.

Cole Bagley: I think a lot of people understand how bright of a future Guenther and Cooley have, but last night I think what they demonstrated is that they can compete in the playoffs. Their game is built for the playoffs. They’re rising to the occasion, and not just offensively, but defensively as well. I was really impressed by how active Guenther and Cooley were in terms of helping out in the defensive zone. They had a lot of active sticks. Guenther made probably three or four really important defensive plays by breaking up passes or getting on the backcheck, lifting a guy’s stick who was in a prime scoring area.

Those two have an opportunity to prove that they’re not just regular season type of players, they’re not just these young kids that are going to wait to ease themselves into the playoffs. They’re ready to go from Game 1 and they’re ready to assert themselves and dominate in a fashion that’s going to help Utah make some noise.

You can catch the full discussion and the rest of Monday’s episode here…