Nick Schmaltz is off to an incredible start with Utah
The Utah Mammoth came into the season with higher expectations in their second season in Salt Lake City, and it’s “so far, so good,” for the team 10 games into the campaign.
While the Central Division has often been dominated by the Colorado Avalanche, Winnipeg Jets, and Dallas Stars in recent seasons, the Mammoth have taken control in the early parts of 2025-26.
As much as young stars have been a key to their success, one of the standouts has been veteran Nick Schmaltz, who scored two goals and an assist against the Minnesota Wild and Winnipeg Jets over the weekend, bringing him to seven goals and 16 points in 10 games this season.
On Monday’s episode of Daily Faceoff Live, Irfann Gaffar and Carter Hutton tipped their “Man of the Weekend,” honors, with Hutton choosing the 29-year-old as his pick.
Gaffar: There were a lot of performances that left people kind of scratching their head a little bit, but we’ll start with the Man of the Weekend. I’ll turn it over to you: Who impressed you the most and why this weekend?
Hutton: I mentioned Nick Schmaltz last weekend, just where he was at and he’s a guy for this Utah Mammoth who doesn’t really fall in line. His contract is going to expire, he’s a veteran player with over 500 games, and he’s been very good.
He’s versatile, he can score shootouts, he can penalty kill, and he is having a run right now with 16 points in 10 games, and this weekend he was rock solid.
They had back to back games in the Central Division against the Minnesota Wild, and then on the road against the Winnipeg Jets. These are huge games for this Utah Mammoth team, a team that still gets a bit of a leash.
Expectations are higher this season. I think Bill Armstrong has done a great job of building this team and stockpiling picks and, you know, making that Mikhail Sergachev deal, the JJ Peterka deal, and then they kind of fell into Karel Vejmelka, who’s been a rock-solid goalie.
For me, he’s my Man of the Weekend, and I look for him to stay hot. It’s a contract year. He’s got to get it done. I don’t know where they go with him if they resign him, or if he is a guy that just almost becomes a rental for them. He is a guy in the room that can demand success, and it’s nice to see him off to such a good start.
You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode here…