Utah HC has significant cap space this summer – how will they spend it?
Utah HC is going to be a fun team to watch this offseason as general manager Bill Armstrong has a projected $43.5 million in cap space and is now working under an owner who wants to spend money.
Armstrong’s been working with the Arizona Coyotes franchise who was solely focused on drafting and developing talent, so it’s likely a refreshing outlook for the veteran general manager. As it stands now, Utah has 11 of 23 NHL roster spots filled for next season and will certainly be very busy not only leading up to the NHL Draft, on the trade market, but also on July 1, once free agency opens.
Utah also has a number of pending restricted free agents to sign, including the likes of Barrett Hayton, Sean Durzi, J.J. Moser, and Juuso Valimaki. So, while it stands at $43.5 million at the moment, that figure is going to come down slightly. Regardless, Armstrong has a ton of flexibility and should be able to make significant upgrades to the roster. In their final season in Arizona, the Coyotes posted a 36-41-5 record, good for 27th in the NHL.
Leading up to the 2024 NHL Draft, Utah currently sits with one first-round pick, along with three second and three third-round picks. This is a ton of trade assets to consider dangling if you’re Armstrong and company.
On today’s episode of Daily Faceoff Live, Tyler Yaremchuk was joined by Colby Cohen and the two touched on what to expect out of Utah this summer:
Tyler Yaremchuk: Who is going to be in their new sweaters? They have a lot of cap space, with their LTIR candidates, $51 million in cap space. They got to spend money, it’s as simple as that. They’ve gone from broke to winning the lottery in a way, as Bill Armstrong’s got the shackles off, he can finally go out and get good players and spend to the cap.
Colby Cohen: Yeah, but you also have to be careful, you don’t want to get too excited. You kind of want to see what you have and continue to work through this phase of their rebuild. They’re moving into a new city and a new building. Look, for me, you always build through your back end and right now they don’t have a single defensemen that is under contract.
They do have three RFA’s in Durzi, Valimaki and Moser, and I think all those guys they like and will all get re-signed to reasonable contracts. You’re not going to break the bank. I think they need to get out and get aggressive on their back end. I don’t know if Brady Skjei is a guy they go potentially try to maybe overpay to get him to come to Utah. A guy who is probably looking to win towards the end of his career.
How about Shayne Gostisbehere? He had a lot of success and a couple of really good seasons when he played in Arizona, and kind of reinvigorated his career. I’ve talked to Shayne about the head coach and he absolutely loved him. That’s a guy who is an exciting hockey player and someone who could sell tickets with the dazzling plays he makes from the back end.
I think they need to go invest some money in their back end. I keep hearing the name Mitch Marner and maybe Patrik Laine. You need goal scoring help and you got a ton of cap space.
For more on what Utah could be open to trading, their offseason outlook and full coverage of the Stanley Cup Final, watch the full episode here: