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05/06 05:00 CDT Moving up 4th in the NHL draft in the lottery adds to the Utah
Hockey Club's exciting summer
Moving up 4th in the NHL draft in the lottery adds to the Utah Hockey Club's
exciting summer
By STEPHEN WHYNO
AP Hockey Writer
When the Utah Hockey Club selected Tij Iginla with the sixth pick and took 10
other players in the first draft since the team moved to Salt Lake City, fans
were excited, thinking they would be in the NHL right away.
General manager Bill Armstrong tried to temper expectations, telling them, "No,
it takes some time." After an unexpected victory off the ice Monday night in
the draft lottery, the expectations for the club's future are Rocky Mountain
high once again.
Utah won the second random draw of lottery balls to move up from the 14th pick
to No. 4, adding to an already momentous summer that could feature a free agent
spending spree with tons of salary cap space and an owner not afraid to spend
money, the first phase of massive arena renovations taking place and the
full-time name getting unveiled before next season.
"It's a game-changer for us," Armstrong said on a post-lottery video call with
reporters. "These are exciting times for Utah. ... Just great stuff for the
franchise. I can't express in words on the excitement of when that happened and
the opportunity in front of us."
Armstrong has over $22 million in room, and with Ryan Smith's ownership group
in charge, there's every indication Utah can spend to the annually increasing
cap. That was never the case under a procession of penny-pinching owners over
the past decade as the Arizona Coyotes.
Utah committed $80 million-plus in player salaries this past season, and Smith
Entertainment Group along with the city are investing plenty to upgrade
downtown Delta Center and increase the capacity of full-ice views to over
16,000 for hockey in an arena initially designed and built primarily for
basketball for the NBA's Jazz.
"We are excited for the challenge as we kick off this never-before-done
renovation project," Ryan and wife Ashley Smith said last week. "This
transformation will create the most compelling, welcoming and exciting
experience for hockey fans, while also allowing us to maintain the steep
vertical seating for basketball that has made Delta Center such a dynamic
venue."
And, possibly soon, a venue for playoff hockey. Utah was in the race until the
final few weeks of the season before finishing seven points out of the second
and final wild-card spot in the Western Conference.
"We were a pretty good team that chased it down the stretch playing meaningful
games and chasing a playoff spot," Armstrong said. "We're getting to that point
where we're becoming a really good team that's going to have a chance to get
into the playoffs."
Not counting the expanded pandemic playoffs in 2020, this organization has not
qualified since 2012. The building blocks to end that decade-plus drought are
there, from captain Clayton Keller and 2022 No. 3 pick and budding star Logan
Cooley to two-time Stanley Cup-winning defenseman Mikhail Sergachev ---
acquired at the draft last year --- and top goaltender Karel Vejmelka.
And after drafting a league-high 42 players over the past four years, there
might be a temptation to use the fourth pick for immediate help, like someone
who is established but still young and entering or in his prime.
"That's something that obviously we'll always talk about," Armstrong said.
"We'll never shut that door. That's always been an avenue for us to get
players, and we're at the position right now as a team where we're trying to
make that next step, so we'll always look at that. That's part of the process."
The final step in the naming process is happening, too. The finalists have been
narrowed down to Mammoth, Outlaws and Utah Hockey Club, complete with a
permanent logo and new jerseys.
If the branding process goes as swimmingly as the first year with Smith's group
in charge, the results on the business side could even exceed the hockey
progress.
"They made a lot of promises, and they exceeded them with what they
accomplished in a short period of time," Commissioner Gary Bettman said last
week at a meeting of Associated Press Sports Editors in New York. "What they
accomplished is a testament to Ryan and everybody out there. They dreamed big
and they accomplished everything they needed to do, and we're thrilled to have
them in the league. It's been an incredibly positive experience, and the
players love it, too."
More high-quality players are coming next year and into the future, though
Armstrong cautioned that the lottery doesn't speed up the building process and,
"One pick's not going to change our franchise." But that doesn't dull the
internal excitement.
"You've got a chance to get a real game-changer," Armstrong said. "We're going
to have the opportunity to pick a real good player high in the draft and take a
big swing here."
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AP Sports Writer Jake Seiner in New York contributed to this report.
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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/NHL
