Pre-Scout: Utah Mammoth are the hottest team in the West right now

Winners of seven games in a row — no one is hotter in the Western Conference than the Utah Mammoth.  

Similar to the vibe check game against the Montreal Canadiens in the Oilers’ last home game, the Mammoth support a dangerous top-six, scoring 15 goals in their last three games. 

The Mammoth wrap up a four game roadtrip, after beating the Winnipeg Jets 3-2 on Sunday, and won’t play again until the following Sunday. 

“I think we dug deep,” head coach Andre Tourigny said after the win.  

“Last year, there were a lot of situations where, against that kind of a team, we were there after two, we played good, but we could not find a way to get the two points. Tonight, we did. We’re there after two, we find a way in the tough schedule, so, proud of the boys.”

How about this sentence: Nick Schmaltz is tied for tops in NHL league scoring. Diabolical start to the campaign for the nine-year veteran, who reached a career high of 63 points last season, and has feasted primarily on a line with Clayton Keller and Barrett Hayton. It’s a good time to be a pending UFA for Schmaltz.

Then, it’s the less-wooly Mammoth line. Logan Cooley was the second Star of the Week with 5-3—8 in four contests, while Dylan Guenther and newcomer JJ Peterka have 11 and 9 points, respectively — all three are 23 or younger. 

Four forwards are already over double-digit points. 

Despite this line of young guns, the Mammoth aren’t quite as young as you think overall. They are closer to league average age (14th oldest team at 28.3 years old). 

But of course, with many of their play drivers being so young, and a player core that has been perennially rebuilding, the Mammoth are racking up points in hopes of a playoff berth. I know the franchises are different but with the player personnel being the same, I’ll just add that if you exclude the 2020 bubble, the Coyotes-Mammoth haven’t made the playoffs since 2011-12.   

Just how much can this group grow from the 38-31-13 mark from a year ago? Seems like a lot. 

The JJ Peterka trade and signing, similar to Montreal with Noah Dobson, shows the league that Utah is no longer going to be the dumping ground of cap space, nor accumulator of draft picks anymore.

Acquired for Josh Doan and former Oiler draft choice Michael Kesselring, Peterka was coming off a career high of 68 points, and instantly became their highest-paid forward after signing a five-year deal at $7.7 million annually.

He sought out the Mammoth as a desirable destination and “just how committed the team is to win,” he said back in July.

“When you look at the roster, how many young players that are there who are already so good, timeline-wise for me, it’s going to be a perfect fit,” Peterka said. “Growing together with those guys and hopefully winning a lot of games.”

Karel Vejmelka leads the NHL so far with six wins. His save percentage of .905 is a tick higher than last year, which would be a career high, and is mid-pack in terms of the league at large at 17th. Backup Vitek Vanacek carried the mail on Sunday, so expect Vejmelka. 

What’s helped is that Utah is only surrendering 24.9 shots on goal a game, the fourth fewest in the NHL. That helps boost their goal differential of +13. 

Mikhail Sergachev is the do-it-all guy for the Mammoth backend. The 27-year-old is in his absolute prime, and is helping bring along one of the various Utah prospects Dmitri Simashev, who has stuck with the club, playing a respectable 15:05 per game. 

Otherwise, Utah relies upon veterans Nate Schmidt and John Marino on their second pairing.

Notes

• Andre Tourigny was hired in July 2021, yet because it’s the hire-and-fire crazy NHL, he’s the fourth-longest tenured head coach in the league. Only Brind’Amour, Bednar, and Cooper have been bench bosses for longer. 
• Sean Durzi was placed on injured reserve on Oct. 17, and Jusso Valimaki on Oct. 6. 
• The Utah offence has scored the most goals in the league at 37, averaging 3.70 goals per game, and never potting fewer than three in any of these seven straight wins. 
• Kailer Yamamoto plays here. Yup, the former first-round pick by Edmonton was signed in the summer of 2024, but played just a dozen games in Utah. He was primarily an AHL-er, providing 56 points in 54 games with the Tucson Roadrunners. He’s suited up five times in 2025-26.
• This will technically be the first Edmonton Oilers-Utah Mammoth matchup, since the Hockey Club designation has been left behind. The Oilers went 3-0 last year against Utah, with 4-3, 4-1, and 7-1 wins against HC.