Should Mammoth’s Andre Tourigny be on the hot seat?

The Utah Mammoth have struggled since mid-November, posting two separate four-game losing streaks and currently in the midst of one that’s lasted three games. After a 4-3 defeat to the Florida Panthers Wednesday night, the Mammoth are now 14-15-3 with 31 points, fifth in the Central Division.

Despite being in the thick of a wild card race in the Western Conference, the Mammoth are a team that’s knee-deep in the mushy middle of the NHL: not good enough to be a serious Stanley Cup Playoff contender, but not playing bad enough to have a chance at a lottery draft pick.

Some fans and pundits are looking to head coach Andre Tourigny, now in his fifth season with the Mammoth/Arizona Coyotes franchise. Having never made the playoffs or finishing a season with more than 89 points, some are wondering if team owner Ryan Smith will replace Tourigny with his own coach, or if he’ll stick with the former QMJHL bench boss for the rest of the season.

On Thursday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Tyler Yaremchuk and former NHL goaltender Carter Hutton discuss the Mammoth’s struggles and whether it’s time for a shakeup behind the bench in Utah.

Tyler Yaremchuk: You have to think at some point, Ryan Smith, who is putting a lot of money into payroll, extension, arena upgrades, and you have to wonder how long is he going to want to be attached to a head coach that really had no part in hiring?

He seems to be a relatively hands-on owner, and there’s probably a point where we need to have that conversation about a coaching change, even though everyone speaks highly of Tourigny: results matter.

Maybe everyone needs to be a bit more uncomfortable with the new coach?

You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode here…