Utah Mammoth’s 2024-25 Report Cards: Juuso Välimäki

Towards the end of December, Välimäki had some bad games, including one against the Seattle Kraken where he was to blame for two goals that propelled the Kraken to a win. From there, Välimäki’s ice time was reduced even more to around 16 minutes a night. At the end of January, with Utah getting all their players back from injury and acquiring Nick DeSimone off waivers, he found himself in the press box as a healthy scratch. His final appearance was in a game against the Ottawa Senators on Jan. 26.

A bright spot for Välimäki during January and February was that he was named to Team Finland for the 4 Nations Face-Off. However, he was a healthy scratch for all three games despite Finland finishing last in the tournament, with their one win coming via overtime.

After returning from the tournament, Välimäki remained a healthy scratch. Sean Durzi, who was the final Utah defenseman out with injury, returned around this time, which put him even more on the outs.

The breaking point finally came late in February when Välimäki was placed on waivers with the purpose of being assigned to the AHL’s Roadrunners. Välimäki wasn’t claimed by any other NHL team and was sent down to the Roadrunners. He finished his NHL season with five points in 43 games.

Välimäki was no stranger to the AHL, having played 56 games with the Stockton Heat when he was a member of the Flames organization. However, this was his first appearance with the Roadrunners. In his first game with the team against the Rockford IceHogs, he recorded a shot and a penalty. Disaster struck as he was injured during the second period. It was later announced that he had torn his ACL.

Välimäki underwent surgery to repair his ACL in early March. General manager Bill Armstrong announced that he would be out for the next eight to nine months, effectively ending his 2024-25 season.

The Future

Välimäki will most likely be ready to play again in November and December, but his path back to the NHL won’t be easy. Not only has he not played hockey since February, but he also wasn’t playing his best hockey leading up to the injury either.

On top of that, the Mammoth haven’t left an open spot on the roster for Välimäki either. The team re-signed Ian Cole, Olli Määttä, and DeSimone. They also brought in Nate Schmidt and Scott Perunovich to bolster their defensive depth. It creates a huge problem for Välimäki if he wants to earn a spot back in the Mammoth lineup.

When Välimäki returns, he’ll most likely start his season with the Roadrunners. It makes sense as a way to ease him back into things via the AHL, similar to the way Ingram and Gabriel Landeskog started in the league after not playing hockey for a long stretch of time. 

From there, things will get tougher. In order to fight his way back to the NHL, Välimäki will have to impress in the AHL, which won’t be easy. The Roadrunners will most likely ice the best team they can, which means players like Perunovich, Maveric Lamoureux, Artem Duda, and Max Szuber will most likely be ahead of him on the Roadrunners’ defense. On top of that, top prospect Dmitriy Simashev might end up on the team depending on how his training camp goes, which could eventually make Välimäki the sixth defenseman.

Even if Välimäki beats out all of those players and gets called up to the NHL, he still has to challenge at least two of the seven defensemen who are expected to be on the Mammoth to claim a spot in the lineup. Doing all of the above while recovering from a torn ACL will be the hardest challenge Välimäki has faced in his hockey career.

It might be in the best interest of Välimäki and the Mammoth to find a trade partner who can give him a better chance at playing in the NHL again. Rebuilding teams like the San Jose Sharks, Chicago Blackhawks, and Penguins could be great landing spots for Välimäki. He won’t get a lot back in return for the Mammoth, but it might be the right thing to do, depending on what happens when he gets back on the ice.

Final Grade

It’s very possible that we might’ve seen the last appearance of Välimäki in Utah colors. With his expected return coming in November-December and the amount of defensive depth the Mammoth have, it will be a very tough uphill battle for Välimäki to return to being a regular on the blue line in Utah.

Anything could happen. Perhaps the Mammoth will keep Välimäki as an eighth defenseman in the NHL. Perhaps Välimäki does return from injury with a vengeance and proves everyone wrong. There are a lot of uncertainties, possibilities, and question marks, but as of right now, it doesn’t look good for the defenseman.

Overall, Välimäki is getting an F for his season. Despite his disappointing injury, he wasn’t playing great hockey in Utah, often finding himself as a healthy scratch. Two years ago, Välimäki looked like a top-four defenseman on the Coyotes. He looked like he had the potential to live up to the expectations he had when he was drafted in the first round back in 2017. Now, it looks like he could be out of the NHL entirely.

While Välimäki will be a story all hockey fans can get behind next season, it’s a daunting challenge for him to get back to the NHL. One that he might not be able to do in Utah. Anything is possible, and the Mammoth staff will do everything in their power to get Välimäki back to being an NHL defenseman, but at this point, his impressive 2022-23 season is looking more like a flash in the pan. With one year left on his current deal, he will need to have a bounce-back year with the Roadrunners to continue his NHL dreams.