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Kevin Stenlund, Utah Hockey Club (Amy Irvin / The Hockey Writers)

Utah Mammoth’s 2024-25 Report Cards: Kevin Stenlund

Originally posted on The Hockey Writers
By Chase Beardsley | Last updated Aug 16, 2025 9:25 AM ET

The inaugural season for the Utah Hockey Club (now the Utah Mammoth) is officially over. The team finished with a 38-31-13 record while their American Hockey League affiliate, the Tucson Roadrunners, finished with a 34-32-4-2 record, which was good enough for the seventh playoff spot in the Pacific Division. The Roadrunners went on to lose in the first round of the playoffs 2-1 to the Abbotsford Canucks.

With the season in the books, it’s time to look at the 48 Utah players under an NHL contract (excluding Connor Ingram for obvious reasons) and grade their 2024-25 seasons. We’ll also reflect on how they did during the 2023-24 season and see if they improved or did worse, along with what their future holds. We’re going alphabetically by first name. Next up is Kevin Stenlund.

Last Season

After spending a season with the Winnipeg Jets, Stenlund signed a one-year deal with the Florida Panthers. During his stint with the Jets, the forward established himself as a great bottom-six option who can win faceoffs and be a factor on the penalty kill. With the Panthers looking to capitalize on their Stanley Cup Final appearance in 2022-23, Stenlund was a perfect depth pickup for them.

Stenlund is not a player who will produce points at will. While he can chip in some offense, as mentioned, his main specialty is to play a gritty and hardworking fourth-line center role. He did pick up his first goal with the Panthers four games into the season. He added another one just two games later against the San Jose Sharks.

His most impressive stretch of offense during the season came in November, when he picked up six points in six games from Nov. 10 to Nov. 20. That included a three-point outing against the Edmonton Oilers. He also had back-to-back games with goals to kick off January.

Stenlund finished the season with 15 points in 81 games, the most in his career up to that date. The most remarkable stat, though, was his faceoff percentage, which was at 51.4%. While it wasn’t on the NHL leaderboard or anything, it was pretty good considering he took fewer faceoffs than most, being a fourth-line center.

In the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Panthers took on the Tampa Bay Lightning. The team eliminated their in-state rivals in five games, with Stenlund producing his only point in the entire playoffs in Game 5 via an assist on Evan Rodrigues’ goal. The Panthers then dispatched the Boston Bruins and the New York Rangers to move on to the Stanley Cup Final.

In the championship round, Stenlund played in all seven games. His most important moment, though, came in the final game of the series. With top defenseman Gustav Forsling without a stick on the penalty kill, Stenlund gave his stick to him. Throughout the rest of the penalty kill, the Swedish forward sacrificed his body, taking shots off his leg and torso and batting away the puck with his glove and skate to help the Panthers kill the penalty and keep the score tied at one.

The Panthers went on to score a second goal and win the game 2-1 to capture their first-ever Stanley Cup. It was Stenlund’s first Cup in his career, capping off his lone season in Sunrise as a champion.

In the offseason, Stenlund was quickly signed by Utah to a two-year contract. It was the first time since his five years in the Columbus Blue Jackets’ organization that he would stay with a team longer than a year.

This Season

Similar to his role in Florida, Stenlund started off the season and primarily played in the bottom-six with guys like Alex Kerfoot and Liam O’Brien. He scored his first goal with Utah three games into the season against the Rangers to help his team start the season 3-0-0.

Stenlund, like the previous season, didn’t produce many points. However, he kept providing excellent play on the penalty kill along with great defense while playing around 12 to 15 minutes per night. In December, he had his best stretch of offensive play, scoring goals in four straight games.

The Swede continued to tally a goal here and there throughout the rest of the season. At the end of March, he produced five points in five games. Towards the start of April, he had six points in five games.

Those combined 11 points helped him reach 28 points in 82 games. He set career highs in every offensive category. Stenlund also set a career high in average time on ice and played every game in the regular season for the first time in his career.

Stenlund is on FIRE pic.twitter.com/FRpZTa54bS
— Utah Mammoth (@utahmammoth) December 11, 2024

Most notably, though, Stenlund was ninth in the whole league in faceoff win percentage, winning 59.1% of faceoffs he took. However, if you exclude players who took fewer than 100 faceoffs, he was actually fourth in the NHL. In total, Stenlund had 623 wins.

The Future

When it comes to Stenlund, there aren’t a lot of things you can say about his 2024-25 season, which is OK because the things you can say are good. He did exactly what Utah needed him to do: provide a hardworking and defensive-minded presence to the bottom-six while also killing penalties.

This season, Stenlund improved his offensive game, nearly doubling his point totals from the previous season. He quickly became an anchor for Utah’s bottom-six and will be an important part of the Mammoth next season. It will be even more interesting after they added to the players surrounding Stenlund on the bottom two lines, with Brandon Tanev coming in from the Jets.

Stenlund has one more year remaining on his contract with the Mammoth. Considering how well he played in the first season of his deal, it wouldn’t be surprising if they try to bring him back on another cheap short-term deal. As he showed off in Florida, he can be an important part of a Stanley Cup-winning team. As the Mammoth try to build towards that, Stenlund can help just like he did with the Panthers.

As for expectations for next season, playing the same game he’s played for the past couple of seasons is all the Mammoth need from him. Sure, 28 points again would be nice, but even if his offensive categories dip below that, winning faceoffs and being a big part of the penalty kill are the main reasons why the team brought him in.

Final Grade

What else could you ask for out of Stenlund this past season? He came as advertised for Utah. His faceoff win percentage was near the top of the league, he helped the team be in the upper half of the league in terms of penalty kill, and he even improved his offense, reaching 28 points. Stenlund provided probably exactly what the team wanted when they brought him in last summer.

While many look at the top players to help carry teams to wins, the bottom six can be just as important. Players like Clayton Keller and Dylan Guenther will score more, but players like Stenlund chipping in important goals here and there while also keeping the opposing team from scoring are vital. Because of his effectiveness as a two-way player, Stenlund could be considered one of the most underrated players on the Mammoth, especially this past season.

Overall, Stenlund is getting an A for his season. At age 28, there isn’t much of a higher ceiling for the Stanley Cup champion, but he showed off this season that maybe there’s more to his game than what many people think. Perhaps he can reach 30 points and keep climbing. While that might be a pipe dream, he achieved everything he did in Florida and continued building on it, reaching a career high of 28 points and ranking in the top 10 of faceoff win percentage in the entire NHL.

As the Mammoth hope to make the playoffs next season, Stenlund very well might be an overlooked part of whatever success they may have. With his incredible skill in the faceoff circle and his ability to chip in some offense, maybe Team Sweden might have to take a look at him for the upcoming 2026 Winter Olympics.