American Thanksgiving has been labeled as a checkpoint by many NHL fans as a time to judge if a team will make or miss the playoffs. Most teams that are in a playoff spot around this time will most likely make it in. With that said, let’s check in on the Utah Hockey Club and see what’s been going on during the franchise’s first 22 games in history.
Utah’s Season So Far
Utah started their season out with a bang by going on a three-game winning streak. Dylan Guenther actually led the whole league in goal scoring during this stretch with five goals. Utah started their win streak with a 5-2 win over the Chicago Blackhawks which was the first NHL game in Salt Lake City.
From there, Utah quickly fell apart and have only won six of their past 19 games. While a handful of them have been close one-goal games, it’s been a downward spiral for the NHL’s newest team. Guenther still leads the teams in goals but has only scored five since Utah’s early winning streak. He is also tied with Clayton Keller for team lead in points with 20. Nick Schmaltz leads the team in assists with 17.
In net, it’s been an interesting story. Connor Ingram leads the team in wins with six. However, three of those wins came within the first three games of the season. Karel Vejmelka leads the two goaltenders in the other categories with a 2.25 goals-against average (GAA) and .922 save percentage (SV%.)
In their first 22 games, Utah has a 9-10-3 record and is seventh in the Central Division. They are four points back of the Vancouver Canucks for a wild card spot. Utah is five points back from the third spot in the Central Division, currently held by the Minnesota Wild.
Who’s Doing Well
When it comes to the question of who’s doing well, it’s been harder to say a multitude of players as the season grows older. However, there have been some standouts.
Vejmelka has to be the team MVP at this point in the season. Vejmelka has held an impressive .922 SV% despite having a 3-6-0 record throughout this season. The goaltender has taken the starting job from Ingram even before Ingram was injured before Utah’s most recent road trip.
Vejmelka’s 49-save performance against the Carolina Hurricanes has to be one of the biggest moments this season for the team. Despite getting outshot 50-21, Utah held on and beat the Hurricanes despite being shorthanded for most of the third period. It was Vejmelka’s play that kept them in the game, which has been the story of the season. The Czechian goaltender has kept Utah close in every game he’s started which has allowed Utah to win some games they shouldn’t have won.
Mikhail Sergachev has been another big reason why Utah has managed to stay around .500. The Russian defenseman was the biggest addition for Utah in the offseason and has lived up to what general manager Bill Armstrong wanted him to be: the team’s number-one defenseman. In 22 games, Sergachev has 15 points which is only four away from tying his totals from his 34-game season 2023-24.
Two of Sergachev’s six goals are game winners, and he has been clutch in big moments. In their game against the Hurricanes, Sergachev played most of the third period when Utah was shorthanded for a majority of the final 20 minutes. Despite taking a shot off his head, he finished out the game to help his team get the win.
More recently, Sergachev scored the overtime winner against the Montreal Canadiens which gave Utah a .500 record on their most recent road trip and sent the team into Thanksgiving break on a high note. He’s arguably been Utah’s most important skater. It’s even more clear when you look at his average time on ice which is currently sitting at 25:43, good enough for third-most in the whole NHL.
While Utah has Guenther, Keller, and Logan Cooley, all of which most expected to be some of Utah’s best offensive players, no one expected Jack McBain to be second in goal-scoring. In the past five games, McBain has been on fire, scoring four goals.
In 22 games, McBain has 11 points. Eight of those points have been goals which puts him only behind Guenther. Ever since being placed back on a line with Cooley and Guenther, McBain has played really well and has been a pleasant surprise for a team that desperately needed offence.
Other good standouts for Utah so far have been Michael Kesselring, who has 11 points in 22 games and is second in scoring on the blue line; Nick Bjugstad, who since returning from injury has scored six points in 14 games; and the aforementioned Cooley and Guenther who have both been around where they were projected to be in terms of points.
