SALT LAKE CITY – With each new day that passes, the National Hockey League continues to evolve.
Whether that’s a continued increase in popularity, talks of expansion, the ever so popular Four Nations tournament or the rising cap, the NHL is changing faster than ever.
In response to a $25.5 million cap increase from 2024 to 2028, players are signing record deals which begs the question.
How do the Utah Mammoth contracts measure up amongst the rest of the league?
Over the last few weeks, the NHL has witnessed three of the biggest AAV contracts in league history.
Shortly after the Anaheim Ducks matched Leo Carlsson’s offer sheet of $18M AAV (17.31% of the cap in 2026-27), the Chicago Blackhawks signed Connor Bedard to a five-year, $15M AAV (14.42% of cap in 2026-27) contract while the San Jose Sharks locked down Macklin Celebrini to a five-year, $18.8M AAV deal (16.6% of cap in 2027-28).
Absurd dollar amounts, although it’s difficult not to rationalize those deals for two generational talents in Celebrini and Bedard.
But is it worth it?
Will those contracts eventually lead to Stanley Cups?
History says no.
According to prohockeyrumors.com, no team in the salary cap era has ever won the Stanley Cup with a player on their roster carrying a cap hit over $10M.
“Now, this is not to say that highly paid superstars haven’t won the cup. Of course, they have,” Josh Cybulski wrote. “But generally, those who have done so have signed below-market contracts to keep the team competitive.”
“A good example is the Pittsburgh Penguins, who won three Stanley Cups with Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby earning big money, yet neither player has ever had a cap hit above $9.5MM. Even back in 2009 when Sidney Crosby’s $8.7MM cap hit took up a bigger portion of the Penguins payroll (15.3% of the $56.7MM salary cap limit) Pittsburgh was still able to field a competitive roster despite allocating a big percentage to Crosby as they benefitted from a third line of Tyler Kennedy, Jordan Staal and Matt Cooke making less than $4MM combined which goes to show that often the depth of a team is the thing that will give them an edge.”
So, where does that leave Utah?
As of right now, the Utah Mammoth currently have 10th most efficient roster in terms of team contracts according to Dom Luszczysyn of the Athletic.
Forwards
• Logan Cooley – $10,000,000
• Nick Schmaltz – $8,000,000
• Clayton Keller – $7,150,000
• Dylan Guenther – $7,142,875
• Vincent Trocheck – $5,625,000
• Anders Lee – $5,400,000
• Barrett Hayton – $4,775,000
• Lawson Crouse – $4,300,000
• Jack McBain – $4,250,000
• Kevin Stenlund – $2,750,000
• Brandon Tanev – $2,500,000
• Michael Carcone – $1,750,000
• Kailer Yamamoto – $1,750,000
• Liam O’Brien – $1,000,000
Defense
• Mikhail Sergachev – $8,500,000
• MacKenzie Weegar – $6,250,000
• John Marino – $4,400,000 (extension jumps to $6,750,000 starting 2027-28)
• Nate Schmidt – $3,500,000
• Andrew Peeke – $1,000,000
• Nick DeSimone – $1,000,000
• Dmitri Simashev – $972,500
Goaltenders
• Karel Vejmelka – $4,750,000
• Sebastian Cossa – $2,000,000
Why do they rank in the top third?
Because GM Bill Armstrong has refused to ever overpay with his sights set on constructing a roster that can go the distance both on and off the ice.
Take Dylan Guenther and Logan Cooley for example.
Last season, those two young stars combined for 64 goals, 52 assists and 116 points in 133 combined appearances (.87 PPG).
Meanwhile, Leo Carlsson and Cutter Gauthier of the Anaheim Ducks registered 70 goals, 66 assists and 136 points in 146 appearances (.93 PPG).
Slightly better production but here’s the most important difference.
Guenther and Cooley collectively ($17,142,875M AAV) make less combined than Leo Carlsson’s massive new $18M AAV contract.
Couple that with what Cutter Gauthier is reportedly asking for next season according to Anthony Di Marco of the Daily Faceoff ($16M to $17M AAV), and the Ducks will be paying more than twice as much for roughly the same offensive production.
Not only does Utah’s payroll allow the team more flexibility to acquire better support/role players but it also keeps them under the $10M AAV benchmark that no Stanley Cup Champion in the cap era has surpassed.
So, while certain superstars continue to sign the big flashy contracts that set new standards in the NHL, Utah fans can appreciate the Mammoth’s front office who simply refuses to make irresponsible decisions and continuously signs players that are serious about winning when it matters most.
