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Ryan S. Clark, NHL reporterDec 10, 2024, 07:00 AM ET
- Ryan S. Clark is an NHL reporter for ESPN.
SALT LAKE CITY — Bill Armstrong’s ability to work the phones this offseason is why Ryan Smith’s wouldn’t stop buzzing.
As GM of the Arizona Coyotes, Armstrong was charged with trying to build a franchise while remaining conservative in how he spent salary cap space — for a franchise that historically had mountains of it, but worked to stay near the cap floor.
With the club relocating to Salt Lake City, new owners Ryan and Ashley Smith wanted to make the sort of changes that went beyond the club having a new address, color scheme and name ahead of the Utah Hockey Club’s first season.
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They wanted to send a message that their rebuild was done. They sent that message by pulling off a trade to get top-pairing defenseman Mikhail Sergachev.
“I got a text from a bunch of different people about him, getting Johnny Marino and some of the other players that we’ve got,” Smith said. “But you also don’t want to be dumb. You don’t want to come in right at the beginning and throw and push above where we are as a team.”
Landing Sergachev in a trade from the Tampa Bay Lightning was just the start of what Utah did in the offseason. In total, the UHC added five players who added an extra $19 million in salary cap space — another sign that the Smiths were willing to spend on a franchise that had historically had miserly ownership when it was in Arizona.
The long rebuild meant that the team came to Salt Lake City with a young core featuring captain Clayton Keller, Barrett Hayton, Lawson Crouse, Sean Durzi, Matias Maccelli and Nick Schmaltz. Now it was about determining what was the best way to supplement that core so it could take the next step in its evolution.
Sergachev’s arrival speaks to those aspirations. He’s a 26-year-old, two-time Stanley Cup winner that can log heavy minutes, create offense in one end, disrupt it in another, quarterback a power play and anchor a penalty kill.
He can now operate in all those roles as an undisputed No. 1 defenseman rather than as No. 1-in-waiting — which was the case when he was in Tampa Bay with Victor Hedman, the 2018 Norris Trophy winner and six-time finalist.
The Hockey Club traded for Mikhail Sergachev with the idea that he could be their No. 1 defenseman, and he has delivered on that promise thus far. Vitor Munhoz/NHLI via Getty Images
Going from a personnel logjam on one team and instantly becoming one of the new team’s most important players isn’t new. Yet what makes the Sergachev trade unique is it provides a window into how Utah could operate going forward.
This is why several people around the Utah Hockey Club are optimistic about Sergachev and the potential that he presents.
As for Sergachev himself? He understands why these expectations exist, but also believes that’s something he needs to earn rather than just have it handed to him.
“That all sounds great until you play,” Sergachev said. “You gotta deserve that role first of all and show it in the season. You can’t just be like, ‘We’ll give you 30 minutes.’ I’ve got to go in and show them that I’m ready for all those things.”
SOME OWNERS WANT to know everything about everything; some want to be hands off. Smith lives in the middle: he wants to know everything, so he can trust his people to do their jobs.
That particular philosophy comes from Smith growing up in Utah and later owning the Utah Jazz. Longtime Jazz owner Larry Miller was extremely involved with the team, which made an impact.
“I’ll never forget that Jerry Sloan was also here 18 years,” Smith said. “And the only reason Jerry Sloan was here for 18 years was because Larry was so involved he knew exactly what he was doing, how good and exactly what was going on. When you’re not involved, you make bad decisions. … When you’re not in the details, you can’t really see the work that’s going on.”
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This offseason, Armstrong, Smith and Utah president of hockey operations Chris Armstrong had a conversation about the team’s needs. They all agreed that defense was a priority, which was the first step in the club getting Sergachev.
The next step was Armstrong calling every team in the NHL and asking them if they would be interested in trading their No. 1 defenseman. Armstrong said every GM was respectful — but there were some who chuckled because those trades aren’t exactly common. “We planted seeds,” Armstrong said. “Those guys are impossible to get. Nobody wants to give up their best defenseman at a young age. We kind of moved past it and moved on to plan B, and were starting to look at some other trades. And then the phone rang.”
The Lightning were on the other end of the call. They presented Armstrong with a proposal involving Sergachev. Armstrong said the initial proposal was turned down, but it didn’t take long for both sides to reach an agreement.
Sergachev headed to Utah, with defenseman J.J. Moser, prospect center Conor Geekie, a 2025 second-round pick and a 2024 seventh-round pick (Noah Steen) going in the opposite direction.
Armstrong said moments like the trades to land Sergachev and John Marino speak to how the franchise is no longer in a rebuild and is ready for something more.
“It’s hard, man. It’s hard to find those guys. It’s almost pretty much impossible,” Armstrong said. “When you’re building a team and trying to win a championship, nobody wins unless you have a No. 1 goalie, a No. 1 defenseman and a No. 1 center. We try to get those No. 1 building blocks in place. That is the first key for us.”
SERGACHEV FRACTURED THE FIBULA and tibia in his left leg on Feb. 7, which kept him out until the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs in April.
Prior to the injury, Sergachev was practically an every-game player for the Lightning. He played in 70 or more games in five of his first six seasons in Tampa Bay; the lone season he didn’t hit 70 games was the 2020-21 campaign, when he skated in all 56 of the club’s games in the pandemic-impacted season.
He had 19 points in 34 games last season before he sustained the leg injury, which allowed him to rethink his priorities during a long layoff.
“I was focusing on the wrong things,” Sergachev said. “I was focusing on [playing on the] first power play and focusing on not playing 27 minutes but playing 23. Stuff like that was the wrong focus. The main focus should be playing the game the right way, and helping the team win. And if they give you the first-team or second-team power play, you take it and run with it.”
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Sergachev projected as a top-pairing defenseman as a prospect, and the Montreal Canadiens drafted him ninth overall in 2016. That projection led the Lightning to trade for him a year later — with Jonathan Drouin heading the other way — although they already had a franchise legend in place as their No. 1 blueliner, in Victor Hedman.
Sergachev scored 40 points as a rookie and continued to score 30 points or more over the next four seasons. By his third season, he was beginning to average more than 20 minutes per game while becoming a presence on both special teams units.
Hedman, by comparison, had more assists than Sergachev had total points from 2017-18 through 2021-22.
“I was wanting to be ‘the guy’ there, and I was focusing on that,” Sergachev said. “Victor has been on that team forever. He’s won a Norris Trophy, he’s won Cups, he’s won the Conn Smythe — he’s won everything. He’s a rock. He’s impossible to move.”
Sergachev said everything changed during the 2022-23 season. The Lightning moved him to the top power-play unit. That led to him finishing with a career-high 64 points, with 27 of them coming with the extra-skater advantage.
Hedman finished with nine goals and 49 points that season. Aside from the pandemic-shortened 2019-20 season, it was the first time since the lockout-shortened 2013 season that Hedman finished with fewer than 10 goals. Hedman’s 14 power-play points that year were also his fewest since the 2015-16 season.
“I feel like he felt uncomfortable too, for sure,” Sergachev said of Hedman. “When they put me on the first power play two years ago, that must have felt uncomfortable. It felt uncomfortable for me last year that I wasn’t given a chance. It’s kind of like a back and forth of unneeded stress for him and unneeded stress for me.”
Despite being in a situation that could have gotten awkward, Hedman and Sergachev had a positive working relationship while winning Stanley Cups with the Lightning. Mark LoMoglio/NHLI via Getty Images
Anaheim Ducks left winger Alex Killorn, who spent 11 seasons with the Lightning, said Hedman and Sergachev were close, and there was never animosity between them.
“They got put in tough situations where maybe one guy gets taken out of the first power play for the other guy,” Killorn said. “It causes [no problems] between them, but guys are competitive in the NHL and they want to be in those spots.”
Sergachev echoed that sentiment.
“Oh no. He’s my best friend. I love him to death,” Sergachev said. “He’s been so great to me and I’ve learned a lot from him. Everything I know now and do on the ice is from him.”
SPEAKING IN OCTOBER, Sergachev spoke cautiously about his role with the Utah Hockey Club. He understood that he could be asked to serve in several roles, while acknowledging that nothing was promised to him despite the blockbuster trade that brought him to the team.
Come December, he’s been as good as advertised. He leads Utah with 25:24 in average ice time, which ranks fifth in the NHL. He’s second among all NHL skaters in short-handed minutes, while he’s 11th among defensemen in power-play-minutes.
Sergachev is projected to finish with what would be his first 20-goal season, while his 55 points would be the second most he’s recorded in his career.
“He is a top-of-the-line NHL defenseman who can play in just about every style and just about do everything on the ice,” said Utah defenseman Ian Cole, who was also Sergachev’s teammate in Tampa Bay. “He’s well put together. He’s strong. He can play hard. He can play skillfully. He can shoot the puck. He can score goals. He can run the power play. He can kill penalties. He can do everything. I think that’s why he gets paid the salary he does and it’s why he’s in demand as he is.”
Sergachev has been asked to do a little bit of everything for the Hockey Club this season — and he’s delivered. Joe Puetz/NHLI via Getty Images
Cole, Marino and Sergachev were brought in this offseason to reinforce a defensive unit for a roster that could have a chance at making the playoffs in its first season; the group took a hit when Marino and Durzi were both injured in October, and are not expected back until the spring. The team promoted Maveric Lamoureux from the minors, and traded for veteran Olli Maatta to help absorb the blow.
Utah’s defensive zone performances have played an instrumental part in the club establishing its identity throughout the first quarter of the season. Natural Stat Trick’s metrics reveal that Utah is allowing the second-fewest high-danger goals per 60 minutes, the seventh-fewest high-danger scoring chances per 60, the eighth-fewest scoring chances per 60 and the ninth-fewest shots allowed per 60.
Having that defensive consistency has served as a counter to the offensive challenges that the UHC has faced. As of Dec. 9, the UHC was tied for 19th in goals per game (2.93), and has scored more than three goals in just 11 of its first 27 games.
“That’s a locker room that maybe hasn’t done a ton of winning, but you can see they’re trending the right way,” Killorn said. “[Sergachev is] going to be a big piece for them going forward.”
If Utah remains in the hunt for a playoff spot, they are in position to make a significant move ahead of the March 7 trade deadline. PuckPedia projects Utah will have $23.6 million in deadline day cap space, and could use any of its 26 draft picks over the next three years to facilitate a deal.
Armstrong said that last season saw the team go through “some good, some bad and some ugly,” with the idea that they’d learn from the struggles. He said their start last season proved they have the talent, and that the 14-game losing streak showed why it was important to always strive for consistency.
“[Last season] left scar tissue,” Armstrong said. “I’m excited to see what we do with that scar tissue.”
