Austin breaks down Vincent Trocheck’s positioning, faceoff ability, and why his veteran game could help Logan Cooley and Dylan Guenther.

Caleb Desnoyers left the World Junior Summer Showcase needing help off the ice after a brutal collision, and that’s the whole story right now for Mammoth fans. Austin breaks down the clip, why it looked so alarming in real time, why he doesn’t think Wyatt Cullen meant to injure him, and why this still feels like a massive, infuriating setback for a fourth overall pick who was supposed to be pushing toward Utah.

He also gets into the worst part of it: we may not get a real update until rookie camp in September. That uncertainty is what makes the whole thing so maddening, especially when leg and knee injuries can mess with a player’s development at exactly the wrong moment.

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Austin goes deep on why the JJ Peterka era ended so fast in Utah, and why this feels less like a total player failure and more like a role problem that got worse as the season went on. The numbers are rough: 68 points in Buffalo dropped to 47 in Utah, his power-play production cratered from 18 points to 5, and he finished the playoffs with zero points in six games.

There’s also the bigger trade picture now. Utah gave up Josh Doan and Michael Kesselring to get Peterka, then flipped Peterka to Boston in the deal path that eventually brought back Sebastian Cossa and a future first. Austin’s grade for the whole Peterka era: a flat C.

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The argument in this episode is pretty simple: Logan Cooley already has the tools to be a superstar, but if he’s going to make the jump, he has to shoot more. Austin points to Cooley’s 99th-percentile speed, his 23 points in 29 games before the injury, and the fact that he still only projects to about 1.89 shots per game on an 82-game pace. That’s not enough for a player this explosive.

There’s also the bigger Utah Mammoth angle here. If Cooley stays healthy, locks in a bigger power-play role, and spends real time with Dylan Guenther — maybe with Anders Lee doing the dirty work — Austin thinks the breakout changes the whole trajectory of the team.

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The Athletic said the Utah Mammoth don’t have a real villain yet. I’m sorry, but that is simply not true.

In this episode, I make the case for Utah’s first true hockey villain and run through the receipts: Tom Wilson’s 30 penalty minutes against Utah, Alexei Toropchenko’s knee-on-knee hit on Logan Cooley on November 29th, and the January 9th Jack McBain fight at Delta Center that felt like Utah collecting a debt. I also get into Brett Howden’s four-goal playoff pain for Vegas and why local fans know this team’s history better than the national guys do. Subscribe and listen if you’re ready to argue about who Utah should hate most.

Austin ranks the five can’t-miss Utah Mammoth home games for 2026-27: the Winter Classic, Vegas, Ovechkin, Florida, and Celebrini.

The Utah Mammoth might already be the envy of some NHL fan bases.

On this episode of SLC Puck, Austin uses the Vancouver Canucks as the ultimate contrast point. Reports say Canucks ownership wants to cut payroll by as much as $20 million, even with the NHL salary cap rising to $104 million. This is the same Vancouver team that finished dead last last season with just 58 points — 14 behind the next-worst Chicago Blackhawks — and still didn’t land the Gavin McKenna lottery win.

Meanwhile, Utah is heading into year three with Ryan Smith spending money, the Delta Center renovation on the way, playoff hockey already in the rearview mirror, and a clear mandate to chase something real. Austin also gets into why comparison can actually bring a little joy, why Mammoth fans should still keep the pressure on, and why concerns about moves like the Vincent Trocheck trade, Barrett Hayton’s role, and the backup goalie situation haven’t magically disappeared.

This one is part gratitude, part rant, part reminder: things are pretty good in Utah — but that doesn’t mean the hunger should go away.

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Six centers, four spots. Austin breaks down where Vincent Trocheck, Barrett Hayton, Logan Cooley, Nick Schmaltz, Kevin Stenlund and Jack McBain fit—and who gets pushed to the wing.

John Marino got paid, so the pressure moved. Austin ranks Bill Armstrong, André Tourigny and contract-year Lawson Crouse, then breaks down Utah’s 100-point expectation, the Vincent Trocheck and Sebastian Cossa bets, Crouse’s shrinking runway and the best beer deal inside the Delta Center.

John Marino just cashed in with the Utah Mammoth — and I think Nate Schmidt deserves a little thank-you present for helping make it happen.

On this episode of SLC Puck, I break down Marino’s massive 8-year, $54 million extension and why Utah clearly believes he’s a long-term top-four piece. Marino is coming off a career year: 80 games played, 4 goals, 32 assists, 36 points, and a plus-42 season after averaging more than 20 minutes a night. That’s a huge jump from the 35-game, 14-point season he had the year before.

The biggest reason? That second pair with Nate Schmidt was absolutely lights out. Marino and Schmidt played 991 five-on-five minutes together, posted a 56.3% expected goal share, allowed just 2.19 goals against per 60, and finished plus-29 in actual goal differential as a pair. I get into why Schmidt’s arrival helped unlock Marino’s best season, why this contract makes sense with the cap rising, and why the JJ Moser contract comp is a really interesting wrinkle when you look back at the Mikhail Sergachev trade.

Also: I open the show by showing some love to firefighter and Utah Puck Report host Jay Stevens after the end of that KSL Sports chapter. A true Utah hockey guy.

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