It wasn’t surprising when John Marino was traded by the New Jersey Devils. A trade had been on the horizon with the defenseman’s modified no-trade clause kicking in within a couple of days. However, it was surprising that he was traded to the Utah Hockey Club which had just swung a trade to acquire Mikhail Sergachev minutes before acquiring Marino.
Trade to Utah Shocking but Good
Marino knew heading into the draft that he was going to get dealt. He’s been traded once in his career before when he was acquired by the Devils from the Pittsburgh Penguins just three seasons into his NHL career. This time is different for the defenseman. He’s one of the first players to be traded to Utah. Besides Sergachev who was added minutes before Marino was, there’s no player that can help him know what to expect. However, he’s already heard great things about the city and owner Ryan Smith from the players who were brought to Salt Lake City from Arizona.
“You don’t really know what to expect,” Marino said. “There hasn’t been a Utah hockey team in general. Even location-wise, I’m sure some people don’t know where it is. I’ve heard nothing but great things about it, about the owner. It’s going to be a fancy atmosphere and after talking to some of the guys that have already been out there from Arizona, they had nothing but good things to say about it. I think it’s gonna be an exciting experience. It’s always cool being part of a new team in the NHL.”
It says a lot when the players are already spreading the word around the league about how good a new city is when the NHL expands there. It speaks even more volumes when they also mention how good the owner is. Acquiring a known top-four defenseman like Marino who is now speaking publicly about how excited he is about looking forward to being in Salt Lake City is how you grow your appeal to players and fans around.
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Marino hasn’t been to Salt Lake City yet, similar to a lot of the new faces joining the organization during its first offseason. He’s very excited to see the famous mountains and do a lot of outdoor activities.
“I’ve heard it’s just beautiful there,” Marino said. “Being up in the mountains, the scenery, there’s a ton to do like outdoor activities and everything like that. Being able to just see it firsthand experience, it’s a lot different than looking through my screen.”
Helping Build a Winning Culture
As a new team in the league, Utah has a blank slate. While they acquired players from the Arizona Coyotes, it’s a new feeling up in Salt Lake City. Now, to build up their reputation and culture, they’re bringing in players who know how to win. While Marino’s defense is the main reason why he was brought in, his past being on young growing teams will be important in Utah’s locker room.
Marino started his career with the Penguins who have a Stanley Cup-winning core of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang. From there, he went to a Devils team who have a young and dangerous core that made the playoffs for the first time since 2017 the year he joined the team. In total, Marino has only missed the playoffs once in his five NHL seasons. He knows what it takes to build a winning culture in the locker room and he’s eager to help the younger guys in Utah understand what that means.
“I think it starts with the older guys instilling that in the younger guys and teaching them the ropes on what makes a successful team culture, how it’s about being an everyday pro, going about your business every day,” Marino said. “It’s such a long season that can be grueling and some of the younger guys come from shortened seasons. Especially how competitive the league is now, it’s kind of all those little things that add up to having a winning culture.”
Marino paid attention to the team when they were in Arizona last season. He’s also paid attention to what they’ve been doing during this offseason. He acknowledges that they were a speedy team in 2023-24 and now with the defensive additions this offseason, he knows general manager Bill Armstrong is addressing the issues they had, which gets Marino excited for the upcoming season.
“I think they’re sending a message doing what they’ve done in the offseason,” Marino said. “They want to be a competitive hockey team. I remember playing against them last year and they have such a dangerous forward group up front. They play fast transitional hockey and I’m hoping to contribute to that. I think it’s going to be exciting. I think it’s only going to be improvement from here and who knows where it’s gonna go?”
The addition of Marino rounds out Utah’s blue line. Having a top four of Sergachev, Sean Durzi, Juuso Valimaki, and now the former Devil is a dangerous one and a far more experienced defensive core than last season. It shows that Utah is committed to winning by bringing in players who know how to win. It’s a message that they’re sending to the rest of the league. They won’t be pushovers in their inaugural season and they’ll make Salt Lake City a tough city to come into. Marino will be part of that team that threatens to make the playoffs and show the rest of the NHL that Utah is a hockey city.
