With the 2024-25 NHL season less than two months away, the Utah Hockey Club are about to play its inaugural season. There will be many exciting games on Utah’s schedule and the franchise is hoping to make the playoffs in its first season. With that being said, forward Alex Kerfoot and his veteran leadership will be key to Utah’s quest for the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Who Is Alex Kerfoot?
The 30-year-old has played for three teams leading up to this season. Kerfoot started his NHL career with the Colorado Avalanche, playing two seasons and recording 40-plus points in both. On July 1, 2019, the Toronto Maple Leafs acquired Kerfoot and defenseman Tyson Barrie, sending forward Nazem Kadri to Colorado. The two teams also swapped picks in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft. The left-handed shot spent the next four seasons in Toronto and set his career-high in points with 51 in the 2021-22 season. More importantly, in the first six seasons of his career, he experienced playoff hockey.
Looking to strengthen their forward depth during the 2023 offseason, Arizona Coyotes’ general manager Bill Armstrong signed Kerfoot to a two-year deal worth $3.5 million annually.
First and Final Season in the Desert
Kerfoot has been praised in the past for being “Mr. Versatility” and continued to play that role with the Coyotes, playing on the wing or and up the middle for head coach André Tourigny’s lineup. When forwards Barrett Hayton and Nick Bjugstad were out of the lineup due to injury, he centered forwards Clayton Keller and Nick Schmaltz on Arizona’s top line. The 5-foot-11, 186-pounder was slotted in a bottom-six role and received time on the Coyotes’ power-play and penalty-killing units.
What seemed like constant change throughout the season for Kerfoot impacted his point production. Much of his offensive production came sporadically in bunches. For example, amidst the Coyotes’ consecutive wins against former Stanley Cup-winning teams, he scored one goal and added eight assists for nine points in four games.
His time on the ice was also impacted, as he played a different number of minutes each game. Kerfoot played anywhere from 11:41 to 25:05 a game. Despite all the variations Coyotes fans saw of him, the Canadian had the second-best offensive season of his career, recording 45 points (fourth best on the Coyotes last season.) He also set career-highs in blocked shots (76) and face-off wins (412.) The 2012 fifth-round pick by the New Jersey Devils won 47.8% of his face-offs (second-best season in the face-off circle) and was arguably the Coyotes’ second-best faceoff man behind Bjugstad (who won 617 face-offs last season.)
As you can tell, Kerfoot was Arizona’s Swiss Army knife last season. Tourigny praised him for his defensive abilities.
“I think in all the defensive aspects of the game, he’s a genius out there,” Tourigny said. “He reads the play. He has a feel, he has an urgency, he has pride to do all of that, defensively. I mean, he’s doing a lot of good stuff offensively and he has skill and can make plays, but when you ask me what’s really special, that’s his plays and reads defensively.”
Current Veterans on Utah’s Roster
Other than forwards Liam O’Brien and Kerfoot (both 30 years old), Bjugstad (32 years old), and defenseman Ian Cole (35 years old), Utah overall is a younger team.
O’Brien, also known as the “Big Tuna,” provides a physical (led the Coyotes in hits with 229) and aggressive play style (led the NHL in penalty minutes with 153) that is useful against more physically-structured teams. He recently signed a three-year deal that pays him $1 million annually. He will be a nice plug-and-play option for the next three seasons for Tourigny.
Bjugstad is entering year 13 of his NHL career in Utah. The 6-foot-6, 209-pounder has been a great two-way center in Arizona. He has played with four different teams in the Stanley Cup playoffs (the Florida Panthers in 2015-16, the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2018-19, the Minnesota Wild in 2020-21, and the Edmonton Oilers in 2022-23.)
Cole is joining his ninth NHL franchise in Utah. He has the most playoff experience out of any skater on the roster with 11 postseasons under his belt. The Notre Dame product will most likely serve as a bottom-pair defenseman who can be used in penalty-killing situations.
Kerfoot’s Importance
Other than all the wide-ranging abilities mentioned above, Kerfoot is the perfect veteran presence for Utah’s needs. While he is not like veteran forwards Steven Stamkos or Sidney Crosby, he does not need to be. Young gun forwards Logan Cooley and Dylan Guenther need time on the top-six forward lines to develop, and the line of Keller, Hayton, and Schmaltz looks to stick together this upcoming season. He will be a solid bottom-six player who can fill in certain roles when needed throughout the season.
Related: Reviewing Utah’s Logan Cooley’s Rookie Season in the NHL
Furthermore, last season was Kerfoot’s first time not making the Stanley Cup playoffs in his seven-season career. His drive and experience will be important to pass down to the younger skaters when it comes time for their playoff push in the later half of the regular season.
If Utah decides to promote one of its three alternate captains (Crouse, Keller, and Schmaltz) to captain, look for Kerfoot to pick up one of the remaining alternate captain As. During his college hockey career with the Harvard Crimson, he was co-captain during his senior year in 2016-17. With a mix of veterans, promising youngsters, and free-agent additions, excitement continues to build for Utah fans for their inaugural NHL season.
