In a recent tweet, Scott Wheeler, an NHL draft and prospect analyst for The Athletic, wrote, “The Mammoth have been the most active team/the team I’ve heard about the most since before the [NHL] Combine”. Well, that activity came to fruition on Thursday night when the Utah Mammoth announced that they had acquired a 23-year-old forward, J.J. Peterka, in exchange for Josh Doan and Michael Kesselring.
In his tweet, Wheeler continued by saying that it “Sounds like everything is on the table, including No. 4. [overall pick]” (via Scott Wheeler, X). Hearing the word ‘active’ may create excitement and get fans to start expecting movement. Still, it often falls short of expectations as activity is usually just a code word for exploring options. That does not appear to be the case this offseason in Salt Lake City. Armed with several assets, let’s look at what general manager (GM) Bill Armstrong could be planning next with the NHL Entry Draft kicking off tonight.
Mammoth Uses Fourth Overall Pick
The Mammoth were incredibly lucky to win the NHL’s Draft Lottery to move up 10 spots and attain this fourth overall pick. Since then, they have been linked to just about every projected top 10 pick besides Matthew Schaefer, who is a lock to be the first overall pick.
Following the Mammoth lottery win, I wrote about four prospects they should target based on mock draft consensus from various sources. Then, at the NHL Combine, we started to hear more about which prospects the Mammoth were sitting down with to have dinner. This added three more that the Mammoth could potentially use this fourth overall pick on.
Related: 2025 NHL Draft Guide
With the draft just hours away, it appears most likely that the Mammoth will draft one of Porter Martone or James Hagens, with The Hockey Writers‘ prospect analysts, Dayton Reimer, Andrew Forbes, and Peter Baracchini, having one of these two ranked fourth. There is also the possibility that they get the chance to draft Caleb Desnoyers, the third-ranked player by all our draft analysts at The Hockey Writers, if the Chicago Blackhawks do something unexpected with the third. Scott Wheeler of The Athletic also suggested in a recent tweet that the Mammoth are likely the earliest team to consider taking Brady Martin or James O’Brien (via Scott Wheeler, X).
Mammoth Trade Fourth Overall Pick
Regardless of who the Mammoth take with the fourth overall pick, they will be getting a good prospect. It appears that picks four through 10 are pretty interchangeable, based on the rankings you are looking at.
The quantity of high-quality picks at the top of this draft is creating an unusual environment that is devaluing these picks in the trade market. Almost every team in the top 10 has said that they are open to trading their first-round pick. Now, this is something virtually every GM will say: every player or pick has a price, and teams must explore all options to maximize their team’s potential.
The problem is that we won’t know who is serious about moving their pick until draft night. Going into it, teams are likely to think that they can approach multiple teams to trade up in the draft order and secure the player they want. However, if there is not a lot of movement in the draft order before the draft kicks off, the Mammoth’s fourth overall pick could be used to acquire a proven NHL player who can grow with the team.
Obvious trade targets for this pick would be an elite defenseman like Noah Dobson, whose name has been involved in trade rumors or Marco Rossi, who sits at the top of The Hockey Writers NHL Trade Bait List for 2025 Offseason; however, these seem unlikely with the Mammoth’s acquisition of Peterka.
In the same tweet referenced earlier from Wheeler, he also mentioned that the Mammoth are “chasing a starting goalie”. Despite re-signing Karel Vejmelka to a five-year extension, they still have a lot of questions to answer in the crease. While Vejmelka was excellent in 2024-25, can he maintain that level of play, or will he revert to the almost unusable goalie he was in the first three seasons of his career? Will the Mammoth have Connor Ingram back? That is still very much up in the air, and not something to speculate on given what he has gone through. Is Jaxson Stauber ready to be a full-time NHL backup goalie?
At this time, these questions cannot be answered. However, if you are questioning the role of every goalie on the roster, it’s probably wise to get another for insurance purposes. In the free agent market, the pickings are slim for a quality starting goalie, so much so that I recently suggested the Mammoth would be better off targeting a cheaper risk/reward option like Alex Lyon if they were trying to bring in a goalie through free agency. However, if the Mammoth are looking to find quality, it will have to be acquired via trade.
Goalies who stand out as obvious targets would be Joel Hofer of the St. Louis Blues and Thatcher Demko of the Vancouver Canucks. Hofer will become a restricted free agent on July 1 if he and the Blues can not agree to an extension. Despite a great start to his career, Hofer may be on the market, considering the Blues still have Jordan Binnington. As for Demko, he is likely available, as the Canucks just re-signed Kevin Lankinen this season and have Arturs Silovs, who won the Jack A. Butterfield Trophy, awarded to the most valuable player throughout the American Hockey League Calder Cup Playoffs.
However, knowing Armstrong’s history, he is likely thinking outside of the box, and the unexpected needs to be expected. If the Mammoth move their fourth overall pick, it will likely be in a deal that no one sees coming, such as when Armstrong acquired Mikhail Sergachev from the Tampa Bay Lightning last offseason.
Post First Round Picks
After the fourth overall pick, the Mammoth holds five more draft picks, one in each round through the sixth round of the draft. With the Mammoth having one of the youngest cores in the NHL and one of the deepest prospect pools, it is reasonable to expect them to use some of these later picks to bring in quality players that can help the team right now.
With the second through sixth round picks, teams can expect it will take them a few seasons to develop into NHL-ready players, but in just 10 days, we have seen the Seattle Kraken acquire Frederick Gaudreau for a fourth-round pick. We also saw the Edmonton Oilers ship Evander Kane to the Vancouver Canucks, and Mason Marchment was dealt to the Kraken from the Dallas Stars for a third and a fourth-round pick.
Considering the Mammoth have a couple of holes at the bottom of their lineup going into the draft, it would not be shocking to see them trade mid-round picks to address the gaps. With only 28.2% of third-round picks in NHL history and 21.8% of fourth-round picks to play 100 games in the NHL, it would be wise for them to go out and find another right-handed defenseman who can play third-pair minutes or a couple of forwards to play bottom-six minutes and ensure that they are going to get quality players from these picks that can help the team compete now.
Mammoth In Can’t-Lose Scenario on Draft Night
Whether the Mammoth trade or use their fourth overall pick, find a goalie or depth players to fill out the roster, they will be in an excellent position coming out of the draft. Armstrong continues to execute moves that help this team improve now and will also make them better in the future. Regardless of what happens, Mammoth fans can rest easy knowing they have one of the best GMs in the league, who only makes moves that align with his direction for the team.
