Mammoth GM talks Peterka trade, 2025 Draft outlook in Q&A with NHL.com

The NHL’s Utah franchise was officially named the Mammoth on May 7, not long after it completed its inaugural season in Salt Lake City.

Now, seven weeks later, the newly branded organization is poised to dominate hockey headlines in the coming days, from the 2025 Upper Deck NHL Draft on Friday and Saturday at L.A. Live’s Peacock Theater in Los Angeles to the opening of free agency on July 1.

The Mammoth havewasted little time making a splash, acquiring forward JJ Peterka, a 27-goal scorer this season, from the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday for defenseman Michael Kesselring and forward Josh Doan.

Was that just the opening act for a Utah team that holds the No. 4 pick in the first round on Friday (7 p.m. ET; ESPN, ESPN+, SN, TVAS), and subsequently has plenty of space under the NHL salary cap to add free agents on the open market?

Will this end up being the Week of the Mammoth?

“You’ll have to wait and see,” general manager Bill Armstrong said Thursday before breaking into a chuckle.

Last June, during the splashy 2024 NHL Draft at Sphere in Las Vegas, Utah was proactive in acquiring a No. 1 defenseman, Mikhail Sergachev, in a trade with the Tampa Bay Lightning for forward Conor Geekie, defenseman J.J. Moser, a seventh-round pick in 2024 and a second-round pick in 2025.

That aggressive blueprint was on display again 12 months later with Utah landing Peterka. Next on the agenda: If the Mammoth don’t trade their top-five pick, they’ll be in line to draft a highly regarded center like Caleb Desnoyers of Moncton in the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League, James Hagens of Boston College, or Brady Martin of Sault Ste. Marie in the Ontario Hockey League. As for free agency, the Mammoth have frequently been mentioned in various reports as a potential landing spot for pending unrestricted free agent forward Mitch Marner of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

In any event, it’ll be a busy few days for Armstrong, who addressed what the Mammoth might do in a Q&A with NHL.com.

First off, what’s your impression of the Peterka deal, and how long had you been working on it?

“Obviously we’re happy. We like it. He adds goals and fits in well with our young talent. We’d been looking into it for a little bit. And now it’s the time to get down to business. Slowly but surely, right?”

You’ve already been proactive in making that trade. You have one of the top picks in the first round. You have free agent money. Is that trade just the appetizer to the further splashes we might see the Mammoth make in the next couple of weeks?

“Look, we’re pumped that we’re in line to get a good player in the draft. We’re looking to get better in any way, whether it be the draft, by trade or free agency. We barely missed the playoffs last year and we want to make the next step. We just have to make sure we keep everything in front of us. We’ve been a team that’s tried to put together a team of people with the same age, ultimately, together, and not just create a team for dollar signs. It’s something where you’re just trying to add one piece at a time. You can’t do it all, right? We’ve got young players who are 21, 22, 23. You look at the Stanley Cup Final, and you’ve got star players that are 27, 28, 29, 30. And so our guys still have to go through that maturing process. It takes a little time to go through, you know. At the same time, if we can help build around them and put them with players that complement them and, at the right age, grow with them, you pursue it.”

Is the No. 4 pick in play?

“Realistically you almost never see a trade made in the top four. It’s almost an impossible trade to make. Yeah, we’re moving forward to look at, you know, picking. At the same time, if there are options out there, we’re going to look at them. We’re going to look at all options.”

Obviously you can’t discuss specific players who might be on the market on July 1. But, at the same time, you’re aware of all the speculation linked to your team about potential candidates. Given what you mentioned about players of the same age growing together with your team, are you in the market for upper-echelon free agents right now? Or doesn’t that fit into your blueprint, at least where it stands at this moment?

“We’ll look at anything. Like I said, we’ll look at every option possible that will help us improve our team. I don't know if we’ll go down all the roads, do you know what I mean? Like, there are a lot of teams that win the summers and won’t win in the winter, right? We don’t want to be one of those teams. We don’t want to go down that road.”

You made an admirable run for a playoff spot before coming up seven points short this season. You finished a respectable 38-31-13 for 89 points. With the players you have and are about to add, is it time to take the next step and make the playoffs?

“We’re pushing. We want to get into the playoffs. We feel our team is at the age where it can take the next step. Obviously a lot of things have to go right. You have to make it through without being too banged up. There are a lot of obstacles. But we feel we’re at the point to get to the next level and make the playoffs.

Finally, how much did the adversity and the heartbreak of missing the playoffs help your team grow, if at all, heading into 2025-26?

“Yeah, it’s interesting to hear you say that. That adversity really helped us. We played meaningful games right to the end. That’s such valuable experience for our guys.”