The newly rechristened Utah Mammoth â formerly the Utah Hockey Club and before that, Arizona Coyotes â may be looking to make a major splash in the free agent market by signing a 16-year veteran fresh off his second Stanley Cup victory parade, according to media reports.
The Mammoth need to do something. Dating back the club’s days in Arizona, this is a team that has gone six years without playoff hockey, and one who has seen postseason play just once since 2012.
In fact, going all the way back to 1979 when the Winnipeg Jets of the World Hockey Association joined the NHL as one of four franchises absorbed into the more established league when the two organizations merged, the club in a any incarnation has never won a Stanley Cup or even played in the Finals.
In 2012, Arizona made it to the Western Conference finals, losing in five games to the Los Angeles Kings. That was the high point for the often-shifting franchise.
Mammoth May Look to Make Major Free Agency Impact
But according to Boston-based sports journalist, the Mammoth are displaying “considerable interest” in signing longtime Boston Bruins star Brad Marchand, who was traded at this year’s deadline to the Florida Panthers.
Marchand went on to play a key role in the Panthers’ Stanley Cup championship, the second consecutive year that the Florida team hoisted the cup. It was also the second Cup for Marchand, who first won it in his rookie season with the Bruins in 2011.
According to the Boston freelance reporter, Dan Kelley, the Toronto Maple Leafs remain the favorites to land Marchand if he chooses to leave Florida â but the Bruins may also have interest in bringing back their wayward star, in addition to the Mammoth.
“I am told by a legitimate source very close to the Brad Marchand situation that the Toronto Maple Leafs are the front runner, but there is still considerable interest from Utah,” Kelley wrote on Tuesday. “The Bruins have reached out to Marchand, but unclear if there has been an actual offer from Boston.”
Marchand to Utah: an ‘Unexpected’ Move?
Kelley’s information appeared to echo NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman of the Canadian SportsNet outlet, who wrote on Saturday, “if he doesnât stay [in Florida], Toronto and Utah are expected to be among the serious pursuers. … watching him in the final, who wouldnât want him?”
But a Marchand signing with the perpetually rebuilding Mammoth would be “one of the most unexpected signings of the off-season,” according to Spencer Lazary of The Hockey Writers. “There would be so many people that absolutely love the move to bring in a veteran like Marchand to be the emotional leader in the room.”
The Salt Lake City newspaper Desert News also confirmed that the Mammoth “are in on Brad Marchand.”
“In the locker room, Marchand brings a blend of seriousness and levity,” wrote the paper’s hockey correspondent Brogan Houston. “Utah could have used a bit more of the latter last year. Their leadership group is comprised almost entirely of no-nonsense individuals â which can be great â but sometimes you need someone to keep things fun.”
Marchand is an unrestricted free agent coming off the eight-year, $49 million contract he signed with the Bruins. While it is not clear how much money on an annual basis the 2006 third-round draft pick would seek, according to Houston, Marchand is believed to want a three-year contract that would take him to age 40.
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