Salary Cap Deep Dive: Utah Mammoth

Aug 14, 2026 720 views

Navigating the salary cap is one of the most important tasks for a front office. Teams that can avoid total cap chaos by walking the tightrope of inking players to deals that match their value (or compensate for future value without breaking the bank) remain successful. Those who don’t often see struggles and front office changes.

As we do each year, PHR will look at every NHL team and give a thorough look at their cap situation for the 2026-27 season, though in a slightly different format than before. This will focus more on players who are regulars on the roster versus those who may find themselves shuttling between the AHL and NHL. All cap figures are courtesy of PuckPedia. We begin our series with a look at the Central Division, next up are the Mammoth.

2026-27

Upper Limit: $104MM
Current Cap Charge: $99,415,357
Cap Space: $4,584,643
Potential Bonuses: $1MM (unlikely to be reached)
Dead Cap: $650K (retention and subsequent buyout of Oliver Ekman-Larsson)

Expiring Contracts (RFA): None

Expiring Contracts (UFA): F Lawson Crouse ($4.3MM), F Barrett Hayton ($4.775MM), F Liam O’Brien ($1MM), D John Marino ($4.4MM, already extended), D Andrew Peeke ($1MM), F Kevin Stenlund ($2.75MM)

Crouse hasn’t become the high-scoring power forward it looked like he might have a chance to but he has potted at least 20 goals in four of the last five years while bringing lots of physicality. That’s a profile that a lot of teams would want so it wouldn’t be overly surprising to see his camp aiming for something similar to what Mason Marchment got from San Jose (five years at $6.75MM per season). Given that he’s a couple of years younger, a price tag starting with a seven seems likely.

Utah matched New Jersey’s offer sheet for Hayton, thinking he can get back to 2024-25 form when he had a career-best 46 points. If he can do that this season, a price tag starting with a six could be doable. But if he remains more in the 25-30-point range, where he’s at now might be where his next contract comes in at.

Stenlund signed on the opening day of free agency to stay with the Mammoth. With his penalty killing and faceoff play, he has a high floor but his historically limited option may make it tough to command much more than this barring a breakout year. O’Brien has played sporadically in recent years, making it tough for him to push for the type of money Ross Johnston, another tough guy, got. If he remains on the fringes of a lineup spot, it’s hard to see him getting much more than what he is now.

Marino was one of their top pending free agents but GM Bill Armstrong took care of him last month so we’ll cover his new deal in a bit. Peeke took a big pay cut to join Utah, signing one of the better value deals in the process. If he plays well there, jumping back into the $3MM range feels realistic.

2027-28

Projected Upper Limit: $113.5MM
Current Cap Charge: $87,580,357 (18 players signed)
Cap Space: $25,919,643
Potential Bonuses: $1MM (possible some of the ‘A’ bonuses are reached)
Dead Cap: $290K (Ekman-Larsson retention/buyout)

Some of the spending was already done with Marino getting a raise of more than $2MM but there is still ample room to re-sign Crouse and Hayton if they want to while having enough flexibility to try to make another key addition to their roster as they did this summer. It’s worth noting that if Caleb Desnoyers makes the roster and plays regularly, their bonus exposure would be considerably higher, which could create a carryover penalty if a lot of their current cap room is used in-season.

Expiring Contracts (RFA): G Sebastian Cossa ($2MM), F Dmitriy Simashev ($972.5K + $1MM in ‘A’ bonuses)

Simashev played a limited role with Utah in his first NHL season but could make a case for a regular role this year. Even so, it seems unlikely he’ll hit some of his bonuses until he can secure a top-four role which might not happen this quickly. Assuming he stays in more of a limited role, Simashev profiles as a good bridge candidate, potentially in the $3MM range.

Utah flipped a first-round pick to Detroit to land Cossa and quickly signed him to this deal. He has just 45 minutes of NHL action so far but Armstrong believes he’s a legitimate backup at a minimum, probably more given the trade return. If he’s a capable backup, he could add another million or so on his next deal but if he pushes for the starting role, he could push for something more in the $5MM to $6MM range.

Expiring Contracts (UFA): F Michael Carcone ($1.75MM), D Nick DeSimone ($1MM), F Clayton Keller ($7.15MM), D Nate Schmidt ($3.5MM), F Brandon Tanev ($2.5MM), F Kailer Yamamoto ($1.75MM)

Keller is going to be a very interesting extension candidate next summer. He has recorded at least 86 points in three of the last four years while cracking the 30-goal mark three times in that span as well. He is a legitimate top-line forward and as we’ve seen over the last year or so, the price tag for players in that role has skyrocketed. He’ll be 30 when his next contract begins, making a max-term seven-year a very realistic possibility. It’s also quite possible that he’s able to double his current price tag on his next contract, significantly resetting Utah’s pay structure in the process. It seems reasonable to think Armstrong will get his captain locked up for the long haul.

Tanev has slowed down considerably in recent years and given that he’ll be 36 when this deal expires, it’s unlikely he’ll be able to beat this. If he continues his recent trend, he may be someone coming in closer to the minimum salary at best. Yamamoto and Carcone signed their deals recently. They’re both players who have had some success being productive with limited ice time but aren’t good enough to move up in the lineup and lock down a bigger role. That’s going to limit them in future contract talks but if they can stay double-digit scorers in the bottom six, a small bump-up could be doable.

Schmidt showed last season that he’s still a capable second-pairing option and if he can stay in that role the next two years, they’ll get a good return on his deal. He’ll be 37 when his next contract starts so he might be going year-to-year from there. But even so, if he’s still capable of logging 18 minutes per game, a jump to the $4MM range is doable. DeSimone has become effectively a full-time seventh option while being serviceable when called on to play on the third pairing. Teams will generally want to keep a depth or reserve player around the minimum salary so unless DeSimone can lock down a full-time lineup spot, he might be hard-pressed to beat this by much on his next contract.

2028-29

Forecasted Upper Limit: $123MM
Current Cap Charge: $66,957,857 (10 players signed)
Cap Space: $56,042,143
Potential Bonuses: None
Dead Cap: $290K (Ekman-Larsson retention/buyout)

While the RFA contracts could add big chunks to the books, Keller’s next deal will eat up most of the cap increase alone. Still, there should be ample room available, barring a big spending spree next summer really cutting into this flexibility.

Expiring Contracts (RFA): None

Expiring Contracts (UFA): F Anders Lee ($5.4MM), F Vincent Trocheck ($5.625MM)

Trocheck was Utah’s big acquisition on the trade front, giving them another impact center in the mix. While there are some signs that he’s starting to slow down, the demand for middlemen will ensure he has a strong market when he’s 36 three years from now. Depending on his role at the time, he could land a raise of a couple million if he’s hanging around in the top six at the end of this deal. Lee was their big pickup on the free agent front, coming over from the Islanders. Three years for a 36-year-old who is slowing down carries some risk and it’s likely he’ll be moving lower in the lineup as the deal progresses. It’s hard to see him getting more than one year on his next contract, if there is one at all.Read more

2029-30

Forecasted Upper Limit: $133.5MM (8.5% increase)
Current Cap Charge: $55,932,857 (8 players signed)
Cap Space: $77,567,143
Potential Bonuses: None
Dead Cap: $290K (Ekman-Larsson retention/buyout)

While Trocheck could land a raise coming off his deal, that can easily be absorbed through Lee’s expiring deal. That, plus the projected increase, gives Armstrong some extra flexibility in the 2029 offseason.

Expiring Contracts (RFA): None

Expiring Contracts (UFA): F Jack McBain ($4.25MM), G Karel Vejmelka ($4.75MM)

A deal signed last summer, this was one of the contracts that foreshadowed how expensive things were going to become for bottom-six pivots. McBain has recorded between 25 and 28 points in his four full seasons while bringing plenty of physicality. That’s an element teams will pay big for. There’s no reason to think that trend will be changing so McBain pushing past $5MM on his next contract is likely.

Vejmelka’s contract carried some risk given that he was relatively unproven when it was signed. So far, it has aged relatively well, given how much they’ve relied on him. His numbers are closer to league average but he has been the undisputed starter for a while now. He’ll need to flip to being above-average if he wants to land a big raise but even if he finds up being more of a platoon piece with Cossa taking on more of the workload, he could still land another contract in this price range.

Signed For 2030-31 And Beyond

For that season, there will be a new CBA in place so trying to forecast the cap and cap space basically becomes a guessing game. Accordingly, we’ll go back to the old Deep Dive format for players signed beyond the 2030-31 campaign.

F Logan Cooley ($10MM through 2033-34)
F Dylan Guenther ($7,142,875 through 2032-33)
D John Marino ($6.75MM from 2027-28 through 2034-35)
F Nick Schmaltz ($8MM through 2033-34)
D Mikhail Sergachev ($8.5MM through 2030-31)
D MacKenzie Weegar ($6.25MM through 2030-31)

Armstrong surely is breathing a sigh of relief that he got Cooley extended last season instead of waiting until the summer, a decision that likely saved the team a few million dollars per year while getting eight years out of it. Cooley still has to demonstrate that he can be a full-time top-line center but he has shown enough flashes to suggest that he could get there or be a high-end second option from a production standpoint. Either outcome provides a strong return on this contract while he could be heading for 50% raise or more when this deal is up.

Schmaltz’s extension also looks a bit better relative to this summer’s activity. Last season was a breakout year for him but even if he falls back to his typical high-50/low-60 point total, this will still age well for the most part. It might get a little tight at the end when he’s 37 and 38 but they’ll get enough value out of the deal beforehand. Guenther’s deal carried some risk given that he didn’t have a full season’s worth of games under his belt but it’s already a bargain as he has emerged as a legitimate scoring threat. If he has a couple more 40-goal seasons under his belt, it’s not impossible to think he could double this AAV on his next contract.

Sergachev has blossomed into an all-around top-pairing (if not a lower-end number one) defender over the last several years and is already paid at a rate well below that role. That gap should only increase over the next half-decade before his deal is up. A jump to the $15MM per season mark could be an option if he’s still a productive number one option at that time.

Marino’s recent extension is on the higher side today for a second-pairing defender although the quickly-changing market should quickly change the perception. There’s some risk signing it when he was coming off a career year but there’s no reason to think he won’t be a quality third option for the foreseeable future. Weegar struggled in a number one role with Calgary but fit in better in more of a second-pairing spot after being acquired. As is the case with Marino, as long as Weegar can have success in that role, this deal should hold up well. Given that he’ll be 37 when it expires, he may be going year-to-year from that point or inking a two-year pact.

Outlook

With most of Utah’s core locked up long-term and ample cap space to re-sign the impact players whose deals are up soon, the Mammoth appear to be well-positioned to keep adding to their group for the foreseeable future.

Photo courtesy of Rob Gray-Imagn Images.

Source: Brian La Rose · https://www.prohockeyrumors.com/2026/08/salary-cap-deep-dive-utah-mammoth-2.html

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2026-27

Expiring Contracts (RFA): None

2027-28

2028-29

2029-30

Signed For 2030-31 And Beyond

Outlook

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