With the No. 6 pick of the 2024 Upper Deck NHL Draft, the Utah Hockey Club won’t just select another prospect.
“You’re really ushering in a new era,” general manager Bill Armstrong said.
This will be the first NHL event since the establishment of a new franchise in Utah. As part of the deal, the Arizona Coyotes franchise became inactive, and Utah acquired its assets, including its management team, scouting staff and League-leading 13 picks in this draft.
The No. 6 pick will be the first to pull on Utah’s new colors: rock black, salt white and mountain blue.
The first round will be at Sphere in Las Vegas on Friday (7 p.m. ET; ESPN, ESPN+, SN, TVAS), and Utah will hold its first draft party at Delta Center in Salt Lake City. The party will be free. The team store and limited food and beverage vendors will be open.
“There’s a lot of excitement around our organization about the new and about where we’re going, and it starts at the draft,” Armstrong said. “That’s the first kickoff where we’re walking [in] there with the Utah colors and go to work, so there’s a tremendous amount of excitement around just having the first draft and representing Utah. It’s going to be a great day.”
Who might be there for Utah at No. 6?
Armstrong said a lot of players finished the season strong, changing a lot of NHL teams’ draft boards. Anywhere from 10 to 12 players could go after the No. 1 pick, expected to be Boston University center Macklin Celebrini by the San Jose Sharks.
“It’s wide open,” he said. “I think there’s going to be some surprises that happen due to some of the players just playing so well at the end of the year. It’s exciting times when you get down to it.”
Rounds 2-7 will be Saturday (11:30 a.m. ET; ESPN+, NHLN, SN, SN1).
Utah has three picks in the second round (No. 38, 49 and 65), three in the third (71, 89 and 96), two in the fourth (98 and 103), one in the fifth (135), two in the sixth (167 and 190) and one in the seventh (199).
“If you’re a scout, this is where you want to be,” Armstrong said. “You’re picking high and often. It’s a really good position to be in. This is the way that we designed it and built it. We’re an organization that will have a chance to win a championship, but only through the draft. That’s a big part of what we’re doing.”
Armstrong said the large number of picks allows Utah to be aggressive, perhaps taking a chance on a player with high upside instead of making what would be considered a “safe” selection for fear of making a mistake. It provides more margin for error.
It also gives Utah the currency to “buy” players via trade, as the Coyotes did when they acquired defenseman Sean Durzi from the Los Angeles Kings for a second-round pick June 24, 2023.
Utah will hold its first development camp next week. The prospects will skate at Park City Ice Arena in Park City, Utah, on Monday and Tuesday, then play an open scrimmage at Delta Center on July 5. It will be 4-on-4 with some 3-on-3 and a shootout.
In addition to this year’s draft class, first-round picks Connor Geekie (2022), Maveric Lamoureux (2022), Dmitriy Simashev (2023) and Daniil But (2023) are among those expected to attend.
“That’s kind of our first time we’re putting the skates on the ice in Utah,” Armstrong said. “It’s going to be great. It’s going to showcase all our prospects from this year’s draft and past drafts.”
The free agent market also opens Monday. Utah has tons of salary cap space, and Armstrong identified a need for defensemen. But four years into a rebuild, Armstrong said he doesn’t want to rush the process, spend wastefully or raise expectations too high too quickly. Arizona (36-41-5) finished seventh in the Central Division in 2023-24.
“You have to set realistic expectations for the group and understand that we’re a young group,” Armstrong said. “We’re an entertaining group. We can score. There’s a lot of good things that we can do. But I don’t necessarily, by adding and filling up our cap, think that we’re going to win the Stanley Cup next year. So, we have to be very strategic and smart about how we use our money in free agency.”
There is plenty of excitement in Salt Lake City for now. Armstrong said the staff has been excited to receive new swag. People have been recognizing him, waving to him on the street.
“They’re tuned in,” Armstrong said. “This is a big thing. This is a big thing in the state of Utah and in Salt Lake, and you can feel that. And so, for us to go up on stage with the new colors and all that, it’s going to be exciting. Yeah, it’s a really exciting point for us.”
