{"id":938566,"date":"2026-10-19T07:48:09","date_gmt":"2026-10-19T07:48:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/938566\/"},"modified":"2026-10-19T07:48:09","modified_gmt":"2026-10-19T07:48:09","slug":"sunday-overreactions-hellebuyck-would-make-mammoth-a-cup-contender","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/938566\/","title":{"rendered":"Sunday Overreactions:\u00a0Hellebuyck would make Mammoth a Cup contender"},"content":{"rendered":"

Not even Saturday\u2019s lopsided loss at the hands of the Edmonton Oilers can really put a damper on the Utah Mammoth<\/a>\u2019s impressive start to the season.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Heading into Saturday, the Mammoth were well represented in the majority of the measuring-stick categories when it comes to classifying the NHL\u2019s elite. Utah ranked in the top 10 when it came to goals for, goals against, shots on goal, and shots against. Nobody has created more high-danger chances than the Mammoth, and nobody has more regulation wins. Utah also boasts an incredibly balanced attack. It has 18 skaters who have at least two points, and 16 of them have scored a goal.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Despite a long and painful rebuild where the Mammoth didn\u2019t land a number one pick or a generational superstar, slowly but surely the organization has been accumulating assets. Clayton Keller and Nick Schmaltz have become difference makers, Logan Cooley and Dylan Guenther have blossomed almost simultaneously and savvy trades for players like Vincent Trocheck, Mikhail Sergachecv and MacKenzie Weegar have really rounded out the roster. The Mammoth are no longer a team on the rise, they have officially arrived.<\/p>\n

Mammoth are\u00a0a goalie away from being\u00a0a championship contender<\/p>\n

If there\u2019s one flaw people will point to about the Mammoth, it\u2019s their goaltending and you can understand why. Karel Vejmelka\u2019s numbers don\u2019t really jump off the page at you. He owns an .879\u00a0save percentage this season and an .899 over his career. Vejmelka\u2019s goals saved above expected won\u2019t blow you away either, as he ranked 29th\u00a0out of 65 qualified goalies heading into Saturday. He\u2019s essentially a league-average goalie who can be very inconsistent, which I suppose you could say about half the goalies in the NHL.<\/p>\n

Six went past Vejmelka on Saturday against the Oilers, as Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl put on a show. There\u2019s a long lineup of goalies that have fallen victim to Edmonton\u2019s dynamic duo, so there\u2019s no shame in that,\u00a0and it\u2019s hard to fault Vejmelka too much on the multiple breakaways the Mammoth allowed. That said, goaltending is not simply about making the saves you\u2019re supposed to. Sometimes you need to take your game to another level to help lift your team when they\u2019re not at their best. Vejmelka may not be capable of that, but Connor Hellebuyck<\/a> is.\u00a0<\/p>\n

If the Mammoth continue to play at this level, an elite goalie could put them into the championship conversation.\u00a0<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no reason Utah couldn\u2019t upgrade at the position if they really wanted to. Hellebuyck is looking for a new home and the Mammoth have the cap space and the assets\u00a0to make something happen. Plus, if the Winnipeg Jets<\/a> want a goaltender back in return, Vejmelka only has a 10-team no-trade clause and Sebastian Cossa has no trade protection.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Elliotte Friedman reported Saturday that Hellebuyck could be able to rejoin the Jets on Friday, although that doesn\u2019t mean he will. Maybe Winnipeg won\u2019t want to disturb the locker room and pay him to stay home or perhaps a trade gets worked out by then. We know deadlines spur action.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The question is, how many chips do the Mammoth want to push into the middle this season? This is uncharted territory for a franchise that should now have real belief that they can beat anybody. If you watched Hellebuyck in the gold-medal game back in February, you know what a difference-maker he can be, and\u00a0it would be a huge statement if the Mammoth were to make a play for him.\u00a0The rest of the league is starting to understand how good Utah is, and making a splash to upgrade\u00a0its roster would show that the Mammoth believe in themselves.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Connor will score 50 this season<\/p>\n

Kyle Connor isn\u2019t\u00a0letting\u00a0any\u00a0off-ice distractions around the Jets slow him down.\u00a0Connor is off to a torrid start, scoring eight times in just\u00a0eight\u00a0games and he\u2019s\u00a0found the back of the net in all but\u00a0two\u00a0contests.\u00a0The Jets forward is one of the game\u2019s great scorers and he\u2019s proven it with a 47-goal season under his belt, but Connor has only hit the 40-goal mark once since\u00a02022. This year feels different, though.\u00a0The line of Connor, Mark Scheifele and Cole Perfetti are really clicking, as Winnipeg has been one of the most pleasant surprises in the early part of the season. If they can keep it going and given Connor’s hot start,\u00a0it does feel like there\u2019s a world where he finishes with 50 goals.\u00a0<\/p>\n

There are a few reasons Connor should have a real chance to get to 50 if he stays healthy. The first is his shot volume, which\u00a0has\u00a0greatly\u00a0increased.\u00a0He\u2019s really putting an emphasis on shooting the puck\u00a0and right now he\u2019s averaging\u00a0nearly\u00a0five shots per game. That would put him well over 400 shots on the season. I don\u2019t think that\u2019s sustainable\u00a0but getting to 320\u00a0or\u00a0330 sure\u00a0seems plausible.\u00a0The only other time Connor has broken 300 shots in his career is the year he scored 47 times.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Secondly, he\u2019s\u00a0feasting on the power play. Connor has already scored four times with the man advantage, putting him just one behind his total from all of last year. Winnipeg\u2019s power play is ranked\u00a0third\u00a0in the league and\u00a0is really clicking.\u00a0Finally, Perfetti seems to be a real\u00a0x-factor on that line and\u00a0he\u2019s\u00a0scoring at a point-per-game pace\u00a0himself. If Perfetti can attract\u00a0attention from opposing defences, it\u2019s only going to free up more space for Connor.\u00a0<\/p>\n

There are a lot of things like injuries and bad puck luck that could see Connor fall short of 50 again, though it does feel like the stars are starting to align for him to get there.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Fowler has taken the Canadiens crease from Dobes<\/p>\n

One of the great stories last season\u00a0for the Montreal Canadiens was the emergence of Jakub Dobes.\u00a0The 25-year-old had a stellar 29-10-4 record and ranked in the top 10 when it came to goals saved above expected.\u00a0He was really good in the playoffs as well, powering the Canadiens to a Conference Final run with a .908 save percentage.\u00a0This year it\u2019s been a completely different story, though. Dobes has struggled\u00a0thus far, posting\u00a0an .842\u00a0save percentage and just one win.\u00a0He also sits 63rd\u00a0out of 65\u00a0qualified goalies in goals saved above expected.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Thankfully for the Canadiens,\u00a0youngster Jacob Fowler has really stepped up\u00a0when called upon. Fowler has won three\u00a0of his\u00a0four\u00a0starts,\u00a0with all of his\u00a0wins\u00a0coming in games that went beyond 60 minutes.\u00a0That includes one where\u00a0he recorded a 30-save shutout. Right now,\u00a0Fowler is clearly the hotter of the two netminders\u00a0and his numbers have remained at a high level throughout stops at Boston College and Laval of the AHL.\u00a0If Dobes doesn\u2019t regain his form quickly, could we see Fowler completely take over\u00a0the crease?<\/p>\n

I can\u2019t really see a situation where Fowler takes the job and runs with it all season.\u00a0He still only has\u00a021\u00a0NHL appearances under his belt\u00a0and the likelihood of his play not dipping over a long 84-game schedule is slim. The reality is Montreal will likely operate out of a\u00a0tandem system for the majority of the year and at some point,\u00a0I\u2019d expect Dobes\u2019 play to bounce back, giving the Canadiens two decent options to turn to.\u00a0This start from Fowler is just a nice bonus for Montreal and a signal he could be ready for more playing time. It\u2019s likely Fowler ends up with more starts this year than maybe many were\u00a0forecasting, but expect Dobes to continue to be a big part of the Canadiens plans in net.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Rangers can stay in the playoff hunt without Shesterkin<\/p>\n

After a hot start that gave New York Rangers fans\u00a0plenty of hope for the 2026-27\u00a0campaign, everything came crashing down when Igor Shesterkin was lost for the season with a knee injury.\u00a0Most people didn\u2019t have the Rangers pegged for a playoff spot this year and the few that did likely\u00a0saw the path to the post-season\u00a0paved by Shesterkin carrying the team on his back. The good news for New York is\u00a0it has banked some points early and currently sits\u00a0in a good spot in a division that appears really wide open after Carolina and Washington. We saw the Pittsburgh Penguins\u00a0improbably\u00a0carry a hot start\u00a0right through to the post-season a year ago, so maybe the Rangers could do the same.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s going to be very challenging\u00a0for the Rangers to keep up this pace without Shesterkin. They\u2019ve picked up some big wins so far over teams like Tampa Bay and Utah, but Thursday\u2019s thrashing at the hands of the New Jersey Devils illustrated how low their floor\u00a0is when the Rangers aren\u2019t at their best.\u00a0New York isn\u2019t as deep as some other powers in the East and as good as Dylan Garand has been,\u00a0and he\u2019s been great,\u00a0he can\u2019t play at a level like Shesterkin\u00a0can to bail the Rangers out\u00a0consistently\u00a0when they need it. Garand\u2019s numbers\u00a0have been\u00a0excellent\u00a0but he\u2019s only middle of the pack in\u00a0goals saved above expected right now.\u00a0There\u2019s going to be a lot of nights like Thursday when Garand is hung out to dry and he won\u2019t be\u00a0able to compensate for New York\u2019s underwhelming play.\u00a0It\u2019s been an admirable start for the Rangers but I\u2019d be surprised if it has long-term staying power.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sennecke\u00a0will be on the next Team Canada roster<\/p>\n

We were finally\u00a0treated to some incredible best-on-best hockey with the 4 Nations Face-Off and the Olympics\u00a0and before you know it fans will already be projecting rosters for the 2028 World Cup of Hockey. One name that\u2019s\u00a0gaining some steam around the league is Beckett Sennecke.\u00a0The 20-year-old has gone from a surprised third-overall pick to an impact player in just a couple of years.\u00a0Sennecke\u00a0delivered\u00a0a 60-point season as a rookie\u00a0and is now\u00a0scoring over a point per game this season with the Anaheim Ducks.\u00a0There\u2019s a bit of an edge to his game, too. At six-foot-three and 208 pounds, Sennecke\u00a0could have the perfect blend of size and skill that would make him a fit for Canada\u2019s roster in 2028.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I think there\u2019s a real possibility Sennecke makes this team if he continues to develop on this trajectory.\u00a0Canada will certainly look to get younger after\u00a0their veteran roster fell just short of\u00a0gold in Milan, with no guarantee\u00a0of\u00a0forwards like Mark Stone\u00a0and Brad Marchand returning. That would open the door for Sennecke and young up-and-coming players to grab a spot. One would think Connor Bedard will make the team\u00a0and expect other young talents like Dylan Guenther and Wyatt Johnston to push for a spot as well, but Sennecke\u00a0should certainly\u00a0also\u00a0be in the mix.\u00a0Given\u00a0injuries and roster turnover, there should be a handful of spots up for grabs on the next Team Canada and I expect\u00a0we\u00a0will be hearing Sennecke\u2019s name\u00a0as a real consideration leading up to the tournament.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Not even Saturday\u2019s lopsided loss at the hands of the Edmonton Oilers can really put a damper on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":938567,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[49,48,82],"class_list":["post-938566","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/938566","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=938566"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/938566\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/938567"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=938566"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=938566"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=938566"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}