- Joined
- May 8, 2002
- Posts
- 456,482
- Reaction score
- 44
You must be registered for see images attach
Utah Hockey Club center Barrett Hayton talks to the media during the UHC Exit Day press conference at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Thursday, April 17, 2025. | Kristin Murphy
It’s officially summer break for the Utah Hockey Club, which fell a few points short of the playoffs in its inaugural season.
Each player has a unique situation and therefore gave unique anecdotes, but three themes were common in virtually every interview: They were disappointed to miss the playoffs, they’re optimistic about the future of the franchise and they love being in Utah.
Generalities aside, here are some things we learned at exit interviews on Thursday.
Carcone, possibly others won’t be back next year
There are rarely, if ever, consecutive seasons in which a team uses the same roster. Most of Utah HC’s players are signed through at least next season, but for a variety of reasons, the few who aren’t might be looking for new homes come July 1.
Here’s what the pending free agents said.
Michael Carcone
Michael Carcone flat out said he’s not coming back.
“I don’t think we’re going to agree on anything,” he said. “I spoke to the coaching staff and management, and I think we’re going to go in a different direction.”
He said the sticking point is consistent playing time. He missed 29 games this season, most of them as a healthy scratch.
“I’ve scored 20 goals in this league. There’s no reason I can’t do it again,” he said. “I think I can do better, to be honest.”
He did say, though, that he loved his time in Utah, as well as his teammates and the organization. It’s just not the fit he’s personally looking for.
Nick Bjugstad
Nick Bjugstad said he’d like to return, but that decision is not entirely up to him.
“We’ll see where Bill (Armstrong) is at,” he said. “He’s got some decisions to make and he’s got a lot of guys in the pipeline.”
He said his focus in the offseason will be getting back to his full strength, which he doesn’t feel he was able to do after his surgery this summer.
“We’ll see what transpires, but like I said, I love the city and I’ve loved the people in the organization.”
Robert Bortuzzo
Since an emotional end to the season in St. Louis, where he spent parts of 10 NHL seasons, Robert Bortuzzo has hinted a few times that this could be the end of his NHL career. Thursday was no exception.
“Obviously got some decisions to be made here,” he said. “Don’t exactly know what the future holds hockey-wise, but would love to maybe stay in hockey if we do end up not playing. But we’ll see. Obviously got to make some calls here.”
When he eventually does move on from playing, he wants to take some time to explore the different jobs around the hockey world.
“I’d kind of like to learn what a lot of these roles do first. I don’t know. I enjoy the media aspect, I enjoy working with young guys. I can’t say I haven’t thought about it a lot, or asked guys what certain roles do, but obviously I’ve got to put a little more thought into it.”
Nick DeSimone
Like Bjugstad, Nick DeSimone’s future isn’t fully in his control — but he’ll come back if he has the option to do so.
“I would like to be back,” he said. “I feel like I fit in well, on and off the ice. It’s not up to me, higher powers figure that out. But yeah, I definitely would.”
He said he has left the contract talks to his agent to this point.
Jack McBain
The last time Jack McBain was a free agent, he filed for arbitration. They ended up settling hours before getting there. Two years later, he’s once again a restricted free agent.
He didn’t reveal much, but he said that he loves this group of guys. He also said that as an RFA, he doesn’t have as much leverage.
Barring an extreme circumstance, McBain should be back next year. It’s just a matter of term and dollar value on his contract.
The World Championship will be Utah-dominated
Every spring, the International Ice Hockey Federation holds the World Championship. Because the timing overlaps with the NHL playoffs, many guys can’t go, leaving the responsibility up to the ones that miss the playoffs.
We asked several Utah HC players if they would attend. Here’s what they each said.
The yeses: Clayton Keller, Karel Vejmelka, Michael Kesselring
Clayton Keller seemed to play with a chip on his shoulder after being snubbed from the 4 Nations Face-Off team earlier in the season. This is his chance to show USA management that they made a mistake leaving him off the roster and show that he deserves an Olympic nod next year.
Karel Vejmelka won gold with Team Czechia at last year’s World Championship. He also won bronze in 2022. If things go well for him this year, the crowd might have to chant “Zeleniny!” (“Veggie” in Czech, per Google Translate).
KAREL VEJMELKA️ #mshokej#narodnitym#jakolevpic.twitter.com/L7yg7TflJu
— Hokej.cz (@webhokejcz) May 26, 2022
Michael Kesselring represented the USA last year, losing to Vejmelka and Team Czechia in the quarterfinal.
The maybes: Dylan Guenther, Logan Cooley, Nick Schmaltz
Dylan Guenther played for Team Canada at the 2024 World Championship, losing to Switzerland in a shootout in the semifinal. He’d like to go again this year, but he’s unsure whether it’s a good idea since he broke his nose earlier this month.
Logan Cooley and Nick Schmaltz are both on the fence about playing for Team USA, though neither specified a reason. Cooley has never played in the tournament, while Schmaltz did once, in 2017.
What is the IIHF World Championship?
It’s common for players to skip the tournament after a long season. It’s generally a bigger deal in Europe than it is in North America because the top European leagues send their best players, and it’s almost always in Europe, making the game times difficult for North Americans to follow it.
Team USA has not won gold at the tournament since 1960.
Logan Cooley doesn’t know what fry sauce is
We media members filled the sometimes extended breaks between interviews with a number of debates, ranging from playoff structure to overrated restaurants. Cooley walked in as we were discussing whether fry sauce is overrated or underrated, so we looped him into the conversation.
At first, he responded in the affirmative. But after realizing we weren’t talking about Chick-Fil-A sauce, it was clear that he’s never had fry sauce — or he at least didn’t know what it was called.
This is a call to local fast food restaurant owners: When Cooley gets back to Utah in the fall, get him some fry sauce.
Continue reading...
