r/Utah_Hockey

Curious about folks' thoughts here. McMann is a nice player who is the same age as Keller, but I don't follow the logic. While Yamamoto is not a top-sixer on paper, that line was cooking with gas. It's one of the *last* things I'd be worried about if I were GMBA and trying to get us deeper into the playoffs, especially because if it's not working as well next year it's easier to trade for a second-line winger than many other potential needs.

Obviously, money makes all the difference here: a player like McMann would potentially be a huge upgrade for our *third* line, but presumably he's going to command second line money (and the massive delta between goals and expected goals from this past season suggests he might end up being pretty overpriced).

https://preview.redd.it/agzvgu6sop1h1.png?width=1412&format=png&auto=webp&s=5caa677fa2386b8aad0286c6874869ba66057d5e

If you have access and haven't gone in to the presale yet, you'd better hurry. Wow, pretty much anything with a side view up through row 30+ is completely gone. I was able to get in right at 10:01 and snag some blue line row 10 tics. By the time I had checked out, there was nothing below row 22 left. Interesting pricing as well. $400ish for most sideline tics, closer to $500 for center ice, but the highest (in row number) corner and goal line tickets, like rows 59+, were still more than $200 each.

Bought my tickets today for more than what I wanted to pay from the pre-sale but still think it’s worth it. What happens when the avs fans go to buy tickets? They mostly will be gone won’t they? Someone brought up a good point of how Avs season ticket holders will also get some sort of pre sale after us. If your not Either of those will everything already be marked up? I have a few friends looking at going but not sure if it’s going to be possible.

If anyone has a code and didn’t buy all 8, will you please send me the code so I can see if I can buy 2 tickets.

Idahoan looking to take my 15 year old. At this point I’m very worried with no presale we will have zero chance at paying retail.

Can’t really do $900 tickets either so just looking for anyone willing to help. Dm me and post on here I’ll get at it.

Presale for season ticket holders starts tomorrow

Just thinking, they’re not going to sell beer at this game, are they? When was the last hockey game without beer sales?

I fear we could be screwing with the hockey gods on this one.

If anyone has a presale code they are not using for the winter classic, please dm me and let me use it. I would really love to go. I can't afford season tickets, hence why I don't have the presale code, but can afford single games! it would make my birthday month!

If anyone has a presale code they are not using for the winter classic, please dm me and let me use it. I would really love to go. I can't afford season tickets, hence why I don't have the presale code, but can afford single games! it would make my birthday month!

what would you agree to give for him? How about Desnoyers + JJ + this years 1st pick?

Spent some time going through a lot of things. Here are some thoughts after all the work:

JJ Peterka is a better player with the Mammoth this year than he was with Buffalo last year because his game moved from production-heavy but unstable to less inflated, more repeatable, and more trustworthy at 5v5.

The skeptic’s argument is obvious: his raw 5v5 production dipped from 2.32 P/60 in Buffalo to 2.08 P/60 in Utah. That is true.

But that is the wrong place to stop. Last year, the points were doing a lot of cosmetic work. This year, the foundation under the points is much stronger.

Metric	2024-25 Buffalo	2025-26 Utah	Direction
5v5 P/60	2.32	2.08	Down
5v5 xP*/60	1.46	1.85	Up
5v5 G/60	0.99	1.07	Up
5v5 xG/60	0.62	0.76	Up
5v5 CF%	48.9%	53.4%	Way up
5v5 xGF%	45.3%	52.6%	Way up
5v5 xGA/60	3.00	2.36	Way better
5v5 D-zone giveaways/60	1.27	1.07	Better

The case is not “he scored more.” He did not.

The case is: he became a more complete top-six winger.

In Buffalo, Peterka produced like a top-six player, but his 5v5 profile underneath was ugly. A 45.3% xGF share and 3.00 xGA/60 are not good top-six indicators. That says his line was getting out-chanced and giving up too much quality while he was on the ice. He was productive, but the team was paying a defensive tax for it.

In Utah, that flipped. His 5v5 production came down slightly, but his expected offense improved, his goal scoring held, his territorial profile became strong, and his defensive results became much more stable. A jump from 45.3% xGF to 52.6% xGF is not a tiny adjustment. That is the difference between “this guy scores but we have to manage the damage” and “this guy can actually live in top-six minutes.”

The most important improvement is defensive legitimacy. Last year, his xGA/60 was near the bottom of regular NHL forwards. This year, it was comfortably above average. His actual goals-against rate with Utah was excellent. He was not just riding offense. He was part of a line environment that controlled more play and bled less danger.

That is exactly the kind of development you want from a young scoring winger. The best players eventually stop needing the chaos subsidy.

The caveats are real. His overall giveaway rate is still bad: 4.03 giveaways/60 last year, 4.06 this year. That did not improve. The good news is that his defensive-zone giveaway rate improved from 1.27/60 to 1.07/60, so the risk moved slightly away from the most damaging area of the ice.

He is also not suddenly a heavy defensive winger or penalty-kill solution. He does not hit much. He does not block much. He is not a wall-war mule. His defensive value comes more from pace, exits, possession, and improved structure than from punishment or classic shutdown traits.

A skeptic can fairly say Peterka was the louder scorer last year.

But the better player is this year’s version.

2024-25 Peterka: productive, exciting, but structurally shaky. 2025-26 Peterka: slightly quieter production, much stronger 5v5 profile, better defensive stability, more believable top-six fit.

For Utah, that is a win. They do not need him to be the whole engine. They need him to be a second-line winger who scores, keeps pace with skilled players, helps tilt the ice, and does not force the coach to hide him.

This year, he looks much closer to that player.