Nick Schmaltz of Utah Hockey Club scored his 20th goal of the season after scoring a powerful game against the Nashville Predators on April 14. With the goal, he consolidated his new career high with 62 points before assisting Utah’s only goal in the final game of the season, scoring 63 points.
Despite not scoring goals in the first 23 games (28%), no goals were scored throughout the season, but seven games were played without goals. Despite seemingly sometimes fighting hockey throughout the season, Schmaltz still managed to score his fourth 20-goal season and also achieved a career high in assists.
Related: Utah HC: Did Nick Schmaltz lose his score?
However, with Utah’s inaugural season at Salt Lake City, Schmaltz’s contract expires by the end of next season, it’s time to start a conversation about what Utah should do with the offseason coping with Utah at the age of 29.
The impact of Schmaltz on Utah Hockey Club
Schmaltz played at Utah’s top line with Clayton Keller and Barrett Hayton or Logan Cooley for most of the season. This combination of Schmatlz, Keller and Hayton has allowed the opposition to play the toughest games at night and at night and left the season with a 57.8% expected target share, with an average expectation of 3.4 expected goals, while only 2.4 minutes per 60 minutes allowed to play with five-on-five points every 60 minutes in the 363-minute game.
Even in Utah The line experimented with Cooley on the top line with Keller and Schmaltz, but in 271 minutes the trio played with even strength (via Money Puck) on the trio, with an average of 4.2 goals per 60 minutes and a 65.5% goal rate of 65.5% in 271 minutes in which the trio played with even strength (via Money Puck) was 65.5% on average in 4.2 goals per 60 minutes and 65.5% goal rate was 65.5% in 60 minutes).
Although Schmalz is perfect for these three players at different locations throughout the season, he is not the one who drives these lines offensively, and averages scored 0.40 per 60 minutes, while Keller averages 1.63, while Cooley and Cooley averaged 1.24. Even Hayton is also known as a reliable two-way center, averaged 0.45 (player card, all three areas, April 18, 2025).
The lack of major contributions led to Schmaltz’s highest secondary assist rate in Utah, the NHL’s 23rd highest rate and the NHL’s highest rate among players above five-on-five-on-five-on-five-pointers. If Schmaltz is not ranked 255th in the NHL, it would be a good number every 60 minutes (via Natural Stat Trick).
Schmatlz is a unique player who is a highly skilled passer and has performed well in controlling the hockey. However, he did not venture into high-risk areas of the ice and often relied on multiple teammates to complete the game for him. He is a player that almost every team in the NHL wants to want in their mid-six, but not the Stanley Cup teams want to be on their top line.
Should Utah trade Schmalz in the offseason?
Utah’s willingness to move Schmaltz may depend on whether they can make connections in the big swing they have been talking about. Schmaltz, 29, is somewhat disconnected from the young core of Utah. After just over 20 goals and 58 or more points in four straight seasons, he seems to have reached the peak and he is as valuable as possible.
Branch Rickey, a former Major League Baseball player and executive, once said: “Trade a player too early instead of a year too late”, and Schmaltz’s Winnipeg Jets’ season is more influential than Schmaltz (NHL Player Card, Track and Field, April 18, 2025).
If Armstrong can convince one of the two players to come to Salt Lake City or trade with a similar caliber, Utah should move Schmaltz after acquiring the home run. Assuming Utah’s logo is Marner or Ehlers, both steps could push Schmaltz toward six forwards at the bottom, where he might grow and provide depth scores at reasonable speeds.
However, this will undermine most of the value Schmalz has established in Arizona and Utah, as he may no longer get significant minutes in five-to-five and lose a large portion of his strong playback time, which will greatly affect his production. Beyond that, under Utah’s roster, a veteran player will only hinder the development of numerous emerging, advanced prospects, such as Danil, but Tij Iginla, they will seek an NHL roster for next season.
Although Schmalz’s situation is not urgent, it may depend on the success of other moves in the offseason. It’s an interesting situation to keep a close eye on whether Utah will be committed to developing young prospects and shooting them, and continue to move forward from the key pieces that have been with this team throughout the reconstruction process.
Suppose Armstrong can put another amazing offseason together like he did last summer. In this case, I think it’s very likely that we’ll see Schmaltz’s name related to many different trading conversations.
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