Connor Hellebuyck Feels Real

The Mammoth are banged up, yes. But the most fixable issue Austin zeros in on here is what’s happening in Utah’s own zone — especially on the penalty kill, where the structure looks decent until the puck hits a stick and suddenly gets handed right back to the other team.Austin digs into the Vegas loss, the growing injury list with Dylan Guenther out until December 5 and John Marino not expected back until November 21, and why this next divisional stretch feels like a terrible time to be this thin. He also gets into what kind of cheap, experienced help Utah should actually be looking for.Subscribe free at SLCPuck.com and listen to the full episode now. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.slcpuck.com

The Utah Mammoth looked stuck in the mud in that 4-2 loss to Ottawa, and Austin’s main point is simple: this team is missing the exact pieces that make its structure work. With John Marino and Nate Schmidt out, Utah is spending too much time in its own zone, not pushing pace the usual way, and asking too much from patchwork solutions.This isn’t just post-loss panic either. Utah had avoided even a two-game losing streak until now, Clayton Keller is on a 16-point streak, Logan Cooley has 14 points with two hat tricks over his last 10 or 11 games, and they’re still in a playoff spot. That’s what makes this stretch feel important: the stars are producing, but the blue line cracks are getting harder to ignore.Subscribe for more SLC Puck and listen to the full episode. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.slcpuck.com

The Art of Bouncing Back makes an appearance for a reason. Austin looks at Utah’s response after Philadelphia, the shuffled lineup in Toronto and why moving on from a loss deserves its own Hidden Gem. Then it’s time for mountain blue, tusk shoulders and a Hometown Remix sweater he badly wants in his closet.Hidden Gem presented by Jonathan’s Jewelry: https://www.slcpuck.com/hidden-gemSupport SLC Puck: https://slcpuck.shop/The Next Shift Project: https://slcpuck.shop/collections/the-next-shift-projectSLC Puck+: https://www.patreon.com/slcpuckRecorded November 4, 2026. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.slcpuck.com

Logan Cooley came home to Pittsburgh and turned the night into a horror movie for the Penguins.A hat trick. A tying goal in the final second. Mikhail Sergachev finishing it in overtime. Austin makes the case for this being the most exciting win in Mammoth history—and explains why it felt like a glimpse of the player Cooley can become.The Hidden Gem is the play before the chaos: Vincent Trocheck’s faceoff win that let Utah get possession, bring on the extra attacker and give Cooley one more chance.Also in this episode: a traffic-cone costume, a badly timed nap, the road trip ahead and another round of superstar trade speculation around Utah.Support the show at https://slcpuck.shop/ and explore The Next Shift Project at https://slcpuck.shop/collections/the-next-shift-project. Hidden Gem presented by Jonathan’s Jewelry. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.slcpuck.com

The Utah Mammoth lost 3-1 to Minnesota, but this wasn’t just about one bad night. Austin’s main takeaway is that the penalties absolutely buried Utah — 29 penalty minutes, seven Wild power plays, and two Minnesota power-play goals — while Utah’s own power play went 0-for-4.But the bigger issue is what this game exposed: Utah keeps shuffling lines instead of letting real top-six chemistry build. Austin argues the Keller-Schmaltz and Cooley-Guenther duos are obvious, and now the Mammoth need to stop scrambling and commit to the right complementary piece.Subscribe and listen here: full episode This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.slcpuck.com

Austin brought in Adrian Denny for a very specific conversation: the Mammoth goaltending panic, the trade that never happened, and whether fans should actually be freaking out after the Seattle loss.Adrian’s big argument is that Utah’s front office isn’t operating on impulse. Bill Armstrong is checking on everything, Utah can be in every rumor because it’s a destination and has assets, but that doesn’t mean the team should blow up its cap flexibility because people got spooked by a bad three-game save percentage stretch.Subscribe for more SLC Puck, and listen to the full episode here. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.slcpuck.com

Utah lost 5-3 in Seattle, and Austin’s whole point is that this team keeps making life harder than it has to be because it isn’t getting the best goaltending on the ice. Seattle got a .917 night from Philipp Grubauer, while Karel Vejmelka stopped 18 of 22 for an .818 save percentage, and that keeps fitting a bad trend.Over Utah’s last three games, Austin says the Mammoth goalies have posted a combined .774 save percentage while opposing goalies are at .892. That’s why the Connor Hellebuyck conversation suddenly feels a lot less theoretical and a lot more urgent.Subscribe for more SLC Puck and listen to the full episode. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.slcpuck.com

Utah split the Edmonton set, which should feel pretty good on paper: a 4-2 win in Edmonton, then a 6-2 faceplant in Salt Lake City. But the real point of the episode is simpler than the scorelines: this team looks good enough to matter, and the goaltending still looks like the thing that could drag it back to earth.Austin also gives Kailer Yamamoto his flowers after a goal, 3 assists, and instant-impact minutes since Michael Carcone went week-to-week, while asking the uncomfortable Karel Vejmelka question out loud. The power play is still humming at 35.3%, the 5-on-5 process looks strong, and Utah might be better than its raw goals say. But if the crease stays shaky, that’s the conversation.Subscribe and listen for the full Edmonton fallout and the big goalie debate. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.slcpuck.com

The Utah Mammoth are officially the top net-rated team in the NHL, which is both hilarious and very real. Austin digs into what’s driving it: a 5-2-0 start, 27 goals scored, a plus-8 goal differential, and a win over Toronto where Utah survived despite going 0-for-4 on the power play and watching Dylan Guenther live in the penalty box.Then it turns into the real test: two straight against Edmonton. Connor McDavid has 17 points in 6 games, Evan Bouchard somehow has 14 points from the blue line, and the Oilers are averaging 4.8 goals per game. If Utah wants to keep this net-rating throne, the path is simple and terrifying: stay out of the box.Subscribe and listen for the full breakdown. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.slcpuck.com

The main thing from this episode: Utah coming home with 6 of 10 points on a five-game trip is good, but the bigger issue is Logan Cooley still not having a goal through six games. Austin’s case is pretty direct — Cooley himself admitted he hasn’t been enough of a shooting threat, and the Buffalo 2-on-1 was the clearest example yet.Utah’s power play is humming at 10-for-25 and the overall process at 5-on-5 actually looks strong, but Cooley’s even-strength mindset has to change. He’s been a really useful distributor on the power play, yet if he wants to be in that top young-star tier, he has to start taking the shot when it’s there and burying chances like that one against Buffalo.Subscribe for more SLC Puck and listen to the full episode for the full road-trip recap and the Cooley breakdown. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.slcpuck.com