NHL Rumors: The Utah Mammoth won’t ruin their future

Utah Mammoth GM is not willing to sacrifice their long-term future for the short-term

Daily confrontation: Utah Mammoth GM Bill Armstrong won’t sacrifice their future to improve their team now. Most big moves happen in the off-season or while developing your own moves.

Irfaan Gaffar: “When we do these interviews with general managers, every day you talk about wanting to improve your roster. But if you’re in the position you’re in, as we now run the calendar year well into 2026, what does improving the Utah Mammoth roster look like to you?

Armstrong: “Well, the first thing I have to tell you is that when we do that, when we try to improve the roster, it doesn’t mess up the future. And that’s the first thing. And we want to add. Every morning when we wake up, we think about how we can improve our team. But as long as it doesn’t crush us in the future, that’s fine.”

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But if you look at a lot of our deals that we’ve done to improve our team, the (Mikhail) Sergachev’s and the (JJ) Peterka’s and the (Nate) Schmidt’s, they’re all summer moves.

And you know, when I was with St. Louis and we went all the way to win, to win a Stanley Cup, I think we added Michael Del Zotto, and that was it. We have not taken any catastrophic steps.

You know, your team is built. Your core is built, you know, over the summer, over the years together. It’s not, ‘Hey, we’re going to do this incredible transaction.’ Yes, that happens once.

But for the most part we are building for the long term. We are interested in long-term success for Mammoth, and that requires development, patience and bringing your guys along. And like we did with (Logan) Cooley, like we did with the (Dylan) Guenther’s of the world.

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We have had a slow process, and it is sometimes painful because it takes some time. But you know, in the end it pays off, because you get homegrown talent that fights just a little harder for you.”

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