The inaugural season for the Utah Hockey Club (now the Utah Mammoth) is officially over. The team ended with a record of 38-31-13, while their branch of the American Hockey League (AHL), the Tucson Roadrunners, ended with a record of 34-32-4-2-2, which was good enough for the seventh Playoff place in the Pacific Division. The Roadrunners then lost 2-1 to the Abbotsford Canucks in the first round of the play-offs.
Related: Utah Mammoth’s 2024-25 Reporting cards: Lawson Crouse
With the season in the books it is time to look at the 48 UTAH players under an NHL contract (excluding Connor Ingram for obvious reasons) and their seasons 2024-25. We will also think about how they did during the 2023-24 season and see if they were improved or worse, along with what their future has in store. We go alphabetically by first name. The next is Liam O’Brien.
Last season
After his best season in the NHL in his second season with the Arizona Coyotes, O’Brien returned for his third season in the desert, looking for an 11-point season with his contract that ends in July.
O’Brien did not record a point in his first six games, but he produced his first fight. In the fifth game of the season of Coyotes, he fought Anaheim Ducks forward Ross Johnston.
O’Brien made his first point in a match against the La Kings. He scored his first goal of the season later, together with counting another assist. In that game O’Brien also fought Chicago Blackhawks interspersed, Captain Nick Foligno demonstrably his most entertaining fight of the 2023-24 season. Those two games would be part of a piece of five games where the attacker would count four points, including his second goal of the season.
It would only be at the end of November that O’Brien produced his next point. He had to wait until December 16 for his next goal; However, it was one of his best goals he has ever scored. O’Brien was able to come to Center Ice for the Buffalo Sabres. He was able to set up speed and managed to make the puck in the back of the net. It was a goal that many did not expect from him, but it is one that fans have to view.
Again, O’Brien had to wait almost a month to produce his next point. In that time span from November to the end of January, he fought six times, including well -known enforcers Nikita Zadorov, Jonah Gadjovich and Brendan Dillon.
February was a meaningless month for O’Brien and almost a fightless. In the last match of the coyotes of the month, however, he fought against Ryan Reeves in a long -awaited battle between two of the largest heavyweights in the competition.
To start March, O’Brien produced three points in the first five games of the Coyotes of the Month. While he was in two fights in March, his last point of the season came in the last match of the Coyotes, where O’Brien scored the opening goal, which would ultimately result in a 5-2 victory for his team.
2023-24 was the best season of O’Brien in the NHL so far. He played 75 games, which was a career. His five goals and nine assists (inventing 14 points) were also career heights. His last career high was his 153 criminal minutes. During the season, O’Brien cut himself a role as a solid bottom-line man on a line with Alex Kerfoot and Michael Carcone who offers a bit offensive and a bunch of physicality.
With the hockey operations of the Coyotes that moved to Salt Lake City, O’Brien was part of the team that went to the new city to be introduced in the fan base. He went the way In the hearts of Utah Hockey fans When he introduced himself at his nickname, ‘Spicy Tuna’, and shouted how excited he played in the Delta Center the following season.
Shortly after the first trip to Utah was O’Brien signed for a three -year -old deal With an average annual value (AAV) worth $ 1 million.
This season
After recording his first fight in a previous season match against the Kings, O’Brien was appointed as the opening evening on the fourth line next to Kerfoot and Kevin Stenlund. Fans even sang his nickname after making some physical plays during the game.
O’Brien was replaced by Carcone in the Line -Up for the next two games before he returned to the New Jersey Devils. After that game he only played two more games in 2024. One of them was against the San Jose Sharks, where he fought Givani Smith, who brought down spicy tuna from the crowd.
After he was brought back into the line -up at the beginning of January, O’Brien appeared all month in most Utah matches. He had two fights before he went in February and was an expected game against Nic Deslauriers. A match later, O’Brien got his first point with Utah through an assist.
Liam O’Brien vs Nicolas Deslauriers 🥊, the Tilly that everyone was waiting for.#Utahhc #Novascotia #Hockeyx #Maritime hockey pic.twitter.com/frhhjnfdet
– Maritime Hockey (@Hockeymaritime) February 5, 2025
During the rest of February and the beginning of March, O’Brien was again a fixture in the Line -up. He had a nice tilt against Dillon and produced his second point of the season. In a match against the Seattle Kraken, however, O’Brien suffered an injury in the lower body that would keep him out for the next four weeks.
O’Brien appeared in another game before the season ended. In 28 games he only produced two points, both of which were assists. His Pim also took a dip from the previous season, because he only reached 50.
The future
Because the Mammoet improves every season and brings more of their top perspectives and Nhlers was established in the Line -up, the role of O’Brien is decreasing further. Although he missed some time because he was injured in the last part of the season, telling 75 games to 28 is.
In the low season, the Mammoet Brandon Tanev, who occupies a place in the lower six. They have also signed Kailer Yamamoto and Carcone, who are better attacking players and demonstrably earn a place in the line-up for O’Brien. Cole Beaudoin and newly signed Daniil, but will also insist on one of the 12 forward places. It creates a list of players for O’Brien that he must try to beat in the training camp.
O’Brien is a big teamman. He is an important figure in the dressing room and on the couch because of his personality and selfless dedication to stand up for his team, regardless of how much ice age he has or how bloody he is. He is also great with the younger players and is seen that she teaches players like Logan Cooley how to fight. Moreover, O’Brien is a great guy to have the fans. It showed the whole season how beloved spicy tuna is in Utah with the many songs and the merchandise with his face and literal tunas plastered on shirts, pucks and socks.
At this point in the way of the mammoth to statement, however, they do not need O’Brien in the line -up. Their younger players have become a bit more difficult, and they have brought in boys like Tanev, who can produce more than O’Brien and can still offer the fighting and physicality that he has given.
Having an extra man who can come in and can be a nuisance for the other team is fine, but we also come to the point that even the usual healthy scratches in the line -up have to be placed before O’Brien because of their better attack and speed.
O’Brien’s contract is not necessarily bad. His AAV of $ 1 million will look fast enough as a competition, and the Mammoet has the cap space to save now. It is the fact that it is a one -way deal that sees a grid place that hurts for two seasons. It is doubtful that O’Brien will have time in the AHL with the Roadrunners everyone would have benefited. He would get playing time and defend younger players, while the mammoth does not have to stop him when they call him.
For now, O’Brien remains in Utah. He will probably see some playing time this season, but with boys like, but and Beaudoin who make a push for the selection and Yamamoto and Carcone who also try to get a permanent place, it’s hard to predict how many games O’Brien plays. We could see a scenario in which the mammoth exchanged him the following year to find him a place with more NHL playing time and to free up a schedule.
Final grade
When evaluating the year of a player, a few things come up in me. Did the player stay consistent with the previous season, or his game has been lifted/lost? Does this player produce his contract? What else has the player done or improved?
It is difficult for O’Brien to judge his season. He played much fewer matches because he was forced from the line -up and was also injured. However, on this point, however, he is no longer a daily player in his career. The Mammoet also does not need him to play 75 games with more offensive players as options to choose from. O’Brien almost makes a competition minimum. Did he realize that? Two points and six fights in 28 games, it is debatable.
In general, O’Brien gets a C-Minus for this season. His attacking match fell off, although there is the argument that he only played 28 games. However, O’Brien is not an attacking man, and he did what many expected to do, what a physical presence was and occasionally fights.
Although the question of whether O’Brien should be full -time in the NHL can be discussed, everyone knows that his most important characteristic is his physicality, and that is exactly what he has offered this season, albeit in a much more limited capacity than his time in Arizona. When the mammoth encounters a man like Reeves or Deslauriers in 2025-26, spicy tuna will probably be released on them. However, it will not be surprising if O’Brien plays a similar number of games that he did in 2024-25, if no less.
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