- Nate Schmidt says the Mammoth are ready to build on their first playoff trip
- The Cup winner points to Anders Lee and Vincent Trocheck as difference-makers
- Read below for what Schmidt sees in Utah’s young core
Nate Schmidt has been to the top of the mountain, and he thinks the Utah Mammoth are closer to it than most people realize.
The veteran defenseman said he wants to help Utah take the next step toward a sustained run as a Stanley Cup contender, per NHL.com. He said it Wednesday between games at Da Beauty League, the summer showcase in Edina, Minnesota.
Utah is coming off its first playoff trip, a six-game loss to Vegas in the Western Conference First Round. Schmidt described the energy around that debut.
“That excitement and energy was really hard to quantify because it was all over the place,” Schmidt said. “That’s all you ever want as a hockey player.”
Schmidt knows what a climb looks like. He won the Cup with Florida in 2025 and reached the Final with Vegas in 2018, the Golden Knights’ first season in the league. He turned 35 on Thursday, and he sees the same build happening in Utah.
“You have to have that … otherwise you never get out of the murky middle,” Schmidt said.
Utah did not sit still this summer. The Mammoth signed Anders Lee to a three-year, $16.2 million deal on July 1 and traded for Vincent Trocheck the same day.
Schmidt praised what Lee brings after 14 years and eight seasons as the Islanders captain.
“He’s another fantastic human, and another captain to boot,” Schmidt said. “You add a teammate like that to your team, it makes a big difference.”
He called Trocheck, fresh off a gold medal with Team USA at the Milano Cortina Olympics, a do-everything piece.
“I just think he can play anywhere,” Schmidt said. “A Swiss army knife and go anywhere in the lineup and do anything.”
Schmidt has grown into one of the loudest veteran voices in Utah’s young room. Watch him with the media during the season:
What has him going is the young core he gets to watch grow. Dylan Guenther, Barrett Hayton and the rest took their lumps against Vegas and came back hungry. Schmidt wants to be on the ice when Utah finally breaks through.
