Utah Willing To Move Sixth Overall Pick

Utah appears to be willing to move their sixth overall pick in this month’s NHL Entry Draft (as per David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period). The franchise could open up a lot of trade options if the reports are true and it would be a departure for general manager Bill Armstrong as he spent the past few seasons accumulating draft picks year after year while the team was playing in Arizona. The sixth overall pick would hold a lot of value for Utah and could certainly be part of a package to fetch the team a premium asset. For context, Florida Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk was drafted by the Calgary Flames sixth overall in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft.

The timing to move the pick makes sense, given that Utah is entering a new market and a big trade at the draft would create a buzz around the team. They also don’t have to contend with any pending cap crunch as the team is slated to have $43.5MM in cap space (as per CapFriendly) heading into the summer.  Utah also has a deep prospect cupboard and has a ton of draft picks available heading into the next few years. The team has just one first-round pick this year, however, they have 13 picks in this year’s draft including three second-round picks and three third-round picks. The team also holds ten picks in next year’s draft, including four second-round picks.

There is no indication as to what Armstrong might do with the pick, and he is a general manager who will go off the board at times and create a surprise. He mentioned a few weeks ago that he wasn’t “in the market for buying 33-year-olds but was looking at 23-year-old players.” If that pattern holds, it’s conceivable to think that Utah could target a younger established NHL player with the sixth overall pick.

It is not common to see teams move top-5 draft picks; however, the 6-10 picks have been traded with a lot more frequency. In 2012 the Pittsburgh Penguins dealt Jordan Staal to the Pittsburgh Penguins for Brian Dumoulin, Brandon Sutter and the eighth overall pick which they used to select Derrick Pouliot. In 2017, the New York Rangers sent Derek Stepan and Antti Raanta to Arizona for Tony DeAngelo and the seventh overall which they used to pick Lias Andersson. Finally, just two years ago the Ottawa Senators sent the seventh overall pick in 2022, along with a second and fourth round to Chicago for Alex DeBrincat.