The inaugural season for the Utah Hockey Club (now the Utah Mammoth) is officially over. The team finished with a 38-31-13 record while their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Tucson Roadrunners, finished with a 34-32-4-2 record, which was good enough for the seventh playoff spot in the Pacific Division. The Roadrunners went on to lose in the first round of the playoffs 2-1 to the Abbotsford Canucks.
With the season in the books, it’s time to look at the 48 Utah players under an NHL contract (excluding Connor Ingram for obvious reasons) and grade their 2024-25 seasons. We’ll also reflect on how they did during the 2023-24 season and see if they improved or did worse, along with what their future holds. We’re going alphabetically by first name. Next up is John Marino.
Last Season
After losing to the Carolina Hurricanes in the second round of the playoffs, Marino and the New Jersey Devils looked to take another step forward in their path to a championship. With a young core and additions over the offseason like Tyler Toffoli, going beyond the second round was the bar for the Devils.
Both Marino and the Devils started the season off well, beating the Detroit Red Wings in the first game of the season, with the defenseman recording an assist in the game. In the first four games of the season, Marino had two points and played over 20 minutes in all but one of those games. The Devils had a record of 2-1-1 after the stretch of games.
In late October, Marino began his best stretch of the season offensively. He had eight points in nine games, including his first goal of the season against the Winnipeg Jets, before his scoring streak ended in the next game. Marino was also playing consistently high minutes throughout the nine games, solidifying his role as a top defenseman on the Devils.
However, from that point onwards, Marino struggled offensively and was questionable defensively. He recorded only 14 more points throughout the rest of the season, and while he matched his point totals from the 2021-22 season, it felt more like a letdown considering his strong start to the season.
Marino’s questionable stats can’t be solely blamed on him, though. The team around him wasn’t playing well at all. Jack Hughes and Dougie Hamilton suffered injuries, goaltending was a rotation of three underperforming goalies, coaching was stale, the blue line was changed up with Ryan Graves and Damon Severson leaving in free…
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