{"id":484249,"date":"2026-03-03T09:16:47","date_gmt":"2026-03-03T14:16:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=484249"},"modified":"2026-03-03T09:16:47","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T14:16:47","slug":"nhl-rumours-mammoth-emerge-as-contender-for-star-centre-ahead-of-deadline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2026\/03\/03\/nhl-rumours-mammoth-emerge-as-contender-for-star-centre-ahead-of-deadline\/","title":{"rendered":"NHL Rumours: Utah Mammoth Linked To Star Centre Ahead of Trade Deadline"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome to another edition of NHL Rumours, here at <\/span>Last Word On Hockey<\/em>. In this edition, we talk about the Utah Mammoth<\/a> and the latest on their pursuit to improve the roster. Speculation is heating up with the <\/span>trade deadline this week, particularly Utah’s hunt for a centre.<\/p>\n

NHL Rumours: <\/span>Mammoth Have Shown Interest in Robert Thomas as Trade Deadline Approaches<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Rumour: While doing <\/em>Sportsnet\u2019s <\/span>\u201cSaturday Headlines\u201d<\/a>, NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman said the Mammoth are among the teams that have shown interest in Robert Thomas<\/a>. He also said <\/span>it could just be a “pipe-dream” that he’s dealt by the deadline. However, if the St. Louis Blues<\/a> choose to do a full rebuild, Thomas is a name who could be moved sooner rather than later. It\u2019s unlikely, but this is the latest on that rumour. Utah wants long-term players over rentals, says Mammoth GM Bill Armstrong<\/a>.\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n

Analysis: <\/strong>Unless Thomas only wants Utah, the Mammoth will have to part with a substantial package to land him from the Blues. However, this would be a move that may potentially put Utah into the playoffs for the first time and help solidify their future. Not only that, Armstrong was in the Blues scouting department when they drafted Thomas with pick #20 in 2017. He would later become their Assistant GM, so there’s familiarity between the two. Having a one-two punch of Thomas and Logan Cooley<\/a> at centre would make Utah a much deeper team. Thomas is currently in year three of the eight-year, $8.125 million<\/a> contract he signed back in 2022. His full no-trade clause kicked in this season.<\/p>\n

What Would Thomas Bring to Utah<\/h3>\n

At just 26-years-old, Thomas is an elite number one centre that had 80 or more points in the previous two seasons. This has been a year to forget for the former first-rounder due to injuries, but the skill is still there. Thomas has 35 points in 43 games on a Blues team that’s at the bottom of the NHL standings. The biggest need for the Mammoth is a centre. Because Nick Schmaltz<\/a> shifted to the middle, Utah loses major depth on the wing. If they brought in Thomas, Schmaltz could go back to his usual position at wing, while Thomas would centre the first or second line.<\/p>\n

Another area of importance that would receive a boost with a Thomas trade is faceoffs. Per Statmuse<\/a>, the Mammoth are one of the worst teams in the league in terms of faceoff win%. Kevin Stenlund<\/a> is Utah’s best player in the faceoff dot at 54.3%. Not only would Thomas bring an offensive boost, but he also adds some defensive responsibility. Along with his high hockey iq as well. In each of the last four seasons, Thomas has been 50% or better in faceoffs. A potential top-six for the Mammoth if a deal were to happen would include: Thomas, Cooley, Schmaltz, Clayton Keller<\/a>, Dylan Guenther<\/a>, and JJ Peterka<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What It Might Cost for Thomas<\/span><\/h3>\n

Landing a star like Thomas carries a hefty cost. Players of his calibre rarely appear on the market, and when they do, the price is usually steep. A package for Thomas might look similar to what the Minnesota Wild<\/a> paid to get Quinn Hughes<\/a> from the Vancouver Canucks<\/a>; a young roster player, two prospects, and a first-round pick.<\/p>\n

The Mammoth have one of the top prospect pools in the league. If Utah isn\u2019t willing to part with the necessary assets, a trade for Thomas won\u2019t happen. This could force the Mammoth to pivot elsewhere, but only for the right price.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Main Photo: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Welcome to another edition of NHL Rumours, here at Last Word On Hockey. In this edition, we talk about the Utah Mammoth and the latest on their pursuit to improve the roster. Speculation is heating up with the trade deadline this week, particularly Utah’s hunt for a centre. NHL Rumours: Mammoth Have Shown Interest in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5373,"featured_media":482976,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"1","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4547,34,4548,4321,21],"tags":[1310,8222],"class_list":["post-484249","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hockey","category-news","category-nhl","category-rumours","category-mammoth","tag-robert-thomas","tag-utah-mammoth-rumours"],"modified_by":"Colton Osmond, Dept Manager","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/484249","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5373"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=484249"}],"version-history":[{"count":37,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/484249\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":484407,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/484249\/revisions\/484407"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/482976"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=484249"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=484249"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=484249"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}