LAS VEGAS — On the eve of the first NHL Draft in Utah Hockey Club history, team owner and tech magnate Ryan Smith smiled when he made a confession.
“I haven’t been known for my patience,” the billionaire said.
The aggressive entrepreneur’s inherited hockey team had already turned a corner off the ice by moving to a properly sized arena and season tickets getting gobbled up like popcorn.
And on Saturday in Las Vegas, Smith’s franchise began turning a corner on it.
In a pair of significant draft-floor deals, Utah added two top-four defencemen: two-time Stanley Cup champion Mikhail Sergachev from Tampa Bay and righty John Marino from New Jersey.
The rebuild is over. The ramp-up is on.
“We come into a really good spot. If you were thinking about the position to take over our team, this is pretty ideal,” Smith said. “Especially coming into how we’re doing this from a cap space standpoint going into the season. I’m very aware of where we’re at. I’m very aware of where the market’s at and the opportunities we have.”
The owner praised GM Bill Armstrong and his executives’ resilience through all the uncertainty and losing during the Mullett Arena days: “I think they’re gonna have a little fun now.”
Fun, for hockey fans, means player movement.
And Armstrong and the always-creative Lightning GM Julien Brisebois were at the forefront of Saturday’s action.
The Bolts received defenceman J.J. Moser, centre Conor Geekie, a 2025 second-round pick (Toronto’s), and a 2024 seventh-round (199) in exchange for Sergachev, who recently recovered from a fractured tibia and fibula.
“Mikhail Sergachev is a proven winner and point producer and has been one of the best shut-down defencemen in the NHL for a sustained period of time,” Armstrong said.
“You cannot win in this league without a star, elite defenceman. We are thrilled to welcome Mikhail to our organization and look forward to many years ahead with him leading our blueline.”
BriseBois also shed 2023 trade deadline mistake Tanner Jeannot, shipping the forechecking winger to Los Angeles for a 2025 second-round pick and the 118th pick in 2024.
More important than the futures BriseBois gathered is the cap space he freed. Retaining no salary in the Sergachev and Jeannot trades, the Lightning opened $11.15 million on its 2024-25 spreadsheet two days before the opening of free agency.
The Lightning are expected to re-sign Victor Hedman (UFA 2025) to an extension Monday. The No. 1 defenceman is underpaid at $7.875 million.
BriseBois also has some budget to take another run at a Steven Stamkos extension, if he’d like, before the face of the franchise hits the open market on July 1. Talks had previously reached a standstill.
As for Utah, Smith’s new venture is still under the cap floor after adding Sergachev ($8.5 million) and Marino ($4.4 million), who instantly become the club’s top-paid D-men.
We learned that the NHL’s newest franchise will be a little more Vegas than Seattle in terms of slamming the gas pedal and trying to be competitive out of the gate.
And we are reminded that the Lightning will be cutthroat in its effort to keep a contending window open.