NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Logan Cooley made a between-the-legs, highlight-reel pass in a game early this season. Older Utah Mammoth teammate Anders Lee watched in amazement.
“I mean, I'm not trying that,” Lee said with a chuckle.
No one is asking him to try anything of the sort. The Mammoth made the playoffs with a young, fast, skilled core led by Cooley, Dylan Guenther and captain Clayton Keller, and Lee and fellow veteran forward Vincent Trocheck were added
over the summer to bring a more direct, simple and straightforward brand of hockey from their careers in the Eastern Conference and complement what the established group already excels at.
“They’ve always been skillful and everyone’s kind of known them as being a fast, small, skilled team, and now they’ve gone out and added some bigger pieces, some grit to their lineup and I think they have a little bit of everything,” said New Jersey forward Evan Rodrigues, who won the Stanley Cup back to back with Florida in 2024 and '25. “They got good goaltending, a good D corps, guys who can put the puck in the net (and now) guys who also kind of muck it up in front of the net.”
After losing in the first round to bigger, stronger and more seasoned Vegas, Utah clearly could use some more players who can muck it up around the crease. Enter Lee, a 6-foot-3, 234-pound winger who had been with the New York Islanders for more than a decade, and Trocheck, a do-it-all center who played across town with the Rangers the past four years and helped the U.S. win Olympic gold in Milan.
Trocheck has started on right wing on the top line alongside Keller and Nick Schmaltz. Lee is on the left side with Cooley and Guenther.
The trios have combined to produce six goals at even strength through four games, while the Mammoth have the NHL's best power play at an unsustainable 61.5% success rate. The chemistry is still developing with the new faces.
“We’re still figuring each other out a little bit, and I think it’s going to come eventually,” Keller said. “We’ve shown flashes, but I think (it is about) just connecting a little bit. We’re talking about it a lot and each other’s tendencies and things like that, so it’s not something I’m too worried about, to be honest. I think we’re all pretty smart players that think the game at a high level.”
That was the intent in acquiring Trocheck via trade and signing Lee in free agency hours apart on July 1.
Coach Andre Tourigny pointed out that they are two different players but acknowledged they do something similar: “They're guys who play on the inside a lot."
That is important and needed when some of the most talented players are better suited to make a difference on the perimeter.
“Andy is a real power forward: toughness, physicality. Even he’s heavy down low. He can protect the puck,” Tourigny said. “Trocheck is good in the) faceoff dots, playing both special teams, really good defensively.”
The on-ice fit is obvious. There is also the experience that Lee and Trocheck bring from several playoff runs.
“It’s good to have some guys that have been in a lot of different situations where us young guys could kind of lean on them,” Cooley said.
It will take until spring to see how much that benefits Utah. Until then, Lee and Trocheck are affecting younger teammates with not only what they do but what they say.
“Just the things (Lee is) saying on the bench after games and just listening to him tell stories,” Guenther said. “And same for Troch. He’s always adding things that maybe weren’t being said before, like talking about faceoff skill, edge battles — just kind of little things that maybe you weren't even really aware of before.”
___
See AP’s full NHL coverage here
