Will the Utah Mammoth make the NHL playoffs this year? It might come down to these 5 stretches.

Hockey season is almost upon the ever-so-patient Utah Mammoth fans.

The team announced its 2025-2026 schedule this week. The Mammoth will kick off the year on a three-game road trip, starting on Oct. 9 against the Colorado Avalanche. Utah will then face the Nashville Predators and Chicago Blackhawks before its Oct. 15 home opener at Delta Center featuring a matchup with the Calgary Flames.

As the countdown continues to roll on, here are five games — or, more accurately, stretches of games — to circle on your calendar for the Mammoth next season.

Oct. 15 — vs. Calgary Flames

This one is obvious.

Opening night at Delta Center will be highly anticipated for many reasons. For one, people simply miss watching the Mammoth play in person; this marks their official return. It will also be the first time the team plays a regular-season game at home as the Mammoth following the rebranding from Utah Hockey Club. The in-arena experience, accordingly, will be revamped to match the organization’s new identity.

It will be a battle in training camp, so it is unfair to fully predict the roster beforehand, but fans will likely get to see new faces — like J.J. Peterka, Brandon Tanev, Nate Schmidt, and, perhaps, Dmitri Simashev or Daniil But — live in the Utah jersey for the first time, too.

Regarding the opponent, the Mammoth went undefeated against the Flames last season and outscored them 13-5 in the three total games.

October road trip — at St. Louis Blues, Minnesota Wild, Winnipeg Jets, Edmonton Oilers

The Mammoth are not easing into the season. Quite the opposite.

Utah will play 13 of its first 20 matchups on the road, including a four-game trip at the end of October. This one is specifically important because it includes three Central Division opponents in the St. Louis Blues (on Oct. 23), Minnesota Wild (Oct. 25) and Winnipeg Jets (Oct. 26). The Mammoth will close out the stretch in Edmonton against the Oilers on Oct. 28.

While it is still in the first month of the season, points all count the same in April. The chance to gain six divisional points — and prevent the other team from gaining any — will carry heavy implications at the end of the year if Utah is making a push for the playoffs.

The Blues secured the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference with 96 points last season; the Wild made it in with 97. Utah missed the cutoff by seven points (it finished with 89). It just goes to show the impact these results can have.

The Mammoth will also play the Nashville Predators, Jets and Blues in the last week of the season — on April 9, April 14 and April 16, respectively. If the team is down to the wire fighting for a postseason berth, those divisional contests could be the difference as well.

Utah has 26 games against the Central Division this season. Last year, the Mammoth posted a 13-9-4 record against those teams (which are the Dallas Stars, Chicago Blackhawks, Jets, Avalanche, Wild, Blues and Predators).

Nov. 12 — vs. Buffalo Sabres

The Nov. 12 game against the Buffalo Sabres will be a homecoming for Michael Kesselring and Josh Doan. The two were traded to Buffalo in June in exchange for forward Peterka.

Kesselring and Doan — who were roommates in Utah and will continue to be with the Sabres — quickly became fan favorites during the inaugural season. They will now try to be part of the solution in Buffalo and strive to take on bigger roles in the process. A warm welcome should be expected from the Delta Center crowd that night.

It will not be the first meeting between the two teams, though. The Mammoth will be in Buffalo the week before (on Nov. 4). That will be Peterka’s return to the city that drafted him in 2020 and where he spent three full seasons before landing in Salt Lake City.

Dec. 10 and Jan. 27 — Florida Panthers

It is always a good measuring stick to play against the defending two-time Stanley Cup Champions, the Florida Panthers.

General manager Bill Zito was able to bring back most of his winning lineup before free agency opened this summer – including Sam Bennett, Brad Marchand and Aaron Ekblad – so the Panthers should remain as dangerous as they’ve been in the last few years.

Utah will face Florida at the Delta Center on Dec. 10 before heading to Amerant Bank Arena on Jan. 27. The Mammoth dropped both games to the Panthers last season (4-1 loss on Jan. 8 and 2-1 overtime loss on March 28). This time around, they’ll have some insider advice.

Former Florida defenseman Nate Schmidt and goaltender Vítek Vaněček both signed with Utah on July 1 as unrestricted free agents. Schmidt was a key piece to the Panthers’ backend depth during the trophy run, and Vaněček was an extra option in net behind Sergei Bobrovsky. Kevin Stenlund — who will be in the second year of his contract with the Mammoth — also won the Cup with Florida in 2024.

Five-game road trip in March — at Washington Capitals, Philadelphia Flyers, Columbus Blue Jackets, Chicago Blackhawks, Minnesota Wild

It is a challenge that every NHL team faces: keeping momentum and motivation consistently high through an 82-game schedule. That can become harder when traveling every other day and bouncing between hotels.

But it is not an excuse. And Utah cannot use it as one on this five-game road trip at the beginning of March. The Mammoth will be coming out of the dog days of the season — lost between the start-of-year hype and end-of-year playoff buzz — and will need to play some good hockey to stay, or pull ahead, in the postseason picture.

There are up to 10 points available during this stretch against reasonable opponents. Any player will tell you, there are no easy nights in the NHL, but this is a group that Utah can match well against. The Mammoth will need to take advantage of the opportunity and not take their foot off the gas.

Utah split a two-game season series against the Capitals last year, went 2-0 against the Flyers, 1-1 against the Blue Jackets, 3-1 against the Blackhawks and 3-1 against the Wild.