Bill Armstrong is feeling pretty good about his defense.
After finishing tied for the fourth-fewest goals allowed in the NHL last season, the Utah Mammoth general manager locked down one of his top defensemen as the summer doldrums set in.
John Marino signed an eight-year contract extension with the Mammoth worth an average annual value of $6.75 million on Tuesday, which will make him the second-highest-paid defenseman on the team behind Mikhail Sergachev.
“We view John as a foundational piece of our future,” Armstrong said. “His ability to control the game from the back end, his play in transition and our trust in him to make the right decisions in critical situations allows him to be a difference maker on most nights.”
This is the final offseason in which NHL players can sign eight-year contracts, with the new collective bargaining agreement taking effect on Sept. 16 and bringing the maximum contract length down to seven years. Armstrong said that change was a motivating factor in getting the deal done now.
Marino is the fourth player to sign an eight-year deal with the Mammoth, joining forwards Dylan Guenther, Logan Cooley and Nick Schmaltz. Additionally, two of Utah’s other top defensemen — MacKenzie Weegar and Sergachev — are signed through 2030.
“They’ve created a winning environment and a place where players want to be,” Marino said of Utah. “The support from the fans and everything has exceeded expectations. It’s been unbelievable.”
Calmness under pressure
The right-handed defenseman from Easton, Massachusetts, was traded to Utah ahead of the team’s inaugural season in 2024, but was sidelined for several months because of a lower-back injury.
He played in 35 games that season and 80 last season, leading the team in plus-minus at plus-42, which was tied for fourth-best in the entire NHL.
“Beyond his skill, John brings a level of calmness under pressure that our group feeds off of,” Armstrong said. “And that’s exactly what you need from your veteran players.”
The 29-year-old Marino might bristle a bit at the “veteran” designation, but he’s part of a group of maturing Mammoth players graduating to senior status as the team’s previous elder statesmen — such as defenseman Ian Cole — move on.
The departures of Cole in free agency and Sean Durzi via trade leave some potential openings on the blue line for Utah, though the top two pairings — Sergachev-Weegar and Marino-Nate Schmidt — appear to be locked in.
Schmidt and Marino were the best defensive pairing in the NHL last season outside of the Colorado Avalanche, according to plus-minus rankings. After starting the season alongside different partners, the two found each other early in the year and never looked back.
“You kind of learn as the season goes on what you do right and what you do wrong,” Marino said of the pair’s success. “Mostly just communication and figuring it out as you go.”
Filling in the gaps
There might be a bit of figuring it out on the fly when it comes to the third defensive pairing for the Mammoth this season. Nick DeSimone and Dmitri Simashev are both returning from last year’s roster, and the team signed former Boston Bruin Andrew Peeke to a one-year deal this summer.
Peeke was drafted 34th overall in 2016 and slowly worked his way up in the NHL, eventually earning some top defensive pairing minutes with Columbus and Boston. A down year last season led Boston to let him walk in free agency.
“Andrew is a big, mobile defenseman that brings depth to our blue line,” Armstrong said. “He’s a smart player with offensive upside, and we look forward to seeing what he can do in a Mammoth uniform.”
Peeke and DeSimone are both right-handed, while Simashev plays on the left, perhaps giving him a fast track to an opening-night lineup spot. Maveric Lamoureux, who also plays on the right side, saw his Mammoth appearances decrease from 15 as a rookie in 2024-25 to just five last season.
Armstrong specifically shouted out both Simashev and Lamoureux when addressing the hole left by Durzi’s departure. He expects new assistant coach and former NHL defenseman Adam Foote to have a “huge impact” on Simashev, a former sixth overall pick.
The only other defenseman under contract with NHL experience is lefty Zac Jones, who was signed to a two-year, two-way contract with an $875,000 average annual value on July 1.
Jones was drafted 68th overall by the New York Rangers in 2019 and played in 115 games over five seasons there before spending all of last season in the AHL.