Nick Schmaltz Provided Mammoth List of Trade Teams He Would Approve

The Utah Mammoth got a huge extension done on Wednesday, signing young star center Logan Cooley to an eight-year, $80 million deal. But there's another key Mammoth player, top line forward Nick Schmaltz, who is also due for an extension, as he plays out the final year of his deal. But his future in Salt Lake doesn't look quite so secure.

In fact, insider David Pagnotta reported on the DFO Rundown on Wednesday that Schmaltz was nearly traded this past summer.

They had (extension) talks in the summer... It didn't lead anywhere from a contract side of things... It wasn't close...
What I can tell you is that the Utah Mammoth had trade discussions with teams involving Nick Schmaltz in the summer. My understanding, according to sources, is that he even provided a list of teams that he would accept a sign-and-trade to.

Schmaltz is in the final season of a seven-year, $5.85M AAV contract, and is a pending UFA. His current deal carries a 10-team no-trade list.

But Pagnotta provided even more intel, naming one contender that was serious about trading for, and signing, Schmaltz:

One team that was very heavily in the mix (for Schmaltz), from my understanding, was Carolina... until they got Nik Ehlers (signed as a free agent by the Hurricanes to a 6-year, $8.5M AAV deal).

The insider adds that there are no serious contract discussions with Schmaltz going on at the present time. But the 29-year-old is doing his best to drive up his price, as he's off to a sizzling start to the season, with 17 points in 11 games, tied for 2nd in league scoring. He's never even been a point-per-game player in his career up till now.

"If he keeps this up," said Pagnotta, "is Utah going to be in a position to increase that salary into the $8M range? The $9M range? It's a big ticket for a guy that is just really starting to explode."

Schamltz's production has been very consistent over the past four seasons, averaging right around 20-22 goals per year, with 60 points.

The Mammoth are off to a red-hot start to the young season, in first place in the Central Division with an 8-3-0 mark, tied with the Colorado Avalanche with 16 points.

"Everyone's in a good mood right now in Utah," concluded Pagnotta. "So maybe that shifts things, maybe things get ignited. Maybe they wanted to get Cooley done (first) and then they shift to Schmaltz."

Mammoth fans can only hope.