The Utah Mammoth may be the NHL’s newest franchise, but they’re already standing out for a different reason: there just isn’t much of a villain attached to them yet.
The Athletic recently named one villain for every NHL team, and Utah’s entry was a simple one: “no one”. That’s a little unusual, especially when other clubs had obvious answers. For the Mammoth, though, the list came up empty.
There are a few names that could eventually fit the bill. Pavel Dorofeyev and Brett Howden were mentioned as possible candidates. But for now, Utah still feels like a team without a true bad guy in the eyes of its own fan base.
That also fits with where the franchise is right now. The Mammoth are still young and haven’t done enough yet to build up a real list of enemies.
The Vegas Golden Knights would probably be the team fans dislike most after beating Utah in the first round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs, but even that doesn’t fully land as a lasting grudge. Utah wasn’t expected to go deep in that run, and with the offseason both teams have had, the Mammoth should be closing the talent gap on Vegas soon.
The St. Louis Blues could also qualify as a team Mammoth fans don’t love, though they don’t exactly look like a major obstacle at the moment.
St. Louis is rebuilding, and Utah should be in position to handle them in the future.
The bigger picture in the Central Division is still ahead of Utah. The Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars and Minnesota Wild remain the division’s heavy hitters, and those matchups are the ones most likely to shape real rivalries over time. Of that group, Colorado stands out as the most natural fit for a future rivalry with Utah.
What makes this list even more interesting is that it focused on players rather than teams. And on that front, Mammoth fans apparently don’t have anyone they truly loathe yet. For now, Utah might just be one of the NHL’s nicer teams.
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