The inaugural season for the Utah Hockey Club (now the Utah Mammoth) is officially over. The team finished with a 38-31-13 record while their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Tucson Roadrunners, finished with a 34-32-4-2 record, which was good enough for the seventh playoff spot in the Pacific Division. The Roadrunners went on to lose in the first round of the playoffs 2-1 to the Abbotsford Canucks.
With the season in the books, it’s time to look at the 48 Utah players under an NHL contract (excluding Connor Ingram for obvious reasons) and grade their 2024-25 seasons. We’ll also reflect on how they did during the 2023-24 season and see if they improved or did worse, along with what their future holds. We’re going alphabetically by first name. Next up is Miko Matikka.
Last Season
Matikka’s road to North American hockey wasn’t easy. Expecting to play with the University of Denver, Matikka was forced to play in the United States Hockey League (USHL) with the Madison Capitols due to eligibility issues with the NCAA. After finishing up his lone season in the USHL with the Waterloo Black Hawks thanks to a midseason trade, the 2023 Arizona Coyotes third-round pick was ready to finally play with Denver in 2023-24.
Entering the 2023-24 season, Denver was seeking to win their second NCAA championship in the past three years. In the prior season, the team fell to Cornell in the opening regional semifinals.
Matikka made his NCAA debut with Denver against Alaska Fairbase. The Finnish forward went pointless in his first six games despite Denver jumping out to a 4-1-1 record. He finally produced his first point in a 6-1 win over Colorado College. Matikka scored his first goal in the next game of the series.
The goal against Colorado College began a streak of six games where Matikka would score a goal. That included a two-goal outing against Arizona State. While his goal streak would end in a game against Yale, his point streak wouldn’t end until nearly two months later against Niagara. In the span of 11 games, Matikka had 15 points, 11 of which were goals.
Related: Utah Mammoth’s 2024-25 Report Cards: Mikhail Sergachev
After failing to score in the first game against Niagara, Matikka scored in the second game of the series, kicking off a new point streak that lasted three games. In those three games, Matikka scored three goals and had five points.
However, the next six games would be a struggle for Matikka. He only produced one assist as Denver went 3-3-0 during those six games. Some of those games were against big opponents like North Dakota, who swept Denver, and Western Michigan, who won 7-2 in the second game of the series.
Matikka got back on the scoresheet with a pair of assists in a series against Minnesota Duluth. He scored his first goal in over a month in the second game of a series against Miami. However, Matikka never got back to the consistent offense he had at the beginning of the season. That’s not to say he didn’t have any good games, which he did, including a two-goal game against St Cloud State and a goal against Omaha to capture the team’s third National Collegiate Hockey Conference title.
Denver defeated UMass in a double overtime thriller, and Cornell, thanks to a goal from Matikka, to get to the Frozen Four. Matikka assisted on the game-tying goal in the first game against Boston University that eventually set up an overtime winner for Denver, sending them to the championship game.
In the NCAA Frozen Four National Championship, Matikka registered three shots on goal against Boston College. Two goals from Denver gave them the win and their 10th NCAA championship. In his lone season with Denver, Matikka finished with 33 points in 43 games. 20 of those points were goals, which placed him fourth in the NCAA among rookies. On top of becoming an NCAA champion, he was also named to the NCHC’s Frozen Faceoff All-Tournament Team and the NCAA Northeast Regional All-Tournament Team.
After the Coyotes’ hockey operations were relocated to Utah, Matikka signed his three-year entry-level deal in July to go pro.
This Season
Matikka was assigned to the Roadrunners to begin the 2024-25 season and made his AHL debut against the Colorado Eagles. He produced his first point in his third game against the Texas Stars.
Unlike his first point in the NCAA, his first point in the AHL didn’t lead to a point streak. In fact, Matikka didn’t produce a single point for the next 16 games, finding himself scratched at some points going into November, December, and January. Finally, he produced his second point of the season on Jan. 20 against the Henderson Silver Knights. Once again, the point didn’t lead to anything as Matikka went pointless for the next eight games.
With only two points in 28 AHL games, something had to change for Matikka. That finally came when the Roadrunners decided to assign him to the ECHL’s Allen Americans. In his first game with the Americans against the Worcester Railers, Matikka produced his first point via an assist.
In his fifth game with the Americans, Matikka scored his first ECHL goal and his first goal since playing with Denver. He would follow that up with an assist in the second game of a series against the Kansas City Mavericks. Mattika scored his second goal a couple of games later against the Tahoe Knight Monsters.
GOALLL BY Miko Matikka pic.twitter.com/GvzrQLq77F
— Americans Professional Hockey Club (@AllenAmericans) March 23, 2025
Matikka produced decently in the ECHL, but it was nothing like his offensive output with Denver. He had back-to-back games with goals at the end of March against the Idaho Steelheads and the Utah Grizzlies, but didn’t score another goal for the rest of the season. He was getting more ice time and proving himself more effective in the ECHL, but in the third level of pro hockey, it was a long way from his consistent output in the NCAA.
With the Americans, Matikka ended his season with 12 points in 25 games. After the Americans’ season ended, he was recalled by the Roadrunners. However, Matikka was scratched throughout the final couple of games and the playoff series against the Canucks, which ended in three games, ending his season. In 28 AHL games, he only produced two assists.Â
The Future
It could be argued that Matikka’s first pro season couldn’t have gone any worse. He failed to produce in the AHL, was demoted to the ECHL, where he had decent production, yet never looked close to how he was scoring in the NCAA just a year ago.
The one exception that is going Matikka’s way is that it was his first pro season. Despite the NCAA evolving into one of the better developmental hockey leagues in the world, the AHL and even the ECHL are much crazier and different leagues. Players are fighting for their jobs and to land in the NHL. The smallest screw up can have a guy pass you on the NHL’s depth chart.
In Matikka’s case, he went into his first AHL season as one of the guys with a higher ceiling thanks to his production in the NCAA and good development/rookie camps with the Coyotes/Utah. Since then, numerous other guys have passed him on Utah’s depth chart, like Julian Lutz, Sam Lipkin, Sammy Walker, and Ben McCartney. Even guys who haven’t played a lot of AHL games, like Owen Allard and Noel Nordh, might generate more anticipation than Matikka will next season.
Fortunately, with the departures of guys like Egor Sokolov, Hunter Drew, Travis Barron, and Aku Räty, there will be open spots in the lineup for someone like Matikka to slide into. However, that doesn’t mean it won’t be tough for him to grab a roster spot in the AHL. Allard and Nordh will be coming to Tucson full-time. The Mammoth also signed guys like Michal Kunc and Daniil But, and re-signed guys like Cameron Hebig and Kailer Yamamoto. It won’t be an easy shoe-in for Matikka.
Moving forward, Matikka has to prove that the 2024-25 season was an adjustment year to the pros. He needs to learn how to produce in the AHL consistently. It’s as simple as that. If he can bring the same offense he showed in Denver in 2023-24 or at least some of that, he’ll be golden. If he can’t, head coach Steve Potvin and the Roadrunners will not be afraid to send him back to the ECHL, especially with the number of prospects the team will have.
There is a bit of good news for Matikka. He has two more seasons under contract with the Mammoth. If, somehow, next season is another disaster, he has one more season to prove himself. It does alleviate some pressure on him. However, that is no excuse to replicate his 2024-25 season.
It’s as simple as some production in the AHL and managing to find a living in the league. If Matikka can even do that much, it’ll be a much better season for him than his first pro season.
Final Grade
There is no debate that Matikka’s first season in the AHL was at the very least disappointing. At the ECHL level, he was decent. At the AHL level, his play was lackluster. It’s not the season he or the Mammoth imagined he would have.
It can’t be emphasized enough how dominant at times Matikka looked in Denver. Yes, he had a good team around him, something he didn’t have with the Americans or at points in time with the Roadrunners, but that’s no excuse for going goal-less in 28 AHL games and only scoring five in 25 ECHL games while scoring 20 in 43 NCAA games. Going forward, that narrative needs to change for Matikka.
Overall, Matikka is getting a D-minus for his season. It was almost the worst pro debut season you could imagine for a player. If it wasn’t for his decent production with the Americans, an F would’ve been worthy for the Finnish forward. With more ice time, Matikka finally showed flashes of his NCAA play. It does create some hope for the upcoming season.
Matikka looked decent in the Mammoth’s most recent rookie camp, scoring a goal in the first game against the Colorado Avalanche. Combined with his subpar performance in the ECHL, it does provide some hope that he has grown over the past couple of months since his last appearance in the AHL.
Going into next season, Matikka will most likely get a chance with the Roadrunners. While it might not be the ice time of his liking, he’ll have to try to make an impact on the lineup with that time. There’s no special treatment in the AHL. You have to earn your ice time or face the consequences if you’re not doing much. There’s always a player trying to take your roster spot, and that will be no different with Matikka next season.
