The Utah Hockey Club recently added defenseman Olli Maatta to bolster its crippled blue line. While it will certainly help, this may not be the last step general manager (GM) Bill Armstrong takes to improve his roster.

Two attackers, Michael Carconé And Liam O’Brien, have only played three games each so far this season. They were healthy in the other eight games. This could mean their days on the roster could be numbered. Carcone appeared in 74 games last season as a member of the Arizona Coyotes. O’Brien (aka “BIG TUNA”) has hosted 75 contests. So why aren’t they getting ice time? This could be because they are on the trading block.

Maatta may only last until the end of the season and he will be an unrestricted free agent (UFA). We all know there will be too many defensemen on the roster after Sean Durzi and John Marino return. Apparently, for now, the rumors, according to hockey insider Pierre LeBrun of attack defender Ivan Provorov, were put on hold. That’s not to say Armstrong won’t be calling between now and the trade deadline to see who he can add to his team.

Tough guy Liam O’Brien could be moved

O’Brien is another player who has seen very little ice time for no apparent reason. This could be because he takes too many penalties, as evidenced by his league-leading 153 minutes in the penalty box last season. The entire team was penalized for 944 minutes, so O’Brien was valued at 16.2 percent of the team’s total. Did some of Big Tuna’s penalties hurt the team’s success? Probably. He can indeed be considered the team’s protector, but he also made far too many unnecessary trips to the penalty box, causing a shorthanded situation.

O’Brien appears to be a fan favorite since the team was initially introduced to fans after Utah obtained an NHL franchise. That doesn’t mean head coach André Tourigny should play him if he causes too many power plays for the opposing team. There is less and less demand for players whose primary role is to fight. And O’Brien mixes things up regularly.

Related: Utah HC Defense Injuries Create Trade Rumors

The lure he might have for another NHL club would be his low salary. He signed a three-year pact on June 26, 2024, with an average annual value (AAV) of $1 million. Sitting in the press box and not playing indicates that his value to the team has deteriorated.

The other factor could be that the Utah club has enough other players to mix in and contribute more to the offense than O’Brien. Lawson Crouse And Jack McBain can surely defend his teammates without harming their attack.

Trading Carcone may be the best solution

Carcone was a scorer last season, scoring 21 goals in 74 games. He could be an addition to a team’s offensive stats if traded. He has a low cap hit of $775,000 and will be a UFA after this season. As the trade deadline approaches, teams may ask for goal-scoring help. As of this writing, four NHL teams have scored fewer than 2.5 goals per game. They include the Edmonton Oilers (2.45), Nashville Predators (2.40), New York Islanders (2.27) and Anaheim Ducks (2.20).

Of course, the season is still young and things will most likely change. Carcone was a more than productive player in the American Hockey League (AHL), contributing 75 goals and 55 assists in 113 games for the Tucson Roadrunner. He fully deserved to be promoted to the Coyotes last season and exceeded expectations. This season so far, it’s difficult to determine how well he’s played…since he’s only played in three games.

This brings us to why he has been healthy this season. Teams will retain their assets for future deals that may be made. The reason Carcone only got a one-year deal could be because the team is using him as trade bait to improve their roster in the future. His low salary expectations may be an attractive reason why other teams might consider trading for him.

If Armstrong can complete a trade involving Carcone and some draft picks, it could help Utah’s new team acquire an additional defender. They are suffering badly, having lost top four defenders Durzi and Marino simultaneously.

Adding Maatta has already helped

In his first game with Utah, Maatta showed he would be a much-needed stopgap on defense. He is a 12-year veteran with nearly 700 games played. He showed it in his first game in Utah by moving the puck out of his zone with confidence and playing for over 20 minutes.

He won’t be the long-term solution, but he will stop the bleeding on the blue line for the moment. Injuries show every NHL team how strong their bench is and how many young players they can use in their minor league system. This is precisely how Maveric Lamoureaux got the chance to play in the NHL. Then he marked his first NHL goal against the Calgary Flames to increase their value to the team.

We have to be patient to see what Armstrong has in store to help his team overcome these serious injuries.