Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes
SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Hockey Club members had every reason to celebrate.
The club was in the middle of a three-game winning streak to start the season and was in New York City — not a bad place to toast to the new team's near-perfect start. Yet, Mikhail Sergachev couldn't pull his eyes away from the game — any game.
As the team gathered for dinner, he stood at a standing bar alongside Clayton Keller watching games on their phones.
"In the NHL, there's not a lot of guys who watch games," Utah Hockey Club coach André Tourigny said. "Highlights? Clips? Sure, (but not full games). That just shows how passionate he is."
Utah had high expectations for the 26-year-old Russian defenseman when it traded for him in June. He had won two Stanley Cups with Tampa Bay and the club saw him as the player to build its defense around.
In his first two months in a Utah jersey, he's done nothing but raise his new team's belief in him. He leads the team in ice time, runs the power play and kills penalties. He's had a viral moment when he threw a fake punch, causing an opponent to flinch. He's made big assists and he even scored a game-winning goal.
In short, it's been a heckuva introduction for a player who should be a franchise cornerstone for years.
"It's how easy he makes it look, too," defenseman Juuso Välimäki said. "His hockey sense, his positioning, being the right place. Obviously, he plays tons of minutes and so to be able to do that at a high level (is impressive). … It's nice to watch him closely and learn."
Sergachev has recently added something else to his repertoire: Talking to the refs. Last month, Sergachev became part of the assistant captain rotation, alongside Alexander Kerfoot and Nick Schmaltz, giving him an "A" on his sweater in select games. It's the first time he's worn a letter since his minor hockey days.
"First off, it shows a trust from the coaches and my teammates," Sergachev said as a smile began to creep along his face. "And second, talking to the refs. It's kind of a pass to talk to them."
Sergachev didn't enter the season expecting to be part of the team's leadership group. But from the beginning, it's been hard to ignore his presence. He's used to deep playoff runs; most of the Utah players aren't used to even being in the tournament.
Clayton Keller's only postseason experience was the 2020 Covid-expanded edition. Nick Schmaltz's last playoff minutes were in 2017. Logan Cooley, Dylan Guenther and Jack McBain — the three forwards on Utah's most productive line this season — never played in a playoff game.
For a team still coming through a rebuild, his experience was needed.
"That's something that maybe we have been missing a little bit of over the last couple of years," said McBain. "It's something that, especially coming from Arizona, a lot of us haven't been through. So having guys with not just goals, but expectations, and telling us this is how it should be has been really good. It brings another level to the locker room."
Utah is currently on a run of good results. The team has won four of its last five games and six straight on the road. But earlier there were tough moments to swallow — contests where the team had played well but came up empty-handed. That's when Sergachev spoke up.
"Just letting us know that was a hard-fought game, we did a lot of good things, and can't focus on the outcome all the time," Cooley said.
"When he talks, everybody listens. So the presence he brings on and off the ice is good for this group," added McBain.
Sergachev's ability to eat up ice time has allowed Utah to survive even with multiple injuries on the blue line. Sean Durzi was hurt in the team's third game, John Marino has yet to play a game and Utah also lost promising rookie Maveric Lamoureux. Despite that, Utah has given up the fourth-lowest goals during five-on-five play.
"I'm gonna go there and show the way we have to play," he said. "If offense is not going well, at least you have to play defense and you have to contribute to the team. That's kind of my mantra."
That's why he doesn't care much about what the scoresheet says at the end of a game. Sure, points are nice — he is on pace to have a career-high in goals — but does it mean much if you had two assists but gave up four goals on the other end?
"That's what matters to me. Those numbers don't really matter," he said.
Spoken like a true leader.
"When he's playing his best, that's when we're at our best too," Cooley said. "When a guy like him is playing well, we kind of feed off that. It's super nice to have him on the team."
