Utah Hockey Club will get one of its best players back just in time for the playoff push

Utah Hockey Club is getting reinforcements on the blueline when it needs it most.

Sean Durzi is back with 26 games left in the regular season.

The defenseman played just four games before getting hurt on Oct. 14 against the New Jersey Devils at the Prudential Center. Durzi was crunched along the boards, left the matchup and ultimately got shoulder surgery in late October which held him out of the lineup for over three months.

Saturday against the Los Angeles Kings, Durzi returns.

“I think it’s a great boost. I think the player but the person as well,” head coach André Tourigny said. “The energy, the leadership he brings, the commitment he has. It’s good to have him back and obviously, he’s a good player.”

Durzi was part of the Kings organization and played two seasons there to start his NHL career before getting traded to the Arizona Coyotes in June 2023 for a second-round pick in the 2024 Draft. Now, he is a key piece of Utah’s future.

The 26-year-old started skating with the team in a non-contact jersey at the end of January and shed it for a regular, full-contact jersey on Feb. 4. Durzi joined Utah on its three-game road trip ahead of the 4 Nations Face-Off break, too, to practice with the Club and get back into routine.

Going into the 2024-25 campaign, Durzi was imagined to be a core piece of Utah’s defense, which got stronger with general manager Bill Armstrong’s summer acquisitions. On top of signing Durzi to a four-year extension with a $6 million average annual value, Utah also brought Mikhail Sergachev and John Marino over through trades.

Saturday, however, will be the first time this season that all three players will be in the lineup at once. It will begin to paint a picture of how strong, or not, Utah’s revamped D-corps can be with those guys in the top four. Tourigny, though, is not expecting Durzi to come in and immediately take over.

“He didn’t play for a long time so we will keep the expectation as low as possible,” Tourigny said. “Just want to get his legs under himself and be him.”

Before getting hurt, Durzi was on the first pair with Sergachev and logged two assists through four games. Even with the extended stretch he has missed, Durzi remains third on the team for average time on ice at 21:28. Last season, Durzi averaged 22:43. The load management aspect of his return will be big for the Club which has relied on its healthy defensemen to carry heavier minutes and responsibility; namely Sergachev who leads Utah with an average 25:45 TOI per game.

During Thursday’s practice, Durzi was reportedly skating on the second pair with Olli Määttä while the first pair of Sergachev and Marino stayed intact. Ian Cole and Michael Kesselring remained together on the third pair.

Durzi’s healthy status will push some players out of the lineup but that is a good problem to have for Utah which has, at times, struggled to fill the defensive gaps a slew of injuries had left. While Robert Bortuzzo is still hurt, per Tourigny, Juuso Välimäki and Nick DeSimone now seem to be the extra defensemen.

“I’m not a big fan of rotation. If you identify that’s your best lineup, why would you rotate them?” said Tourigny on how he’ll manage the roster. “I always wait on game day for the final decision because someone can get sick and there’s a lot of stuff that can create a storm for nothing. We have a plan and we’ll see.”

Välimäki has been the odd one out even before Durzi’s entrance. The 26-year-old blueliner has not played in a game since Jan. 26 after losing his job to DeSimone who was claimed off waivers from the New Jersey Devils in January. DeSimone has somewhat exceeded expectations as a steady, reliable and consistent defenseman for Utah in his 14 games played with the team. He has posted four assists in that period.

Utah unloaded Vladislav Kolyachonok before the 4 Nations break which opened the roster a bit. The Club placed Kolyachonok on waivers with the purpose of being assigned to the AHL’s Tucson Roadrunners, but the defenseman was claimed by the Pittsburgh Penguins on Feb. 9.

Durzi is known as a two-way, puck-moving defenseman who has an offensive touch but takes pride in his defensive game. He also has an edge to him. All things that will help Utah in this final push for the playoffs. Durzi finished last season with 41 points (nine goals, 32 assists) through 76 games and will be looking to help the team any way he can even if it’s not high production off the jump.

“It’s really exciting,” Tourigny said. “Every time you have players coming back – now [Logan] Cooley is day to day – that’s as close as we’ve ever been to healthy.”

As it stands before Saturday’s game in LA, Utah is six points out of the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference. The Calgary Flames are three points ahead of Utah while the Colorado Avalanche and Vancouver Canucks currently hold the two wild card slottings. While forward Logan Cooley remains day to day with a lower-body injury, Utah is starting to get wholly healthy at the right time.

“It’s tough to make the playoffs in this league. Half of the league doesn’t. You’re a young team – it’s to learn to do it every night and to manage every detail,” Tourigny said. “We believe a lot in our group. We’re really proud of the process. We think we’re ahead of our curve. But that doesn’t guarantee tomorrow if we don’t have urgency today.”