Mammoth GM breaks silence on MacKenzie Weegar trade

The Utah Mammoth pulled off a massive trade on Wednesday evening. Utah has acquired veteran defenseman MacKenzie Weegar from the Calgary Flames. In exchange, Calgary is receiving three 2026 second-round picks, defenseman Olli Maatta, and prospect Jonathan Castagna.

This is a huge trade for the Mammoth, who are looking to lay claim to one of the two Wild Card berths in the Western Conference. It’s also the sort of move that Utah has not had the chance to do in this context. They are a legitimate playoff contender. And they’ve not added a piece they believe can help them make the postseason.

“MacKenzie is a high-end defenseman with the type of leadership and work ethic that we want in a top-four blueliner. Acquiring MacKenzie solidifies our back end as we continue to push towards the playoffs, and he will be a great addition to our team on and off the ice,” Mammoth general manager Bill Armstrong said of the move on Wednesday, via The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta.

Weegar was one of the more trusted defensemen on the Flames roster. He is one of three Calgary players to have skated more than 20 minutes a game this year. The other two — Zach Whitecloud and Rasmus Andersson — were traded for each other. Now, only Whitecloud remains in Calgary.

The Mammoth did not make the playoffs in their debut season a year ago. However, they have a young core ready to make some noise in this league. On Wednesday, Armstrong added to this young core with a quality defenseman who could have a significant impact in Salt Lake City.

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