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SALT LAKE CITY — Even outside of Utah it's been hard to escape the talk about the NHL's newest team.
"There's definitely a buzz," veteran defenseman Robert Bortuzzo said. "You talk to a lot of hockey people around the league, or buddies of mine who play in the league, it's exciting for the league, exciting for a lot of the young guys on the team."
And now it's exciting for Bortuzzo, as well.
The 35-year-old former Stanley Cup champion signed a one-year, two-way deal with the Utah Hockey Club, joining a suddenly experienced blue line expected to be one of Utah's strengths as it heads into its inaugural season.
Along with Bortuzzo, Utah has added defenseman Mikhail Sergachev, John Marino and Ian Cole to go with Sean Durzi and Juuso Valimaki. In all, the Hockey Club added 318 games of postseason experience and five Stanley Cups to their blue line. It's a deep unit — especially considering how big of a question it was heading into the offseason — and one Bortuzzo thinks he can help.
"I'm just going to try and not get outside of what I do and find a way to contribute," he said. "You want to play every night, but you understand that this is a rock-solid D core."
Bortuzzo added that he knows he can "still play at this level" and is eager to prove that.
Still, Bortuzzo won't likely be an every-night type of player for Utah, but he'll bring some added experience. He's played in the Stanley Cup playoffs eight times including a run to the Cup Finals in 2019.
A young team like Utah's can benefit from that type of first-hand knowledge.
"Coming in here, I'm just going to try and support some of the leaders and pass some things on that I learned," Bortuzzo said.
With the group that general manager Bill Armstrong has assembled, it might not be too long before Utah's young players get a taste of the postseason themselves. Bortuzzo took notice of that young core even as they struggled in their final years in Arizona.
"They played with a ton of high-end skill, but they also played with an intensity and a tenacity that you don't really see out of a ton of young teams," Bortuzzo said. "It sounds like it's an awesome young group. How cool is that that they're all young and kind of get to grow together?"
Add in a new market and fanbase, and it's something worth being excited about.
"You just want to be a part of building something, and that's what they got here," he said. "It seems like they got a ton of buy-in from all the guys, it'll be great to be a part of that and jump in and be a part of this cool thing that they've done … and just be a part of that excitement."
