SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The Utah Mammoth have reached an agreement with defenseman John Marino on an eight-year contract extension worth $54 million, carrying an annual average value of $6.75 million.
The deal was made public on Tuesday, arriving after what was arguably the finest season of Marino’s professional career — one that also featured his first-ever goal in playoff competition.
“We view John as a foundational piece of our future,” Mammoth general manager Bill Armstrong said in a prepared statement. “His ability to control the game from the back end, his play in transition and our trust in him to make the right decisions in critical situations allows him to be a difference-maker on most nights. Beyond his skill, John brings a level of calmness under pressure that our group feeds off of and that’s exactly what you need from your veteran players.”
During his second year with Utah, the 29-year-old set personal bests with 36 points, 32 assists, and four goals. Marino had come to the Mammoth via a trade from New Jersey in 2024. He finished second among all NHL defensemen with a plus-42 rating and appeared in all six of Utah’s playoff games — the franchise’s first postseason since relocating from Arizona.
Across seven NHL seasons split between Utah, New Jersey, and Pittsburgh, Marino has accumulated 23 goals and 134 assists.
