While Utah Mammoth defenceman MacKenzie Weegar no longer plays in Canada, he says it’s unfortunate that there are players that don’t want to play for franchises in the country.
The NHL has recently seen American-born star players playing for Canadian teams ask for trades to clubs in the United States. This off-season saw former Ottawa Senators captain Brady Tkachuk land in Florida after asking for a trade while Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck confirmed he would like to go elsewhere.
Defenceman Quinn Hughes asked for a trade out of Vancouver before landing in Minnesota in December while Weegar landed in Calgary from Florida in 2022 after Matthew Tkachuk said he had no intention of staying in Alberta long term.
“As a Canadian-born player and to play in Calgary, for me personally, I had a great experience in Canada,” said Weegar on OverDrive Wednesday afternoon. “Calgary was an absolute blast to play in that city and I think there’s great things to come for that team, especially everybody knows when that new arena is built, they’re going to be right in that sweet spot with all their prospects and whatnot.
“But it’s a bit unfortunate to see players wanting out of Canada just because I know how passionate the fans are and all the citizens in each city and how much they love their hockey and their star players.
“You don’t like to see it but at the same time, there’s a lot of teams out here [like] Utah that has a little bit more to offer than say in Canada. But at the end of the day, we’re all hockey players, it doesn’t matter where you play, you just want to play in the NHL. It’s the best league in the world.”
With Calgary committed to a rebuild, the Flames dealt Weegar to the Mammoth in exchange for defenceman Olli Maatta, forward prospect Jonathan Castagna and three second-round picks.
He is heading into the fourth season of an eight-year, $50 million contract he originally signed with Calgary in 2022.
Weegar scored one goal with seven points in 19 regular-season games with Utah after the trade and chipped in with five points in six postseason contests as Utah was eliminated in the first round by the Vegas Golden Knights.
After making the playoffs for the first time since moving to Utah from Arizona, Weegar says the expectations are a lot higher for the Mammoth heading into the 2026-27 campaign.
“On paper, I don’t think we’re a young team anymore,” said Weegar. “We’re that mature team that has a little bit of young guys, older guys.”
