With a contract that might be unprecedented under the new CBA rules, the Mammoth secure their right-shot blueliner until 2035.
The Utah Mammoth have been systematically putting together a long-term core, and their most recent move demonstrates how serious the organization is about building a contender for years to come. On Tuesday, the team made a significant investment in their blue line, which links a key defender to the club for almost ten years and places him in a very select group of players around the league.
What It Means for Utah and Marino’s New Deal.
The Mammoth formally revealed an eight-year, $54 million contract extension for defenseman John Marino, securing the 29-year-old right-shot blueliner to an average annual value of $6.75 million. Marino has one year left on his six-year, $4.4 million per season deal, therefore the extension won’t take effect until the 2027–28 season.
Marino will remain a member of the Utah squad until 2035, when he turns 38. That timeline places him in extraordinarily uncommon company throughout the NHL. Ivan Demidov of the Montreal Canadiens, Tyson Foerster of the Philadelphia Flyers, and Eetu Luostarinen of the Florida Panthers are the only three other players in the league who are presently signed through that year.
Marino’s contract extension might even be one of the last eight-year agreements signed under the terms of the present collective bargaining agreement. Extensions with a player’s existing team will be limited to seven years, and free agent signings with a new club will be capped at six years, according to new CBA regulations that are scheduled to take effect on September 15. This makes the timing of this deal really important.
According to general manager Bill Armstrong, Marino is a core component of the organization’s future because of his composure in tense situations and ability to lead play from the rear. The team’s head of hockey operations, Chris Armstrong, echoed these remarks, labeling the defenseman “an indispensable cornerstone” for the organization.
A Career Payday Is the Result of a Career Year.
This extension was earned by Marino due to his breakthrough season in 2025-26. He scored one goal in six playoff games and had a career-high 36 points and four goals in 80 regular-season games. He set a new personal record with 32 assists, and his plus-43 ranking put him in the top five in the whole NHL in that category. He played more than 20 minutes on the ice each game, placing third on the Mammoth squad.
In 2019, Marino made his professional debut with the Pittsburgh Penguins after originally being picked by the Edmonton Oilers in the sixth round of the 2015 NHL Draft. Utah acquired him in June 2024 for two second-round draft selections after he spent roughly a season and a half with the New Jersey Devils, where he was transferred in 2022. Marino has played in 443 regular-season games for Pittsburgh, New Jersey, and Utah, where he has averaged approximately 21 minutes of ice time per night and scored 23 goals and 157 points.
With his strong breakaway passing ability and underestimated puck-moving skills, Marino has been identified by analysts as a well-rounded two-way defenseman who would be a perfect complement for a team trying to develop via intelligent, long-lasting roster construction.
With Marino now secured, the Mammoth have an impressive group of players who have pledged their commitment to the organization for the foreseeable future. He is one of the core players who have signed through at least the 2030–31 season, along with Logan Cooley, Dylan Guenther, Nick Schmaltz, Mikhail Sergachev, and Mackenzie Weegar. For a team that is still trying to establish its identity, that type of stability on both sides of the ice may be the difference between playoff contention and genuine championship hopes in the future.
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