The bigger absence is Connor Bedard. The new captain made the trip but is on injured reserve after shoulder surgery, and GM Kyle Davidson told reporters there is no firm return date. Without him, Chicago's offense has to come from depth that just gave up 5 goals in Vegas. The market hasn't posted a number yet, so there's nothing to react to on that front.
Utah's forward group is where this game should tilt. The pairs that carried the club last year look like they're staying together: Nick Schmaltz with Clayton Keller, Dylan Guenther with Logan Cooley, Jack McBain with Barrett Hayton. Add Trocheck down the middle and Lee's net-front work, and head coach André Tourigny has more real lines than Chicago can match without its best player.
Utah's injury list is 1 name long, with defenseman Maveric Lamoureux on injured reserve. The Mammoth also cut hard at the end of camp. Prospects Caleb Desnoyers and Tij Iginla went to Tucson and Brandon Tanev hit waivers, so the opening-night roster is built around veterans, not auditions. Cooley said the late-camp focus was getting back to game pace with a few system tweaks still being worked out, which is about as honest a preseason quote as you get.
For Chicago, the question for Thursday is whether it can keep the game close enough to make the first 2 nights of the trip look like a work in progress rather than a pattern. Utah's question is simpler: whether a group that has been together for years can do what it's supposed to do in front of a sold-out home crowd in a new-looking building.