https://twitter.com/3IceHockey/status/1786467970304074080
When the NHL comes to a community, it dumps a ton of resources into growing the youth programs. From there, community interest skyrockets.
20-30 years ago, it was unheard of for even a single player to make the NHL from the southern United States. Now, as you can see from the map, you have a small, but steady stream of players coming from Southern California, Phoenix, Dallas, Tampa, and Miami.
Yes, Atlanta (v2.0) and Phoenix failed as NHL franchises. But now we know those were due to terrible owners or ownership groups.
What makes you think Utah would be any different than Seattle or Vegas?