This upcoming NHL season is the first in the history of the Utah Hockey Club.

Formerly known as the Arizona Coyotes when the team was located in Phoenix, the yet-to-be-officially-named Utah squad took the ice for its home opener Oct. 8 against the Connor Bedard-led Chicago Blackhawks and won handily, 5-2. By any metric, it was a successful opening night for the brand-new franchise.

This season will host a multitude of firsts for UHC. This past offseason, it had its first draft in franchise history. The third pick in the history of their franchise was particularly interesting, especially to Californian hockey fans.

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In the second round, with the 65th overall pick, Utah selected its first American draftee in franchise history — and the only American it selected in this year’s draft — 18-year-old Will Skahan from Orange, Calif.

If Skahan makes it onto Utah’s roster, he will be the first NHL player from Orange in league history. But of anyone who has ever lived there, Skahan may be the most uniquely suited to make hockey history for Orange.

Skahan’s father, Sean, was the strength and conditioning coach for the Anaheim Ducks from 2002 to 2015, during the younger Skahan’s formative years.

That link to the NHL from such a young age gave Skahan the perfect environment to cultivate his love for hockey. He grew up with an all-access pass to the Ducks — as close to the game and its players as a kid can get.

Skahan idolized current Edmonton Oilers forward Corey Perry growing up, who played most of his career in Anaheim. But unlike most young hockey enthusiasts, Skahan had inside access to his favorite player.

As Skahan continued to inevitably fall in love with the greatest game invented outside of the United States, he had the perfect coach to help him pursue his NHL dreams. His father knew exactly what it would take to get Skahan into shape to be a pro hockey player.

So, father and son started training together when Skahan was 12. Skahan also played for the Anaheim Jr. Ducks, another opportunity that presented itself more easily, given that his father coached for the NHL Ducks.

Skahan eventually moved to Minnesota to play for Shattuck-St. Mary’s after his father made the move to coach the Minnesota Wild.

Most recently, Skahan played for the U.S. National Team Development Program, where Utah noticed him, and was eventually drafted by the team after it moved this year.

Skahan’s most significant stat from the past season is that he had a plus-minus rating of +34, the fourth highest on the team. Given that defensemen aren’t involved in scoring as often, plus-minus is a good indicator of whether they are contributing to winning hockey. Skahan certainly is.

However, Skahan does make an impact in the attacking zone as well, recording five goals and nine assists in 60 games for the USNTDP last season.

While Skahan is still a few years away from chasing his NHL dreams professionally, he will still be firmly in the hockey spotlight in the meantime, playing for the powerhouse Boston College hockey program.

Unsurprisingly, a big thing that stood out to Utah and Boston College was Skahan’s size. Even though he’s just a freshman, he’s already listed as the Eagles’ biggest defender. At around 6 feet, 5 inches tall, and 210 pounds, the lefty Skahan is the kind of blueliner that necessitates that star forwards always have their head on a swivel. They know that if they aren’t aware of where he is at all times, he’s always set to punish them with a crushing hit.

He’s also known for having a high hockey IQ — which could also be credited to exposure to high-level hockey players at such a young age — and showing promise on offense.

Overall, Skahan was seemingly the perfect pick for a franchise wanting to establish itself because he has that same hunger to prove himself despite being from an unheralded hockey area.

And when he first takes the ice in the NHL, he will be Sean Skahan’s favorite of his many player development stories.

Ethan Inman is a senior writing about Los Angeles’ unique hockey heroes in his column, “L.A. on Ice,” which runs every other Thursday.