The Utah Mammoth play their first two NHL games on Sunday — kind of.
It’ll be their first pair of games under the new “Mammoth” branding, excluding the Rookie Showcase outings. That being said, it’s still just the preseason.
The NHL preseason is part of training camp, meaning many of the players on the roster are battling for permanent spots within the organization. While there are a few guidelines on the minimum number of veterans a team can dress, it often results in lopsided competitions.
For example, if the Mammoth decide to mostly use AHL-caliber players on Sunday, while their opponents, the Colorado Avalanche, want to get early looks at Cale Makar and Nathan MacKinnon, it wouldn’t surprise anyone to see the latter guys to walk away with a wheelbarrow full of points.
The first few preseason games typically feature a number of players who aren’t yet expected to make it to the NHL. As guys get cut from the training camp roster, the regular NHLers start making appearances. By the time the last preseason game rolls around, the team should be more or less set, with just a bit of tinkering left to do.
What are the minimum roster requirements for an NHL preseason game?
Each team must dress at least eight “veterans” in every preseason game. Anyone who meets at least one of these criteria is considered a veteran in this case:
- A forward or defenseman who played at least 30 games last season
- A goalie who either dressed for 50 games or played in 30 games last season
- A player who was selected in the first round of the draft this year
- A player who has played 100 NHL games or more in his career
This guarantees at least a minimum level of competitive nature in preseason games and gives the paying fans a little more for their money.
All that being said, the new CBA will overhaul the preseason starting next year. While teams are currently free to play anywhere from six to eight exhibition games each fall, they will be capped at four, and anyone with 100 or more games of NHL experience will not be allowed to play in more than two of them.
That change comes with an added two games of regular season action, expanding the total to 84 per team.
Utah Mammoth preseason schedule
The Mammoth have seven preseason games this year. The schedule is as follows, with all times listed in MDT:
- Sept. 21: @ Colorado Avalanche (split-squad, meaning they play two games with two different rosters on the same day), 2:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.
- Sept. 22: @ Anaheim Ducks, 8 p.m.
- Sept. 25: @ Vegas Golden Knights, 8 p.m.
- Sept. 30: vs. Los Angeles Kings (neutral-site game in Boise, Idaho), 7 p.m.
- Oct. 2: vs. Los Angeles Kings, 7 p.m.
- Oct. 4: vs. San Jose Sharks, 7 p.m.
The game against the Kings on Oct. 2 will be the first public event at the Delta Center since the renovations started.
It’s not yet confirmed whether Utah Mammoth preseason games will be available on SEG+, but the team said fans should be able to stream all of them online in one form or another.
Storylines to watch in the Utah Mammoth’s preseason
Most of the NHL roster is more or less set, barring any major mishaps or injuries. Outside of those players, though, there are a few jobs up for grabs.
That creates interesting storylines for fans to follow throughout camp. Here are a few of them.
Will any rookies make the team?
If you’ve heard GM Bill Armstrong speak publicly since the draft, you’ve probably heard him refer to his “six first-rounders” who are pushing for NHL jobs. While it’s not realistic to expect all of them to make it this year, some of them could potentially push veterans out of their spots.
Dmitri Simashev is chief among them. The 6-foot-5 Russian is a Gagarin Cup champion (the grand prize in the KHL, the top league in Europe) and he’s ready to prove himself as an NHL player. He had impressive showings at both development camp and rookie camp, but now he has to do it against true NHL players at training camp.
Maveric Lamoureux, another big defenseman, also has the potential to turn some heads — although his performance in the Rookie Showcase has created some doubt amongst the fanbase. But elite athletes tend to be able to use other people’s doubt as their fuel and become better for it. We’ll see if “MavLam” can do the same.
To date, Tij Iginla is the only player to ever score while wearing a home Utah Mammoth jersey. That will change soon, but he’ll always be able to say he was the first. The 19-year-old is coming off of double hip surgery, and it cost him a good chunk of last season. That, combined with his relatively small frame by NHL standards, might necessitate another WHL season, but he’ll have the chance to show what he’s worth at training camp first.
Cole Beaudoin is known for his workhorse mentality, both on the ice and in the weight room. He came to rookie camp bigger and stronger this year. At training camp last season, he performed so well that it almost seemed like he had an outside shot at making the team. If he can do the same this year, maybe they start him in the NHL.
Daniil But probably isn’t NHL-ready yet, but he’ll have every chance to prove otherwise at camp. He’s a big body with plenty of potential. He won the Gagarin Cup with Simashev and his comparable players are off the charts.
Caleb Desnoyers will not make the team out of camp because he won’t be on the ice at camp. He recently underwent wrist surgery and is expected to be out until early November.
Which depth forwards will make the team?
Michael Carcone and Liam O’Brien both took frequent turns in the press box last year, while Kailer Yamamoto spent the bulk of the season in the AHL. With the likes of Beaudoin, But and Iginla pushing for spots too, it should be a competitive camp.
It seems there are spots for two or three of them, depending on how many of their healthy scratch slots they want to fill with forwards.
Carcone and Yamamoto are especially coming in with something to prove. Neither one got the playing time they thought they deserved last year, so it will be up to them to leave the coaching staff no choice.
What’s going on with all of Utah’s defensemen?
With six defensemen on the ice every night and one to two in the press box, it’s clear that there will be a log jam on the back end. Utah has 12 defensemen that were on NHL rosters at some point last year:
- Mikhail Sergachev
- John Marino
- Sean Durzi
- Olli Määttä
- Nate Schmidt
- Ian Cole
- Nick DeSimone
- Maveric Lamoureux
- Juuso Välimäki (injured, projected to be out until November or December)
- Scott Perunovich
- Kevin Connauton
- Makysimilian Szuber
And that’s not including Dmitri Simashev or Artem Duda, who could both realistically propel themselves into one of those spots, too.
They also have a number of AHL defensemen on two-way contracts who don’t likely have a shot at cracking the roster this year.
Armstrong said on free agency day that he doesn’t anticipate any injuries to defensemen (other than Välimäki) to start the season. Unless something has happened since then, this will be a competitive race.
