You asked. We answered.
Thanks to everyone who submitted questions about the Utah Mammoth, both on X and via email. Sorry we couldn’t get to everything.
Which prospects will make the team next year?
This one comes from Jerry, who goes by “Mammoth Almanac” on X.
“What prospects, if any, do you think will be regulars next season?”
There are two things to take into consideration here. The first is roster management.
If you’ve ever heard Mammoth general manager Bill Armstrong speak publicly, you’ve probably heard about the six first-round draft picks in his system.
While he’d love to have all of them playing in the NHL, it’s a big risk to hand that many roster spots over to unproven players when you’re trying to push for the playoffs. That’s likely why Dmitri Simashev and Daniil But have yet to play an NHL game together.
Of course, that’s a great problem to have. Management has the option of developing everyone until they’re fully ready, as well as the luxury of trading someone without fully mortgaging the future.
The next point to consider is each player’s best development path.
Simashev and But are good examples how hard it is to make an impact in the NHL. Those guys won the championship in the second-best league in the world 10 months ago, yet neither one has stuck around in the NHL, and Maveric Lamoureux is approaching his 100th AHL game and still hasn’t earned a permanent NHL job.
Meanwhile, Tij Iginla and Cole Beaudoin will finally be eligible to play in the AHL next season. They’ve both dominated in their respective CHL leagues this season so there’s no doubt they’re ready for the next level, but unless they really leave a mark at training camp in the fall, I’d expect them to start their pro careers with the Tucson Roadrunners.
Caleb Desnoyers is a year younger than Iginla and Beaudoin, but he has ripped up the QMJHL just like the others did with their leagues. Depending on the conclusion that the CHL and NHL come to regarding an age restriction, Utah may be able to send him to the AHL a year early.
He’s also unsigned, so he still has the option to go to the NCAA — which could be the best option regardless, as he’s still filling out his frame.
Utah has a number of promising non-first-round prospects, but chief among them is Michael Hrabal, who has been nominated for seemingly every award under the sun for his work this season at UMass. He’s one of the most promising goalie prospects out there.
Hrabal reportedly declined to sign with Utah last year, but now that he has nothing left to learn in college, turning pro might be his best option.
Remember, though, that goalies take longer to develop than other players. Most spend several seasons in the AHL, and few are NHL regulars before age 25.
What’s the Brandon Tanev situation?
Jacob David Perazzo asks, “Did we overpay for Tanev? Are we in a positive financial situation moving forward?”
The short answer to both questions is yes.
Among players who have skated in a minimum of 40 games this season, Brandon Tanev has made more money per point than anyone else in the NHL, according to PuckPedia’s roster management X account.
And the fact that he’s signed for another two years after this one should not excite Mammoth fans. That being said, if a $2.5 million contract is the worst on your team, you’re in an excellent salary cap situation.
During the pandemic and the flat cap, teams would have been keen on getting rid of that type of deal (and Armstrong was always happy to get paid to take them at that point), but with the cap taking massive leaps every year right now, it’s no big deal.
How should the goalie rotation go the rest of the regular season?
This one comes from Paul Cherrington: How do you think the Mammoth should balance (Karel) Vejmelka and (Vitek) Vaněček over the final stretch of games?
Mammoth goalie coach Corey Schwab played precisely 150 more NHL games (regular season and playoffs combined) than I did, and his name is on the Stanley Cup one more time than mine is.
That’s to say I’m in no place to contradict his personnel decisions for each game — especially when they work as well as they have lately.
Vaněček had a tough start to the season, but the team has earned points in five of his last six starts, and he has a shutout and a win against the league’s second-best team during that span.
Playing him every third or fourth game seems to give Vejmelka the rest he needs, and that rest could pay off in the playoffs (assuming the Mammoth make it), where Vejmelka will likely start every game.
What’s up with Sean Durzi?
“BSmitty” wants to know why Sean Durzi hasn’t been scratched yet as he perseveres through a rough patch in his game.
I’ll preface this by acknowledging that it’s been a particularly tough year off the ice for Durzi. Just before Christmas, he lost his grandfather, with whom he was particularly close. The last thing I’d want to do is give him a hard time when I really have no idea what may be going on behind the scenes.
That being said, Durzi has been at fault for a number of game-changing goals against lately, and with the exception of an assist against Anaheim on Friday, he hasn’t had much offense to balance it out.
His ice time has gone down by about five minutes per game since Utah’s 5-0 loss to the Minnesota Wild, and the inevitable frustration is starting to show.
It was particularly evident in Las Vegas on Thursday: Each time Durzi missed the net or was involved in a post-whistle scrum, he looked more than frustrated, and he is typically one of the most positive guys on the team.
I asked head coach André Tourigny about this the day after the game against the Golden Knights. He pointed to the adjustments the entire defensive group has had to make since the addition of MacKenzie Weegar, and chalked Durzi’s struggles up to that.
Tourigny didn’t see anything alarming in Durzi’s attitude on the bench in that game. His perspective from behind the bench is much better than mine from press row or watching from home on TV, but it’s definitely something to keep an eye on.
Best part about the new practice facility?
Robert Kenny asks, “What is the best feature of the new practice facility?”
They call the NHL the “Never Hungry League,” and after spending the last two seasons in close proximity to it, I can see why. There’s food everywhere, and it’s all high-quality stuff.
To me, the coolest part of the new practice facility is the players’ personal restaurant. It has high-end chefs and a mobile ordering service so there’s no need to wait around for meals to be made, and the lounge adjacent to the kitchen is beautiful.
Your next question might be whether the esteemed reporters get to use that portion of the facility. The answer, unfortunately, is a resounding “no.”