Michael Hrabal will need two U-Hauls this spring: one to transport all of his belongings from Massachusetts to Arizona, and the other to carry all his awards.
The 6-foot-6 goaltender, whom the Arizona Coyotes selected in the second round of the 2023 NHL draft, signed his entry-level contract, the Utah Mammoth announced Wednesday.
Per PuckPedia, It will carry a cap hit of $1,075,000 at the NHL level, with performance bonuses of $500,000 in year one, $750,000 in year two, and $1 million in year three. At the AHL level, it will pay him $82,500 annually.
Although his contract doesn’t begin until next season, Hrabal will join the Mammoth’s AHL affiliate, the Tucson Roadrunners, immediately on a professional tryout agreement.
Hrabal is the second top prospect the Mammoth have signed this week. Caleb Desnoyers, whom they drafted fourth overall in 2025, inked his ELC on Monday.
Who is Michael Hrabal?
A quarter of the active Czech goalies in the NHL play for the Mammoth. In that sense, Hrabal will fit right in.
In an interview with the Deseret News in 2025, he said Karel Vejmelka was one of the goalies he grew up watching (Vítek Vaněček wasn’t with the team at that point). They spoke on the phone after Hrabal’s draft, where he got some good advice.
“Just normal stuff, like keep working hard. It doesn’t end with just the draft, which is something I learned this season or even last season. Just need to work hard and always push myself more,” he said.
As much as he idolized his countrymen in the NHL, Hrabal’s childhood idol was Swedish legend Henrik Lundqvist, who spent his entire career with the New York Rangers. But the player he tries to model the most is Jake Oettinger of the Dallas Stars.
“Tall, athletic goalie, so I’d say he’s probably the most comparable to me,” he said.
In 29 games with UMass this year, Hrabal posted 19 wins along with a whopping .937 save percentage and a 1.95 goals-against average. For context, Scott Wedgewood currently leads the NHL in both those categories among goalies who have played more than 10 games with a .915 and a 2.19.
That dominance won him the Hockey East Player of the Year Award, and he’s a finalist for the Mike Richter Award, which goes to the best goalie in college hockey. He was also unanimously selected as a Hockey East First Team All-Star, and has won bronze at the last two World Junior Championships.
“Michael had a dominant season at UMass and we are very excited to have him signed,” said Mammoth GM Bill Armstrong in a press release. “He is a big, athletic goaltender who continues to get better each season.”
He had the chance to turn pro last year, but after talking with his parents and his agent, he concluded that it was best to stay put for another season.
“As a goalie, I don’t think there’s a rush anywhere,” he said. “I think I’m still young and playing less games, having more time to practice, I think I can still get stronger and improve overall, on and off the ice, and I think that that’s going to help my game a lot.”
Now that he has accomplished everything he could in college, it’s time for the next challenge.
Goaltenders typically take longer to develop than other players. They usually spend several seasons in the minors before becoming full-time NHLers, so don’t be alarmed if Hrabal doesn’t see NHL ice for a while.
That said, it occasionally happens that a guy makes the jump quickly. Jacob Fowler, who won the Mike Richter Award last year, is now playing a significant role in the Montreal Canadiens’ playoff chase after playing just 27 games in the AHL.
Getting the deal done now is significant for the Mammoth because they would have only owned his rights until the end of next season, after which Hrabal could have signed anywhere in the NHL.
After playing the last three seasons 300 feet above sea level, Hrabal’s biggest adjustment might just be the change in elevation.
“First practice wasn’t the easiest. I mean, the elevation, my lungs hurt a little bit,” he half-joked to start off his interview at Mammoth development camp last summer.
