5 things Utah Mammoth fans need to know from the team’s development camp

The Utah Mammoth held their development camp last week to get a closer look at their prospects and introduce them to the NHL system.

This year’s group included 32 players — 14 forwards, 13 defensemen and five goaltenders. There were two days of on-ice sessions separated by position and a 4-on-4 scrimmage to close out the event.

Here are the main storylines you should know about:

1. Caleb Desnoyers arrives in Salt Lake City

After getting selected fourth overall by the Utah Mammoth on June 28, Caleb Desnoyers landed in Salt Lake City the very next day for the start of development camp. The 18-year-old had been in Utah the week before for a secret pizza dinner with general manager Bill Armstrong, but now it was official. Desnoyers was a Mammoth.

He walked into his first official news conference with an obvious confidence. It is one of the reasons Utah wanted Desnoyers. He has a winning mentality.

“First thing my coach ... told me last year is that one thing you can’t buy in the hockey world is experience,” Desnoyers said. “So far in my young career, I’ve had the chance to be a winner, so it’s something that you bring with you and a mentality that you develop through experience.”

Desnoyers and the Moncton Wildcats won the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League championship last season. Desnoyers — who is a 6-foot-2, 178-pound center — had 30 points (nine goals, 21 assists) in 19 playoff games en route to the trophy. The performance earned him the Guy Lafleur Trophy as the league’s postseason MVP.

If Desnoyers returns to the QMJHL next year, he already has the captaincy, Moncton announced in June. He could also take the college hockey route and skate in the NCAA. Or Desnoyers could make the Mammoth out of training camp.

“I’ll see what it takes to make the NHL. My goal right now is to surprise everyone and make the team next year. I’m the first person to realize how tough and hard it’s going to be, but I’m the first person also to do everything it will take,” Desnoyers said. “I’m a big person who trusts the people around him — agents, family and with the organization here — we’ll take the best decision.”

There was some concern around the wrist injuries Desnoyers had been playing with since November, ahead of the draft. However, Armstrong said no surgery is necessary. Desnoyers participated in both on-ice forward sessions during Utah’s development camp; however, he did not play in the 4-on-4 scrimmage.

“Feeling great. Had a good rest after the long season and taking care of some little stuff that’s going on with the body,” Desnoyers said. “Fully energized.”

2. Cole Beaudoin turns heads

Cole Beaudoin came into development camp visibly larger than last year. The 6-foot-2, 209-pound center committed to bettering himself both on the ice and in the weight room last season in the Ontario Hockey League with the Barrie Colts, and it is starting to pay off.

“His work ethic jumps off the chart for me. He’s always been strong. You can tell he’s putting work in the gym to turn that strength into hockey strength, as we call it,” said Lee Stempniak, who is the director of player development.

“He’s got a non-stop motor and never gives up. You can see the way he plays — he’s a big, strong guy, he’s hard on the puck. Now it’s getting to the point where that strength is coming in where he’s really tough to contain.”

Beaudoin, an alternate captain on the team, posted 51 points (22 goals, 29 assists) in 52 games for the Colts and took pride in his two-way play. It seems he knows, and has assurance in, who he is as a forward. It was shown in Utah; Beaudoin earned the Excellence Award at the end of the week.

“It means a lot. Kind of like I’ve always been saying, just day after day putting in the work. For them to recognize that, it means a lot. It’s not going to stop. I’m going to keep working hard this summer so that I can make the team,” Beaudoin said. “It’s just working hard and playing my game. Not changing a single thing about how I am off the ice, how I am on the ice. That’s a culture piece I have — trying to push everyone in the locker room.”

The 19-year-old was the 24th overall (first round) selection of Utah in the 2024 NHL Draft. Beaudoin stuck around longer than expected at last year’s training camp. He will make another serious push this time around.

3. Dmitri Simashev shows his potential

When asked who their favorite player to skate with at development camp was, multiple prospects said Dmitri Simashev. Not a shocking answer, but it no doubt emphasizes the anticipation around the defenseman who signed his entry-level contract in May.

Simashev — who was the 2023 sixth-overall pick — is coming off of winning the Kontinental Hockey League championship with Lokomotiv Yaroslavl and is officially transitioning his game to the North American style.

Stempniak noticed how Simashev’s puck play improved at development camp. In the KHL, Simashev was committed to a more defensive defenseman’s responsibilities. However, the Mammoth will want him to lean into his offensive instincts.

“He had more poise with the puck this year than last year, where he was willing to let the play develop a little bit and then distribute it,” Stempniak said. “It is fun to see because you never know. He’s a young guy in the KHL on a championship team, so the expectations were a bit different, his role was a bit different. Like I said — I think he has a higher ceiling than we’ve seen and we’re going to push him to get there.”

Simashev said he wants to improve his shot and is getting pointers from, arguably, Utah’s best defenseman, Mikhail Sergachev. Simashev has been training with Sergachev and Alexander Romanov (New York Islanders) back in their home country of Russia.

“He’s my buddy, actually,” Simashev said. “Just enjoy the process and work on your details. [Sergachev] said you know a lot, but you will come to the U.S. and you will know more.”

It has also helped that Simashev has his teammate Daniil But by his side. But — the forward who went 12th overall in 2023 — was also at development camp and signed his ELC the same day as Simashev. The two have played together for the last five years, between the Russian U16 and U17 teams as well as the MHL and KHL.

“Every day we want to talk in Russian, our language. For Daniil — he knows English but not good like me,” Simashev said. “I’ve known Daniil since I was like 13, since I was a kid. We are best friends.”

4. Tij Iginla feels closer to 100%

Tij Iginla spent most of the year away from the ice as he recovered from double-hip surgery. Development camp was his first time back practicing in a team capacity, and he looked solid doing so.

“Feel good. This is probably the hardest skate that I’ve done since my surgeries. Just working back and sticking to the process,” Iginla said. “It’s amazing. It was so tough being off the ice and out of the game for that long. Now it just feels like I’m back home in a way.”

Iginla was a full participant — no non-contact jersey — in the two on-ice sessions on Monday and Tuesday. The 2024 first-round pick was, expectedly, held out of the 4-on-4 scrimmage on Thursday. While the drills are a small sample size of what these players can do, Iginla did not seem hesitant, thanks to the work he had put in before getting to Utah.

“The rehab is long. A lot of work that goes into that kind of thing. A lot of boring days and repetitive stuff,” Iginla said. “When I was in those first few months, it was just wanting to get back here. So super grateful to be here.”

The 18-year-old said he has been “more dialed in” on taking care of his body after skates to maintain the progress in his hips — that includes a good roll out, stretching, hot tub and cold tub.

Iginla is supposed to return to 100% in the next month or so, he said, which is good timing for the Mammoth’s rookie and training camps in early September. Every player’s goal is to make the opening night roster, but due to Iginla’s circumstances, it would not be a bad thing for him to go back to the Kelowna Rockets in the Western Hockey League for a year. He had 32 points (14 goals, 18 assists) in 21 games for them last season before his surgeries in December and January.

5. Max Pšenička grounded in humility

Max Pšenička might have been the most excited prospect to be at development camp. The 6-foot-5, 185-pound defenseman was selected 46th overall by the Mammoth in this year’s draft and was all smiles about it.

“Getting drafted was a dream come true. It was the best feeling in the world. It is still in me — the feeling that [it is] still my first time here. I can’t even put it into words, it’s just unbelievable,” Pšenička said. “For me, it’s amazing to be with the organization here in Utah. Right away, when I got here and I saw the city and where we’re staying right now…It’s amazing. Everything looks so beautiful. The mountains and stuff like that are unbelievable for me. I’m really happy.”

The 18-year-old finished last season in the Western Hockey League with the Portland Winterhawks and had seven points (one goal, six assists) in 24 games. Pšenička started the year with HC Plzeň U20 for 20 games (had three goals, eight assists) and then moved up to play with the senior HC Plzeň team (in the top league in Czechia).

Pšenička described himself as a two-way defenseman who is trying to contribute more offensively. His size and right shot are advantages, too.

“I think for every bigger player it’s easier to be stronger in the corners and in front of the net. Just put the body weight into and be real strong in the legs,” Pšenička said.

After the first day of development camp, Pšenička said his first call would be to his dad because of how much they’d been through together to get him into an NHL system. As such, Pšenička absorbed as much as he could from the coaching staff.

“For me, it was just to compare myself to other elite prospects here. Everybody is so elite here and so good,” Pšenička said. “You kind of want to take some experience from them and learn something new. That is what I tried to do the whole week.”