Utah Hockey Club’s practice facility Wed Oct 1, 2025 (photo by Tom Walker)

By Tom Walker

Utah Hockey Club’s Mammoth Summer

SALT LAKE CITY–From a new name and logo to the fourth pick in the NHL Draft to roster moves to stadium renovation to a new practice facility, Utah has had an active offseason.

It has been nearly five months since the Utah Hockey Club celebrated its NHL Draft Lottery win which catapulted them to the fourth overall pick from the 14th slot. Two days later the team announced the results of fan voting for naming the franchise, with Mammoth the clear winner over the Outlaws or retaining the Utah Hockey Club moniker, the popular Yeti option having been eliminated due to a trademark conflict with the Yeti coolers company.

No sooner did the NHL and NBA regular seasons draw to a close, Smith Entertainment Group embarked upon a major Delta Center renovation to the lower bowl area of the arena in order to improve sight lines for hockey. More on that later.

Six Utah Mammoth players represented their nations in the 2025 IIHF World Championship tournament which took place in May, with captain Clayton Keller and forward Logan Cooley leading Team USA to its first gold medal in 92 years. Michael Kesselring and Josh Doan also represented the Americans while Barrett Hayton skated for Team Canada and Karel Vejmelka handled netminding duties for Czechia.

On June 25, Utah made a splash in the trade market, sending Kesselring and Doan to the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for JJ Peterka. The 23-year-old German forward who had been a restricted free agent immediately signed a five year contract extension worth $7.7 million/year.

Peterka has already scored 30 goals twice in his NHL career and is expected to provide added punch to a young lineup which already features Keller, Cooley, and sniper Dylan Guenther.

On June 27, the Mammoth selected center Caleb Desnoyers of the QMJHL Moncton Wildcats with the fourth overall pick in the NHL draft. The Wildcats won the 2025 QMJHL championship with Desnoyers picking up the Guy Lafleur trophy as playoff MVP, having scored 30 points in the playoffs.

Anticipating which players might be selected in the top thre, Utah covertly brought Desnoyers to Salt Lake City as he was en route to Los Angeles for the draft, hosting a dinner for him at the home of General Manager Bill Armstrong together with the team’s scouting staff. In August, Desnoyers underwent an expected wrist surgery which should keep him out of action through December.

On September 10, the Mammoth unveiled its new world class practice facility in Sandy, Utah, located about 20 minutes drive south of Salt Lake City. Though construction is not 100% completed, the facility was sufficiently ready for rookie camp and will be the envy of the league.

In January it will open to the public and be used for community hockey and other ice sports. Brogan Houston of the Deseret News described it as “basically a private rec center.” Houston wrote, “It’s got two ice sheets, an 8,000-square-foot gym, a pool, hot tub, cold tub, sauna, steam room and a top-of-the-line recovery/therapy room.”

The assembled local sports media experienced conflicting emotions while covering the new rink and rookie camp as reports of the shooting of Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University just 24 miles away began to spread like wildfire.

On a personal note, I take the University Parkway onramp to northbound Interstate 15 when driving to the Mammoth practice facility and Delta Center, and that morning observed a very large police presence at UVU as I entered the freeway.

At the time I assumed it was just crowd control for the Turning Point USA event which was hosted at the university. Tragically it was something far worse as we came to learn while covering rookie camp. The next day local residents placed 92 American flags all along both sides of the University Parkway overpass in a touching display of community.

On Tuesday this week, local media were invited to a sneak preview of Mammoth and Jazz gear for the new NHL and NBA seasons, and to taste a sampling of the 38 new food items which will make their debut on Thursday as fans attend the first pre-season game at the renovated Delta Center versus the Los Angeles Kings.

The Mammoth pretzel with cheese sauce is amazing! The San Diablo Churro Banana Split is divine! Unfortunately the Thor’s Hammer hickory smoked beef shank was for display only but looked tantalizing. The media toured the ongoing construction inside the arena where the floor has been raised two feet and new modular seating has been constructed in the lower bowl which will be configured differently for hockey and basketball. Somehow or another we were assured that everything will be ready to drop the puck on Thursday night. Continuing modifications to Delta Center will take place next offseason.

Summer has come and gone. The Mammoth are ready to stampede into the 2025-2026 NHL season.

Utah Mammoth Offseason Transactions

April 29 – Jaxson Stauber (G) signed to a 2-year contract

May 28 – Dmitri Simashev (D) signed to a 3-year contract

May 28 – Daniil But (D) signed to a 3-year contract

May 29 – Nick DeSimone (D) signed to a 1-year contract

May 30 – Gabe Smith (C) signed to a 3-year contract

June 11 – Ben McCartney (LW) signed to a 2-year contract

June 25 – Michael Kesselring and Josh Doan traded to Buffalo Sabres for JJ Peterka (C)

June 25 – JJ Peterka (C) signed to a 5-year contract extension

June 30 – Matias Maccelli (LW) traded to Toronto Maple Leafs for a conditional 2027 3rd round pick.

June 30 – Montana Onyebuchi (D) signed to a 2-year contract July 1 – Kailer Yamamoto (RW) signed to a 1-year contract

July 1 – Scott Perunovich (D) signed to a 1-year contract

July 1 – Brandon Tanev (LW) signed to a 3-year contract

July 1 – Nate Schmidt (D) signed to a 3-year contract

July 1 – Vitek Vanecek (G) signed to a 1-year contract

July 7 – Jack McBain (C) signed to a 5-year contract

July 7 – Michael Carcone (C) signed to a 1-year contract

July 16 – Cameron Hebig (C) signed to a 2-year contract

September 25 – Kevin Connauton (D) placed on waivers

September 25 – Connor Ingram (G) placed on waivers

October 1 – Connor Ingram (G) traded to Edmonton Oilers for future considerations.

October 1 – Jaxson Stauber (G) placed on waivers