After a second practice on Thursday, the prospects flew to Colorado and will participate in the 2025 Rookie Showcase. Utah will face prospects from the Avalanche on Friday before facing rookies from the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday. The showcase gives each team game reps during rookie camp, while allowing each organization the ability to assess their future players against other top prospects.
It's clear that the Mammoth have a deep prospect pool with depth at all positions. After the first on-ice practice of camp prospects Tij Iginla and Cole Beaudoin reflected on the high level of talent on the ice.
“A lot of really good players out here,” Iginla shared. “I just want to play my game and work as hard as I can, compete as hard as I can, and then hopefully that lets my skill that I’ve worked to build – whether it’s puck handling, shooting, all that stuff – to shine through.”
“We’re just competing,” Beaudoin explained. “Try to make a name for ourselves but also be respectful to one another and just push each other to be better.”
All players in attendance are eager to impress and show why they deserve a roster spot. In fact, the team has a handful of first rounders looking to make the jump to the NHL, and Armstrong has seen their competitiveness.
“Well, I’m not taking dreams away from anybody,” Armstrong shared about rookies making the main roster. “But I think that’s the goodness of our club right now and where we are as an organization. We’ve got six first rounders that sit outside our team, and they’re all capable of making the team. It’s going to be exciting times for us. You like to see as a GM, you like to see that compete out of young guys coming to camp. The young legs, the excitement, they still believe that they’re Santa Claus and that’s the greatness of what they do.”
Even the brand-new, state-of-the-art Utah Mammoth practice and training facility is invoking competition. Utah is a talented team on the rise, and has the resources to support a winning culture. It’s an exciting time to be a part of the organization.
“As I told the rookies (when) I addressed them, I said ‘timing’s everything. You came in at the right time to experience this,’” Armstrong recounted. “This is a great thing for our organization. To be an elite organization you have to have an elite training center and we do. We are very fortunate and there’s not a day that goes by that we’re not grateful for it. It’s truly a special place. Ryan and Ashley Smith and SEG, they crushed this.”
As the organization’s future competes on the ice and shows the progress each player has made in the off-season, it’s evident the depth and talent within the organization at all levels. Rookie camp is just the start of this next chapter for the Mammoth as the team has locked up its forever identity, new home, and drive to succeed heading into season two.
