Hockey is officially back. The Utah Mammoth’s training camp kicked off Wednesday morning with physicals and media day. On Thursday, the team held its first official on ice sessions of the year. Between the excitement of a new season, renovations to the Delta Center, and the Winter Classic later this year, there’s a buzz around the Mammoth.
“It’s palpable excitement once again,” President of Hockey Operations, Chris Armstrong, shared. “I think each of these first three seasons has brought different excitement levels for different reasons … this year I feel it was the first time we’ve had our legs under us. We’re settled at home. We have all the resources we need to be successful. We have the best ownership in sports. We have as passionate of a fan base as you can find anywhere. We have the best team that we’ve assembled on and off the ice. I feel like there’s a taste in our mouth, maybe even a chip on our shoulder, that is driving us with the right sense of purpose. So, for all of those reasons, we’re really excited to get rolling.”
The Schedule
With the new collective bargaining agreement in effect, this year’s training camp is shorter than years past. Utah will have three practices before the team enters the preseason part of training camp. After four preseason games, the Mammoth will narrow down its roster, hold three final practices, and then jump into the regular season. Training camp is 13 days this year, which is a busy schedule, especially when you factor in four preseason contests.
Due to this change, the Mammoth have focused their training camp plan to take advantage of every possible second. Head coach André Tourigny discussed how the coaching staff will approach this year’s camp during Wednesday’s press conference.
“I split the training camp in three,” Tourigny said. “The first three practices will be the main course. That will be really, really important because that’s the runway we have before we play four (preseason) games. During those four games, the guys will play a certain amount of games, but our practices will be more fundamentals and details of the game, and we’ll slow down the pace a little bit. After, we will have a day off and then we have the last three practices before we start the season. It will go extremely fast.”
With the shortened camp, the Mammoth will work with the organization’s high performance staff to keep players fresh and focused heading into the regular season.
“We need to be really, really smart about the load management,” Tourigny explained. “Which, (during) a long training camp we always had a heavy workload. Obviously now we had to change our approach, talk a lot with the high performance (staff) and the sports science (staff), and we have a different plan. Which, (it’s) okay, we need to adjust. We cannot go into training camp the way we did it in the past. We will start the season tired, exhausted, and not as high in our pace as we would have loved to. So, we changed (a lot of) the plan.”
Best Adjusted
As this shorter training camp is new for every team in the NHL, the teams that make the most of their camp will find success. The parity of the league is closer than ever, and every team is looking for any possible advantage. General Manager Bill Armstrong discussed how using this camp can help teams get off on the right foot.
“I think the key for teams that will be successful is they’ll get off and they’ll have a really effective, well-run training camp and players will be all in right away because there’s no time,” Bill Armstrong shared. There’s only four games and most of the veterans will play two games. So, you really have to make the most (of it) and focus in right away, and get ready to roll.”
Ready to Go
Utah’s players are ready to work hard over the next two weeks, so they head into the regular season on the right foot. After a summer of training, Mammoth players returned to Salt Lake City and have started working together through captains practices. These unofficial group skates are players only, and allow the team to finish their offseason work together as a group. Captain Clayton Keller discussed what he saw out of the team during these skates.
“It’s exciting to be back with the guys in the summer,” Keller shared. “It gets boring when you’re not skating with your teammates and things like that. So, it’s cool. A lot of guys came back early, got on the ice together, got used to the altitude and things like that. So, super exciting and it was good. The real thing starts now.”
Tough Competition
One of Utah’s strongest strengths this season is the team’s depth. The Mammoth enter training camp with its most competitive roster to date. Whether it’s returning main roster players or prospects fighting to make the jump to the NHL, it will be a battle to make the opening night roster. This internal competition will push each player to bring their best and also push the group to be better every day.
“I think it’s just that internal competition,” Associate captain Lawson Crouse shared. “I think that’s great. That’s what drives a winning culture. So, we love it. We’re embracing it and we’re very excited to get going.”
There’s plenty of young talent to watch at this year’s training camp, including a series of former first round picks. 2023 Draft picks Defenseman Dmitri Simashev and forward Daniil But played over 25 games for the Mammoth last season. Both are looking to earn a spot back on the NHL roster. Forward Tij Iginla, who was picked sixth-overall in the 2024 NHL Draft, is looking to make a statement with his play, as is Caleb Desnoyers, who the Mammoth selected fourth-overall in the 2025 Draft.
Utah has 55 players at this year’s training camp, including 32 forwards, 18 defensemen, and five goaltenders. There are plenty of decisions to be made, and each player will have to bring their best effort every day of camp.
Looking Forward
During the 2025-26 season, Utah was focused on making the postseason. After the first Stanley Cup Playoffs appearance in franchise history last year, the Mammoth are eager to get right back into the playoffs this season.
“We’ve tried to bring that into the conversations early on that it’s going to be imperative for us to get off to a good start, be ready,” Bill Armstrong explained. “Just because our team has improved, just because we’re a year old and we made the playoffs, it doesn’t mean it’s going to be easier for us. I think that’s the key message to the group. It’s going to be just as tough. We’re in the toughest division in hockey. Everybody’s improving. It’s going to be a fistfight; it’s going to be a battle for us to get in. And that’s our main goal, is to get back to the playoffs, then we can go about our business. But it starts (on) day one.”
What’s Next?
As the Mammoth continue to prepare for the upcoming 2026-27 season, the Utah Mammoth’s social media channels and website will have full coverage of training camp and the team’s preseason games.
