For the Utah Mammoth, the future is only 770 miles away.
That’s the distance from the Delta Center to the Tucson Convention Center, home of the Mammoth’s minor-league affiliate, the Tucson Roadrunners. Now playing there are the result of years’ worth of stockpiled draft picks.
Most fans are familiar with Tij Iginla, the first player Utah ever drafted, and Caleb Desnoyers, the highest selection the team has ever made. They’re both making their maiden voyage into the waters of pro hockey, but the prospect pool extends far beyond them.
Since before the Arizona Coyotes even moved to Utah, Michael Hrabal has been hailed as the group’s goalie of the future; Gabe Smith, Tomas Lavoie, Yegor Borikov and Vadim Moroz are looking like mid-round steals; Joshua Roy joins the herd as a keen offseason acquisition and Artem Duda could soon make his NHL debut.
“It’s a great young group. We’re excited to have them here,” Roadrunners head coach Steve Potvin told the Deseret News over the phone Tuesday.
Potvin has a unique task this season. His roster is suddenly overflowing with elite hockey players in the making, and his job is to develop them into full-time NHLers. He’s impressed by what he’s seen so far.
“With the young guys, they’re just always a threat out there,” Potvin said.
“We know that Iginla can score from distance, so you’re kind of just anticipating it all the time. And then (Desnoyers), how he moves around the rink and how he makes the next play at a pretty elite clip. He’s got a lot of confidence, and you’re on the edge of your seat waiting for the next play: When is he going to make that big play or even just the next play to keep advancing the team?”
Iginla and Desnoyers have played together on Tucson’s top line through the first few games of the season. Both are adjusting to the pro game, where they face fully grown men after playing against kids in their same age category their entire lives.
“When you come to the American Hockey League, you have a certain way of playing and a certain way of doing things,” Potvin said. “I think they’re trying to figure out a lot of what the structure is and the detail behind the structure in order to be able to continue advancing the team.”
CALEB DESNOYERS FIRST PRO GOAL pic.twitter.com/zFTOiuVXsT
— Tucson Roadrunners (@RoadrunnersAHL) October 10, 2026
Iginla went through a similar adjustment period when he first got to junior hockey. In his first full WHL season, he only scored six goals in 48 games. In the same amount of appearances last year, he totaled 41. Although he has yet to beat an AHL goalie in a game, it stands to reason that with enough time and opportunity, he can achieve similar growth.
“They’re prepping to expand and really be able to contribute,” Potvin said of Iginla and Desnoyers. “It’s right around the corner for them.”
Don’t forget about the defensemen
Among the things that have impressed Potvin and his staff the most is the ability the young defensemen have to control the game. Specifically “how they route, how they’re able to really steer the direction of play and push the opponents to the outside and to the perimeter.”
If the jump from junior to pro is difficult on young forwards, imagine the strain on young defensemen. They go from physically impeding teenagers to having to figure out a way to do it against men in their 30s.
Lavoie, a late-third-round pick in the 2024 draft, has increased his stock drastically over the last two seasons. The Athletic recently named him the fourth-best defenseman in that draft class, despite six of the first 12 actual picks being defensemen.
He’s big, defensively sound and offensively capable. What more could a team want?
Duda, another defenseman with two-way capabilities, got called up to the NHL with the recent injury to John Marino.
André Tourigny, the head coach of the Mammoth, has been confident in Duda’s ability since training camp.
“We thought during training camp, ‘OK, he can play. If we have a game tomorrow and he has to play, we’re good with it,’” Tourigny said after practice Monday. He added that now, it’s just a matter of Duda getting comfortable and confident playing at the highest level.
Duda extends the lead!
— Utah Mammoth (@utahmammoth) September 25, 2026
3-1, Utah. pic.twitter.com/TitLxPzxSi
Between Lavoie, Duda and Gregor Biber, another mid-rounder making a name for himself, Potvin is impressed by his young defensemen.
“They play such a responsible game in how they manage the ice. It’s pretty impressive,” he said. “(Biber) and Lavoie and Duda, like, they really cover a lot of ice, and how they route and push the play to the perimeter all the time and make it hard on the opponent. It doesn’t feel like you’re coaching rookies.”
