Clean Hits Episode 64 – Lee Stempniak Interview

Clean Hits Episode 64 – Lee Stempniak Interview

We now on the gas slow down low. We holding it down. We know we running it now. Watch the game change. Watch the game change. Watch the game change. Our guest today went from playing at Dartmouth College to over 900 NHL games, including more than 100 for the Coyotes. After his playing days, he combined that big analytical brain with his in-depth hockey knowledge to bridge the gap between analytics and hockey ops as a data strategist for the Arizona Coyotes. He’s now guiding the best and brightest young players in the system as the director of player development for your Utah Mammoth. We are so excited to bring to the Clean Hit Show, Lee Stempnak. Lee, how are you doing? I’m doing well. Uh, thanks Corey and Brad. It’s great to be on here and uh for me personally it’s really exciting today. We just got off the ice at rookie tournament. So it’s sort of uh you know the beginning of the season to kickoff and chance to reconnect with our prospects and sort of see them play together and you know you sort of have an eye to the future on you know what it might look like uh years down the line. So it’s a really exciting time right now. Excellent. Yeah. No, that’s very exciting to hear as uh all of us hockey dieard fans are eagerly waiting for the season to begin. that first step is always uh the rookies taking the ice first. So, always fantastic to hear that. And really quickly, I got to bring up one more component to your Arizona Coyotes days, and that is the nickname Ovetniaak, which a lot of the fans called you after that heater you went on right after you were traded from Toronto where you had what 14 goals and I think 18 games it was. So, I think a lot of Coyotes fans fondly remember you as that, and it’s just fantastic to be sitting here chatting with you now. No, thanks. I I’ve actually never heard that, so that’s funny. Um, really? Oh, no kidding. Yeah, but it’s just been great to uh it’s been a fun part of coming back to work for, you know, Arizona at the time and the Coyotes and come with um a lot of the same people are here and reconnect and, you know, obviously uh I really enjoyed my time in Arizona with the team. So to be tied in the organization, it’s it’s definitely special and and means a little bit more. So I always love talking about that stuff. Very cool. Very cool. Well, post retirement, you jumped into a really interesting front office role focused on analytics. How did that path kind of mold your way to player development? Yeah. Um, you know, sort of came up by chance. I was trying to to get into hockey and you know thought I wanted to do player development and uh you know talked to people I knew and and sort of the story how I got into it was I went to a a Marramac uh Minnesota DUTH game with Tom Fitzgerald when he was the general manager of New Jersey just hey you want to come watch the game see what it’s like see what I do and you know I ran into to Bill Armstrong uh in the lobby uh sort of reconnected he’d worked for the Blues I think his first year was maybe when I was drafted um reconnected there and talked he was still the assistant general manager there and uh probably a couple months later he was hired as the general manager of Arizona and you know a quick text message and you know phone call like hey I’d like you to come work with me does this interest you and you know as you alluded to the the role was hockey data strategist so essentially the liaison between um you know hockey ops and the analytics department so uh for me it was like full immersion in everything I was in the coaches meetings and the Tucson meetings and the amateur scouting meetings. Uh helping out on pro scouting, you know, working with Bill quite a bit on on his needs and then taking that seeing how, you know, sort of the sausage is made analytically. Um and then bringing it back and sort of got to like answer some of my own questions. Hey, this has interested me. worked with Matt Perry who was the analytics director at the time and you know just got to see really the the full operation of it and um you know learn about it become versed in it and it’s really helped uh helped me understand the game more you know it’s definitely a tool but it also I think exposed me to a lot of stuff that’s really relevant to my role now where you know you see it from a pro scouts angle from an amateur scouts angle um a coaching staff angle what they’re looking for what works and then drawing on my past experience too where you know this this is what I went through as a player. This is what I felt. This was hard. This was good teams I was on. These were the things that happened. Teams where we struggled, this was it. And sort of drawing all those things together, um, I feel like is, you know, helped to prepare me for the role I’m now. Lee, I think a lot of people see player development and see as a bit of a conduit between the junior teams and the college teams and the NHL team. Um, curious though, what would you say is maybe the day-to-day of your role and overall how big is your team and and what are the goals that you’re trying to accomplish? Yeah, it’s that’s a great question. Um, yeah, I think every team probably does a little bit differently. So, I am the director and then uh with me I have Nathaniel Brooks who sort of has a skill background and a coaching background who helps out with uh players. U we have Curtis Foster who played in Europe in the NHL who worked with our D and then Jeff Shance who played in Europe in the NHL and he works with a lot of the forwards. So between the four of us, you know, we we see the players and work with them and video and watch their games. And I’d say for the most part between the four of us, we probably see 85 90% of all of our prospects games, you know, on video or live. So we see a lot of video, so we feel like we know their game well. Um, and part of that is, you know, we’re a sounding board for them, too. So if they are going through something, hey, did you see that play? like typically we’ve seen it and can talk to them about it and help them then and give them that sort of instant feedback rather than hey let me get back to you let me go watch that game. So I think there’s that trust that that we have their interest and we watch them. Um and then the other part is we have a Ryan Weissaki who helps out. He’s in strength and conditioning. We have a nutritionist and then um a mental performance director who works with us too in the prospects and it’s been a you yeah I guess you ask the dayto-day. So, it’s a lot of it’s watching hockey, a lot of it’s, you know, video um Zoom calls, interacting with players and, you know, helping them with the game. It’s it’s a fine line because, as you said, you’re the you’re the conduit between the team and the player and their coaches. So, the biggest thing is they need to earn the trust of wherever they’re playing. You know, if we want to do something and they do it, but his junior coach doesn’t want him to do it, so he doesn’t play him, that’s not helping him at all. Playing is the most important thing for development. And then we help with sort of the universal things, the things that any coach is going to like um sort of the nuances of the game. Um and then uh I I think that my group has really taken a sort of like a total approach to everything. So it’s you there’s the player and there’s everything goes on around them. And you know different players need different things. Some of it’s you know the obvious physically getting stronger. Some guys need to work on skating. Some guys need to work on you know learning the game away from the puck. They’re just, you know, talented players. But there’s other guys who need to learn sort of how to deal with ups and downs. You have guys going through injuries, guys who eye to eye with their coach, guys who have something going on completely away from the rink where it’s affecting their play. And it’s equipping them and really just figuring out what they need and helping them through it and providing it to them and, you know, having those honest conversations and having um, you know, just setting expectations about what they need, who they are as a player. It’s helping to mold them into being players. Um, we talk a lot about, you know, everyone wants to play in the NHL. I tell the players, I want you to live your dream, but I want you to play 10 years and I want you to play on a winning team. There’s a difference between playing one game, playing a year, playing a long time, than playing on a winning team. So, everything we talk about is what are you going to be on a Stanley Cup winning team? What’s your contribution? What’s your role? And it sort of work backwards from there. And I imagine your role especially sees um it’s such a changeover, right, between in season and the offseason and you’re at a really big checkpoint now with the rookie camp. Yeah, absolutely. So, uh in season a lot of it’s you know um I I guess I’ll back up and say you we we have a development plan for the players. So, it’s sort of like a year plan target the big three things you know on ice, off ice, mental performance, and really attack those things. So, I found that if you’re trying to chase all these different goals, you’re sort of not working towards any of them. So, sort of pick sort of the you the fatal flaw or what the biggest barrier to playing in the NHL is going to be and attack that and sort of tackle that, then move on to the next one, move on to the next one. So, once we do that, um, in season, a lot of that is, you know, getting on the ice with the players we can. You obviously can’t in college, but in Europe and junior hockey, you can. So working with guys in those situations um using video to to teach them you know having conversations with them talking to their coaches you know what’s the expectation how is he receiving that from you can we be another voice that helps you guys deliver that message um things like that so it’s a lot more I’d say daytoday in season and as you transition to to the off season and we have an off ice plan for guys and that’s where I think a lot of it focuses you know by and large most guys need to get stronger you know it’s the NHL is big and fast and strong and um most guys it’s across the board they need to get strong or they need to get faster. So that’s a major emphasis in the off season but also working on the ice in certain areas of their game that that they need to target. So, sort of setting them up for their off seasonason and what they need and and sort of getting them on target with that and and as you said, like now we’re at rookie tournament get to see the guys and you know all the hard work they put in and you know typically it’s it’s a step forward for guys and it’s rewarding for them and they sort of want to take another step because they’re prospect. Awesome. So th this year, uh, there could be a lot more larger names as far as our prospects go in the AHL squad down in Tucson. How do you balance giving players kind of that shot versus rushing them? Uh, and is it actually possible to overbake a prospect by taking things a little too slowly? Um, the easy answer for me with the overbake is typically no. Um, okay. most guys are going to play and you’d rather have them overprepared and come in and and be ready. Um, we talk a lot to the guys that are getting frustrated or waiting for their chances like yeah, we want you to go up and and never come back down. And a lot of that is, you know, with the sustained consistent being one of the best players in Tucson before you go up to the NHL. So, you know, having your feet in the American League, you know, a lot of guys are there and they’re sort of like have an eye to the NHL or when am I going to get called up or they think one good weekend’s going to be, you know, I had three goals, I’m getting called back up, but having them buy into their areas of the game they need to learn and learn the grind of the the American League and pro hockey. Um, so I don’t think you can have guys there too long. Uh, they may feel differently, but typically, you know, as as I’m I’m speaking I guess for the development staff, I don’t think so. Um, yeah. And and the other point you bring up uh I think really important you know the the balance between giving guys opportunity um and not blocking them with players but having to earn that opportunity. So you know it’s a chicken and egg question where guys are like well if I play more I’ll play better and then the coaches well play better and I will play you more. So with young guys typically we try to be patient and give them a role where they should succeed. Um, and then from there it’s up to them to earn the role, earn the coach’s trust. We talk about that all the time, but also earn the trust of your teammates. You know, you have guys that have played in the NHL, AHL veterans, guys that are there. They want to be on a team that wins. They want guys they can trust, and you need to earn those guys over, too. We have we have great veterans and a great team there. But, you know, you want them to earn their trust by the way they carry themselves, the way they prepare, the way they play. So, a lot of it’s uh putting them in a position to succeed, but not handing them opportunity, not handing them ice time. They need to earn that. Yeah. And obviously the game has changed a lot and the preparedness of prospects going into the draft, coming out of juniors, going straight into NCAA at an earlier age. All these things are starting to evolve within the the realm of hockey. What are some of those tools that prospects have nowadays that you wish you could have had kind of coming into uh maybe your time at NCAA or even the NHL? Oh, like almost everything. Um I don’t think I really like trained for hockey until I got to be a freshman in college. It was the first time I really worked out and had a strength coach and you know, so that was an eye openening thing for me. uh guys now are training in a younger age and have access to more stuff. Uh yeah, skill stuff. Um you know, I know for our prospects, you know, we use analytics to sort of track key areas of the game, you know, not not the counting stats like goals and assists, but you know, areas that we’ve targeted that are important to them and so we can really show them with evidence like we see this on video, you feel this and this supports it or this shows you need to continue to work on it. So, um I just think there’s a lot more feedback for the players to really know how they’re playing. Um help them understand who they are as a player. So, it’s sort of that relationship we have with players where it’s got to be an honest conversation back and forth. Um you know, they need to they need to trust us, we need to trust them that they’re going to do do their part. And um you know, I mean, I went through it. Uh I was drafted in 2003 and I think I got a phone call when I was drafted. I got a phone call when I signed and then I got a letter to show up for training camp. So yeah, it’s a really different time now. But um you the biggest thing we want is for guys to to give them every every tool they need. So if they don’t play in the NHL, it’s it’s unfortunately because they’re not talented enough or hopefully they find somewhere else. But you know, we don’t want them we want them to maximize every ounce of talent and every resource they have to hopefully have the best chance to play. Hm. Interesting. Lee, we see a lot about the top prospects, the uh Igginla’s Simichev Boots of the world, but I’m wondering if there’s any maybe under the radar prospects that we’re not hearing enough about and any maybe under the radar prospects that you are particularly excited about. Yeah, that’s um there’s a lot of guys I’m excited about really and you know I think you know sort of highlight maybe like a success story for us with with our development staff and something we’re proud of and you know that that is really rewarding is you know a guy like Sam Lipkin he’s taken in I think 2001 the second to last pick in the draft. He played half the year in the NCDC, half the year in the US with Chicago. um we draft him, goes back, plays a full year in the US, goes to Quinnipiac, plays on the first line, wins a national championship, goes back another year, and you within a I think a threeyear span, he’s signed to an NHL contract and in the American League. And you know, it’s it’s something like that where you go back and you remember working with Sam, like I was working with him. We were doing video. He’s a guy that wanted more video. He wanted asking good questions, you know, why is this? What could I do differently here? um you know and then Nathaniel Brooks sort of took over as I moved up working with him and but it’s a guy like that where you know he just continued to get better like year over year and put in the work and one of those guys where you’re like he’s a good player he’s a good player and you know guys like yeah but he’s still in the USA these other guys he just keeps chipping away and getting better so that’s a guy that I look at as a success story that um it was sort of the model for us to follow where development is typically not linear you know there’s there’s times where guys, you want them to go straight up and right to the NHL, but you know, sometimes guys take two steps forward or plateau or take a step back and sort of help them through those things. But, um, you know, we we’ve got great prospects in terms of like, uh, character and and wanting to get better. And that’s a huge credit to our scouting staff who puts an emphasis on that and and the background. So, by and large, we have great people to work with. Uh, our prospects ask good questions. uh they want more, they want to be players, and you know, very rarely do we have to chase them down and, you know, ask them to do more, ask them to work harder. Typically, it’s, you know, they’re following us, they’re chasing us to to get more information, you know, what can I do better? Can I get more video? Can I model my game after this player, can you find clips of this player? So, um, it’s guys like that that that push us forward, and it’s guys like that that are are really rewarding to work with. Yeah, no doubt. You look at where he was drafted, and he’s certainly made a name for himself these days. Yeah, it doesn’t even seem like he’s the lone example of this with with the prospect pool that uh has been developed by the scouting staff and Bill Armstrong. And then it seems like your job is to come in here and just kind of polish all the the diamonds that have been found, right? Yeah. I I mean uh it’s that simple. I I don’t want to overstate like our role in it. Like it’s definitely the players doing all the work and we’re we’re a very small piece of that. So the players do all the work and for us it’s sort of helping them along the way and and the way I look at our role as sort of you know part personal coach, part mentor um and part like veteran teammate. You know, when we went through it, it was when I went through it, I was watching older guys, uh, Bill Garin, Paul Korea, uh, Keith Kachchuck, Barrett Jackman, like what Dallas Drake, watching guys, what do they do, how are they in the gym, you know, how do they practice, how do they play, and, you know, you sort of had to watch and learn and ask questions there. And I I think I try and put our staff in the role of, you know, answer those questions for guys, share our knowledge. Like, between all of us, we’ve played and coached and and done that. And there aren’t many situations we haven’t been in. So, I think we can really empathize with players and help them through things they’re going through, but also sort of know know where they’re going and what they need because a lot of times as a player, you’re you’re just going you’re you’re playing and you’re like, “Okay, it’s on the next thing. It’s my next step. I’m in college. I’ll go to the American League and not realize, you know, how those steps work and what the step up is.” And, you know, how do I handle it if I I’ve always played a lot. How do I handle it if all of a sudden I’m not the man on the team? things like that where you had to rely on veteran players. Um, you know, for us, I feel like that’s where we really are able to provide value for for our prospects. Awesome. Well, Lee, thank you so much. Uh, it’s just so fascinating and kind of get a peak behind the curtain and understand all the processes and things that are in place to just kind of continue to build these kids into NHL players. And, uh, congratulations on the role and and what you guys are building for the Utah Mammoth. It’s It’s been something else to follow and watch. No, thank you very much. It’s uh it’s fun to talk. I love to can never talk about our prospect. So, uh happy to do it anytime. Thank you for having me. Great. Thank you so much. Thank you. [Applause] Well, that was awesome. I I’m not going to lie, I was a little nervous going into this interview. uh Lee Dempniaak player I got to watch a lot of uh throughout the years. You know, that’s like a name I’m going to have to brag to with my friends a little bit. Uh and tons and tons of insight there. Uh especially in a role where I thought I kind of understood what he would do on a day-to-day basis, but the more he talked about it, the more interesting it was. Um, it almost in a lot of ways feels like kind of like a high school counselor or somebody, somebody that’s there to just kind of help support the players, help support the kids, help find their their niches and grooves. And and one thing I I almost wanted to ask a little bit about is how how to help those players that are starting to plateau, but I don’t know if we wanted to give out too many secrets of the the trade right there. So, yeah. Um, one of the things that stood out to me kind of in a funny way was saying he sees about 90% of every prospect’s games. And I thought, “Oh, so he’s Trent.” So, yeah. Yes. Yes. We, And if you’re watching this, Lee, uh, you’re we you are very fortunate to have been saved from Trent because I’m sure he would have had about another hour or two of questions that he would have liked to ask you. Um, but yeah, that was a lot of fun and and really really interesting. Um, couple other episodes to check out if you haven’t already and you want to kill some more time before the season really gets rolling. Uh, this summer we have done a ton of features on prospect player development and draft type episodes. The Dan Maher one that you and Trent uh hosted was really interesting. Um and and that’s kind of an overarching version of what Lee does uh kind of across the board uh with central scouting and understanding these players as they’re coming in and and uh just kind of shaping the world of scouting which is kind of like the handoff to the player development level. Um and then we had that great interview with Scott Wheeler kind of recapping this year’s draft class. But that just kind of gets you in the vibe of rookie camp, which has kicked off uh right before our interview with Lee. He kind of gave us a little insight of what’s going on and what their day looked like today on September what 10th. Uh rookie camp officially kicking off. Players hit the ice after taking some med uh measurements and medical. So hockey is officially back. And what we’re going to do for the rest of this episode is kind of break down all those prospects that are at rookie camp. But first off, if you haven’t already, please feel free to subscribe to the Clean Hits Hockey podcast on YouTube, Apple uh podcast or Spotify. Those go a long way. You know, I’ve had some people actually reach out to me recently mentioning that they couldn’t believe it that they watch every episode and realize they hadn’t had actually subscribed. So, make sure you hit that subscribe button. That definitely helps get us out to more viewers, which means we get more guests to give you more insight in the Utah Mammoth. Um, and if you want to really really dive deep into the community, we do have a Discord, which you can find at discord.cleanhitshock.com. And if you want to help support the podcast, the best way to do that is grabbing a t-shirt like my Mammoth Club shirt that I have on right now. You can find all of our merch like our Dylan Gunther uh Costco card shirt, our Elite Sergeev shirt, and one of my personal favorites, our uh Donor Nation Logan shirt. All of those can be found at shop.cleanhitshockey.com. Again, that’s shop.cleanhitshockey.com. You can find all the links down in our description. Again, that support goes a long way and keeping the lights on, keeping new and cool guests coming on to the show, letting us do our thing. All right, enough about that. Let’s talk more hockey. All right, rookie camp started off and I got a graphic up here. I’m going to try to pop this on the screen real quick. And I think what you want to just go down the roster player by player and give a little highlight about those uh young guns that are kind of working their way through the pipeline and what we may or may not know about them and maybe a little bit of tidbits of uh maybe what to expect. First one on the list is actually a guest of the show. Again, if you haven’t watched the episode yet, you can find him in our interviews section where we have consolidated all of the interviews with players and different personalities around the NHL into one beautiful little list for you to check out. And that is Owen Allard. Um Owen Allard, a later draft pick, I believe, and I’m kind of shooting at the hip here. I believe two years ago, um he will be making that transition to Tucson this season. And in his interview we had with him, you could really tell this is a player, a role player, a character player. I bet you he is very much a sponge to anything that Lee has brought up um as far as defining that role and and kind of playing towards that role. I would expect he is more in that third fourthliner kind of grinder style. Uh, but he seems like a very well-liked player in the locker room and very vocal as well. So, I’m I’m really excited about Owen Allard, not just because we got a lot of time to chat with him, but you need players like that uh as as you become more of a contender. You can’t always be trying to spend extra money against the cap on these type of players. Homegrown talent that can kind of bring that role on your third and fourth line can become very important. Yeah, just an underrated and sneaky prospect. Um, partly because he missed some time earlier in his career with injury and just because we have so many good prospects, right? So, yeah. Uh, it’s hard for him to work his way up the list, but like you said, he’ll have an opportunity to go to Tucson this year. He went down there last year. He didn’t get in any games, but he will go down there this year, and it’s a big year for Tucson because there’s going to be an injection of a lot more youth. He’s going to play a key role in that. Uh, I do think he’s going to be an NHL player at some point in that kind of third line role. And like you said, if you can homegrow those players and get them on cheap contracts rather than go into free agency and sign one for probably double what they’re worth and they’re an older player at that point. If you can just homegrow them, that’s these are like the hardest players to find. If you can be an effective, annoying third liner who can chip in as well. Yep. Agreed. uh a little bit of Jordan Martin to his game is kind of the vibe I have gotten from uh both talking to him and and what I’ve seen. Um I’m going to pop up that graphic for the rookie camp roster right now if you’re watching on YouTube. Next up is Maxim Barbashev who is yes related to Ivan Barbashev of the Vegas Golden Knights. This is uh a contract where he is coming in as an invite um trying to make an impact. I I I don’t remember if he’s done this before with other clubs over the summer. Um so he was part of the Rangers system before. I think he played in Hartford last year. So opportunity for him to play in Tucson, but um like we just said with Allard, he’s going to be one of the new faces down there and and Tucson’s going to be a lot like the Mammoth where like there’s just so many players right now and there’s so few spots, right? So yeah, uh I like the way his brother plays and if he plays anywhere similar, that’s a great free asset to pick up. Yeah, absolutely. Um it’ll be interesting to see if he can turn some heads and make an impact. Uh and again, some of these these players will continue their way through the full Utah Mammoth training camp if they do do that. Um that would be one of those tryyout names I would have circled. I think that is probably one of the most interesting ones that isn’t currently in the Utah Mammoth uh system who has made that jump uh and gotten that invite to come by and see what they can do. Uh next one up is Cole Bodwan. Again, we interviewed him after he got selected as the Utah Mama’s second ever draft pick two drafts ago way back in first ever clean hits guest. Yes. First ever clean its guest, too. So that was way back in last July. if you want to know what he listens to to get pumped up before games, go check that one out. You’re going to have to do a little scrolling to find that one. But, um, man, uh, seen some new pictures of that man. Yes. Remember when he told us, uh, that burger was his cheat day? You can tell. Oh my god, those pictures. Yeah. When when Lee was talking about tools that these prospects have that he didn’t have when he was coming up, whatever Bodan’s training routine is. and the amount of time he’s able to spend in the gym and and with his trainers. That has to be one of those. I almost made that comment. Um, but I think Cole’s going to be one of those guys that turns a lot of heads and probably makes a deep run into training camp. Ultimately, I don’t know if he’s ready to make that jump to the NHL. And like Lee Steak mentioned, uh, there’s nothing wrong with overbaking and making sure that they can dominate in the the current league that they are able to play in. uh in the his in Cole’s case that will be in the OHL. I personally hope that he does spend the majority if not the entire season down there and and work his way into being a complete game breaker for uh the Barry Colts. Yeah, go back to Barry for a year or two. We’ll see him then. Uh he last year offensively kind of equaled what he did the prior year. Didn’t really take a step offensively. didn’t really take one back, but there’s an opportunity for him to do that this season. Um, and just going on Lee’s comments talking about how almost every player can add strength. I don’t think that really applies to Cole at this point. Yes. Yes. So, maybe we just need to get those hands a little bit softer with Cole Badwan. Uh, the next one up on our list, Denil Boot. Um, 2022 first round pick, 12th overall. kind of one of the shocking picks the Utah Mammoth made that year and kind of one of those true mammoth players along with Bodwan and another defenseman we’ll be talking about in a little bit. Uh giant uh player from the KHL Russian um the mammoth player from the KHL. Yep. I I think he grows just a little bit every single time BA talks about him. I believe he’s around 67 68. I don’t think you can miss him when he’s on the ice. Yeah. does things that a human at that size should not be able to do. This is a player who probably has the best if not second best chance to make the roster out of camp. Um the forward depth is a little crowded. If you go to daily faceoff, you can see the projections currently. And um what Denil boot would do by making the team would be pushing down a guy like Liam O’Brien or Carone to not everyday players. Um I think there’s a lot of hope that he can make it. I also think there’s a big chance that he is in Tucson at the beginning of the year and is the first guy that gets called up if there’s injury. Yeah, especially coming over in North America, right? I wonder if maybe Booth starts the season in the AHL, adjusts down there, and then we see him Decemberish at that time. Maybe he’s ready, maybe there’s some injuries. Uh just playing against him, too, is like there’s so many forwards, especially on the wings, right? So, there’s only so many spots you can get. And I mean, we talk about baking prospects. Uh even a little bit of time in the AHL would be helpful. Agreed. I I definitely agree. and and maybe it’s one of those things that he even starts on the roster at the very beginning of the season just to give him a cup of coffee and then send him back down and and that way he knows what he needs to work on to kind of get back and be able to dominate a little bit more in the NHL or it’s one of those situations where he spends most of the year in Tucson if not all of it. So, and if he does not the end of the world, right? Absolutely not. Um and I definitely would suspect that he would make the team the following season for Yeah. the all of that season. Um, it seems like last year at the rookie camp he was maybe a favorite and made the biggest impact. He had a hat-tick. I remember during one of the scrimmages. Uh, make sure you’re following us on Twitter because Clean Hits likes big boots. We cannot lie. So, we will be reposting any of his highlights during rookie camp as they happen. Uh, now the next name on our list is Caleb Deoya. obviously the fourth overall pick in this year’s draft as the Utah Mammoth won one of the lottos to move up. We have talked a lot about Dayoy. So check out some of our old episodes that we recorded right around when we won the lotto after we drafted him. Uh Trent has some great analysis on him. I think one of my favorite things he has said is he is like that perfect in between a Barrett Hatton and Logan Culie where he has a lot more skill than Hatton uh and Flash, but he has a very solid two-way play. And this is one of those guys that just kind of feels like a winner all the way across the board. uh a huge competitor and is going to be probably not only a fan favorite, but maybe one of those guys that really helps project this team um into kind of a Stanley Cup contender for the next several years or more once once he has solidified himself as an NHL. Yeah, critical year for him, too. Especially a bit of a late start he’s going to have with uh the wrist surgery. Um but, you know, go back go back to junior and we’ll see him in a year or two. Y I mean that’s the whole thing right with there’s no point in doing this rebuild and getting all these picks and then making all these picks and then to rush the prospects at the end. That was something that burned us so many times over in rebuilds one and two in Arizona and we’re finally doing it the right way. So like not let’s not get 80% of the way here and then rush it at the end. So if if Caleb has to go back to Monton for a year or two and we don’t see him until then that’s okay. Agreed. Agreed. And it is unfortunate that he had to do the the wrist recovery because I think there was a lot of chatter that he would maybe make the jump to NCAA which um affords players a lot more training time, a lot more time in weight rooms and elevated level of competition. All that being said, in a very similar way as TJ Ginla, who I’ll be talking about in a moment here, there are other opportunities in juniors that aren’t allotted in the NCAA and knowing Dayo making those pushes, being that competitive. I think there’s still a lot for him to learn and a ways for him to completely dominate in Canadian juniors still. And I think that’s really going to be the expectation. Potentially, he could play with each of the World Juniors. Exactly. Bingo. Bingo. Let’s put those two online. That would be fantastic. That would be absolutely incredible. Dom and Declare all over again. Yep. I’m going to have to watch some Doy Declare World Junior highlights after this. Uh, next couple names on the list are more invites. Coster Dunn and Carson Hmer. I really do not know much about these players, so Corey, if you do, feel free to chime in. And otherwise, we can move straight to one of the other big names on this roster. I would just say Hmer would look great on the back of a hockey jersey, but that would be the extent of my knowledge of that player. Yeah. So, again, more invites. Um maybe they turn some heads. So, if you are going to be out there watching the scrim the scrimmages or um any of the practices that the public are allowed to, feel free to let us know what you think. Again, you can do that by uh posting to our Twitter or joining us in our Discord at discord.cleanhitshockey.com. We have a whole prospect channel where we just dork out on all the Utah Mammoth prospects uh and chat about them all dang day. Next up, Tigla. Kind of the not so big of a surprise surprise pick uh two years ago and the first ever Utah Mammoth draft pick. Again, if you want to really kill some time before the NHL season begins, you can go all the way back to July 2024 to find our reaction to drafting Tigla and some of our conversations leading up to that draft before we selected him. Lots to be said about Tee. Probably the most interesting storyline at camp. Obviously, he recovered is recovering and has recovered from a season ending hip surgery last year that cut his season uh in the WHL short. In a weird roundabout way, I think this helps the way the pip prospect pipeline will be uh spilling over into the NHL roster. I think had he played all season last year, he would have been much more ready, NHL ready. Y and with a guy like Denil boot also knocking at the door, you would have had the potential of a lot of injection of youth on the roster when they’re trying the team is trying to push for a playoff spot and has expectations to make the playoffs. In a weird way, this year allows him to go back to juniors, make team Canada for World Juniors, and be on the Memorial Cup host team, which allows him lots of big hockey moments. And I think that is really where he kind of belongs and and probably what is best for his development. Yeah. I mean, Dylan Gunther did the same thing a couple years back, right? didn’t have the injury, but went back to Edmonton in the WHL, eventually got traded to Seattle. Um, played for Canada at the World Juniors, scored the overtime winning gold medal goal, uh, and then got traded to Seattle in the WHL playoffs and won another WHL championship there. And GIA has the same opportunity. I think there’s going to be a lot of temptation on the part of fans to see him play in Utah this season, but like you said, he had such a disjointed year last year, missing half the year with the hip injury, and that’s a pretty major injury. So, he just needs to go down and and play. Um, you know, like you said, had he played the full season last year, a way better chance of making the team this year. Um, but I think he’ll go back. Um, one thing that’s going to help some of these prospects, uh, some of these rookies. I think it’s more so the Russians is we do need to put some rookies on this team, otherwise it’s going to get really backlogged and then in a year from now, we’re going to need to put three or four rookies on the team and that’s just way too many. So, like, let’s do two this year with with Boot and Simv. And then it’s just really like an IV drip after that, right? One or two prospects coming in every year. They’re coming into the system. They’re cheap contracts coming into the system as well. That creates more cap space. Um but for now, I think a will go back down. Yep. I would agree. Now, he is one of my contenders that is most likely to have a cup of coffee uh with the current CHL rules. uh I guess in NHL rules um a player is allowed to play nine games in the NHL without burning a year off their entry level contract. So Tee could play a couple games with Utah Mammoth then get sent back down to the WHL. Um and we’ve seen this with players like Baron Hayden before. We’ve even seen some of these players get an extended look where they’re not necessarily playing every game and that way they get to travel with the team a little bit, get more time with the trainers, get more time with the staff and start to develop chemistry before getting sent back down. Tee to me feels like one of those players that may get that opportunity. Time will tell. Uh, obviously these two training camps are going to be very important for him though, but I’d imagine he’s going to be at least a very late cut if Tee makes it in that kind of scenario. Is it called a cup of coffee or is it called a dirty soda? Ooh, right. Yeah, I think it’s got that dirty soda. Swig, right? Yeah. Yeah, I like it. Yeah, I like it. All right, next up on our Ford list is Macau Kun Kunik. I probably am mispronouncing that, so my apologies. Another camp invite that I personally do not know too much about. Again, Corey, correct me if I’m wrong. Yeah. No, he he was under contract. They signed him in the early spring, I think. I But he we always seem to get I think he’s Czech, maybe Slovakian. Uh we always seem to get one every year who comes over for a year, plays in the AHL, and then, you know, either plays well or goes back to Europe. We had it last year. Um, I don’t remember his first name. Not was the last name. And I feel like we’ve had one or two of these every season. Um, just a good European veteran player who can come over and be a veteran uh presence in the AHL and and live out a presumably a dream for him for the opportunity to play in the NHL. So, we’ll see. Yep. Uh next three players on our lists uh next four I guess are really some of the guys who are going to round out the Tucson Road Runners and are reasons why the that team could be very exciting this year. Uh Julian Loots, Miko Matt Matika, Noel Nord are those three players. Um Matika, is he actually back with the Road Runners or is he in the UCHL now? So, both he and Lootz got sent to the ECL last year. Uh, we don’t have an ECHL team right now, by the way. U, I presume we’re just going to have a shared agreement with someone, which is fine because generally you’re only sending down a handful of players and normally it’s goalie, so it doesn’t really matter. Um, but they didn’t really have an opportunity Tucson last year with so many veteran players, but they’ll have a new opportunity this year with a bit of a a new look down there. So, it’s it’s a big year for them. And then uh Noel Nord, I think you can group him with his Sue teammate there and Owen Allard. And they both went down to Tucson last year. Again, they didn’t have a on ice opportunity, but he’s going to have a chance to turn pro full-time this year. And it’s another boost for Tucson. Yeah. And all three of those players, especially Loots and Nord, uh have again that makeup of a really, really solid third liner. Uh Loot’s high energy player. uh we saw in World Juniors when with team Germany I he is friends with JJ Purka too which is a little interesting caveat there. Um drafted in the second round uh I believe in what 2022 is he the same year as boot because he was uh yeah because he was drafted as a coyote. Yes. Um this 2020 Yeah I believe it’s 20 or it could have been cool year 2021. Either way, um, felt like a little bit of a reach there and time will tell. I I think this is a big year for again all three of those names. Uh, Matika as well. Matika I got to see play with University of Denver against ASU. Really big forward who skates really well and has one hell of a shot. Now, unfortunately, last season both him and Loots just really couldn’t get much going. Again, the depth on the the Tucson Road Runner squad last year was mostly consumed with vets. This year, it does seem like they’re going to open up a little bit more spots, especially in the top six uh to some of these younger forwards. Um, anything else on those three? No, but we did pass Lipkin there, but I guess we did also just cover him with uh with Lee, right? very underrated prospect, very late round draft gem who turned out and yeah, it’s going to be a big year for him in the NHL as well. Agreed. And actually, I kind of had forgotten about him uh until Lee brought him up again. And this off seasonason, I’d been kind of saying I think Allard or Loots could be kind of those surprises out of camp or surprises to be some of the first people called up uh if there are injuries, especially in the bottom nine. I think actually Lipkin may be ahead of both of those and Allard and Loose unless they can really turn some heads. I could really see Lipkin finding some time in the NHL this season, especially if a guy like Brandon Tanniv uh goes down or or some of those high energy guys uh in in the bottom nine. Uh next up, Jack Ricketts. Again, another camp invite, I’m assuming. Camp invite. Yes. do not know anything about him. No. So, next name on the list, Gabe Smith. Caleb Dana, teammate in Monton. Uh, really underrated prospect. You look at his numbers this past season in Monton and yeah, just incredibly underrated. Uh, a bit lost in the shuffle with some of the other names ahead of him on this list, at least to fans, when you know, you’re thinking of Bodwin and Agla and Boot and Simfev, but Gabe Smith is uh he’s a name to remember for sure. I would agree. I would agree. Um, again, I think most likely here, uh, is a little bit further out, but I think this is going to be a name that you see for quite a while in this prospect pool. All right, let’s move on to the defenseman. Starting off with Ardam Duda, who really was one of the most shining prospects in the Tucson Roadrunner uh, team last year, roster last year, along with Josh Don, silky smooth skater. I I remember not having heard of him at all in the 2020 NHL draft, same year that Dylan Gunther was selected. Um, and we had multiple second round picks there and kind of reached for him and it was very much like who is this guy? later finding out that he had really impressed uh some of kind of the prospect gurus and scouts out there who did get their eyes on him. He was playing in kind of the lower leagues uh in the KHL. I believe it was that he had zero penalty minutes in his draft year or something insane like that. Very, very smart player, very very silky smooth skater with some offensive upside. He’s an interesting one. Yeah. And it’s look at what kind of where he’s come from too because he had that really clunky year, right, where he tried to come over North America and play with Maine in the NCAA and then it could kind of got delayed and then it didn’t happen. Then just kind of scrambling to get some kind of opportunity toward the end of the year where he was playing for Ryerson University which I mean you look at where he was at his career in that point and it was not a league that he should have been in. It was kind of a step down but it was just you know let’s get him on the ice. Uh but he has an opportunity now in Tucson and you hear uh Bill Armstrong anytime he’s talking about Ardum Dudai. He’s just beaming and I don’t think he’s that far away from the NHL to be honest. Um his biggest roadblock is just on that left side behind a couple fellow Russians there in Simv and Sergeev. So we’ll see where Duda fits uh long term, but I think he’s NHL defenseman. I I would agree. Uh maybe that’s more of a trade piece. Uh or maybe he’s one of those guys that comes up for injury and never uh never goes back down and becomes kind of a critical piece. Um Terrell Goldsmith is next. This is a prospect I I don’t actually have much viewing time with or actually have on my radar all that well. So Corey, if you do, I’ll let you take it away. Unfortunately, Trent’s not here to be able to just yab on as Trentbot does about our process. just a classic stay-at-home defenseman in physical game. Uh had a bit of an unfortunate injury last year. Um I think he also got traded in the WHL, I want to say. Uh but stands out a bit because we don’t really have another defenseman like him in the system. Um you don’t see a lot of those nowadays, especially at the prospect level. So, uh and he’s big, too. So, um clearly because Bill Armstrong drafted him, but uh there’s there’s an opportunity for him for sure. not not going to be in the NHL in, you know, three or four years, but, you know, long-term he’s a piece. Interesting. Uh, Lugvid Loftton again, and this is one that I I know we drafted him, but not one that’s really high on my radar. No, I think just drafted this past summer. Um, so I mean, in terms of his NHL prospects, it’s still quite a bit down the road. Very much unknown. Yep. So yeah, all all three of these names, if you’re going to any of those uh practices or any of the scrimmages, please let us know what you think. Uh so keep your eye out on these names because again, uh Duda especially is one that I think is very interesting and could be making the team. The other two I’ I’d be very curious of how you you all think they look on the ice. Uh next up, friend of the show, Maverick Lamar. Uh if you have not seen our interview with him, be sure to check it out. This kid’s personality is just absolutely incredible. Guys like Scott Wheeler who have been on the show, can’t say enough about it either. And we did get to see him play some games in the NHL and he even scored a goal for the team. Kind of came up early into the season when the blue line was struggling with injuries. Showed he can hang with the big boys. Uh being a very big boy himself. Only issue was he was taking quite a bit of penalties. Some of those penalties I like to chalk it up as big man penalty where uh his stick and body can just get in the way and and refs will blow the whistle there. So I think he if anything needs to learn to maneuver around the sneakiness of the NHL, the speed of the NHL and also to build up a little bit more strength as well. Yeah, this will be his last rookie camp. he will get some opportunities in Utah this year pretty much the same as last year where he’ll come up for injuries. Um, inevitably we will have injuries on the blue line and then if you look at the depth start he’s probably number eight nine 10 on the list so there’ll be an opportunity for him. But I’m excited for him just to go down to Tucson and have, you know, ideally he doesn’t even get called up because that way nobody got injured and he’s going to have a nice interrupted year because he’s had he had the collarbone injury. He had the mono and he just needs like one long disjointed year in Tucson where he can, you know, take his game to the next level offensively. He can potentially be the captain down there and he continue can continue to enjoy that uh Tucson street meet that he was telling us all about. Yes. Yes. Uh Maverick, if you’re listening, make sure to get that carne asada we were telling you guys you about. Uh I think that’ll be a perfect way to uh gain some more muscle mass. Uh yeah, even even his callup uh kind of ended short because of an injury, too. Um that’s right. Yeah. As players were coming back, he also it was came out that he was injured and and got sent back down but wasn’t even able to play immediately. So, uh, next up on our list is Thomas Lavois. Uh, again, another friend of the show. All these interviews are collected in our interview section on our YouTube page to make it really easy to find them all. Go check it out. This was another fun interview. And guess what? Another gigantic defenseman, this time playing in the queue just like Maverick Lamura. Um, this is a player who Trent was banging on the table for a couple years ago in the draft and got his wish. Um, a player that probably would have been drafted much higher had his offensive output been better his draft year. Um, and then his D+1 year really turned some heads. Um, good solid two-way player, great shot. Um, this is a player I’m very excited about. Yeah, another one who just kind of gets lost in the shuffle because we have so many. Um, yeah, those concerns about the offensive game, those are gone because that showed up the last two seasons really. Uh, and showed why he was the first overall pick in the Q draft to Cape Breton uh a number of years ago. Uh, right shot, he’s got an offensive game and he’s big. So, like he’s checking every box. Yep. And then next up, Max Peshnika is pretty much the left side version of uh Lavois. Uh big skates like the win offensive upside. What more could you ask? And he literally plays in the WHL, which is the left side of the country. So yeah, kind of a mirrored image prospect. Another name that really came out with him was for comparables was Michael Kessle Ring. So move out Kessle Ring to land somebody like JJ Purka, draft a guy who plays very similarly and credit to him because you know started the year at home in the check and then came over to Portland and you know not the easiest transition coming into the new North American game, new environment alto together and didn’t really seem to miss a beat in Portland. Uh we heard Utah, this was a player that they had ranked late in the first round and they were able to get him in the second. So that’s a huge win for the scouting department. Yeah, agreed. Um, and he actually interviewed with Cole Bagley and Wolfie on the Utah podcast this summer, too, after his draft. So, make sure you go check that out. Uh, because they can’t all come on clean hits, unfortunately. So, but that was a great interview, too. He him he is very similar to Maverick in a lot of ways where the enthusiasm really shines. So, big personality as well. Speaking of big, guess who is up next? Dimmitri Simichev. And this is probably, if not, pencled in to be the most likely player on the rookie camp roster to make the team right out of training camp. Um, I don’t really foresee a world where Bill Armstrong doesn’t at least want to see him a little bit in the NHL and then make that decision if he should go back down to Tucson for more conditioning or if he’s ready to make that leap. another giant defenseman who skates just unbelievably. Uh not really a shutdown defenseman, but definitely a defense first defenseman, but his transition play is going to be very beneficial to keep pucks moving down the ice. I think this is a player who may get a lot more secondary assists um than primary assists as he’s not as much of a playmaker, but maybe those offensive instincts continue to develop. There’s been a lot of kind of chatter this off season too that his KHL coaches and the Russian leagues were kind of coaching him to play defense first as well. So, I believe it was the the not rookie, the development camp right after the draft that Simishv was taking a shot on that any single time he had an opportunity to whether the lane was open or not. Just wanting to practice shooting um the puck a little bit and and honing in on that. And we will see if he gets able to kind of continue to develop that offensive instinct. Yeah, because he really didn’t have a chance to do so in Russia, right? but he might have a chance to do so in Utah and I do think he’s going to be playing in Utah this year. I don’t really anticipate him going to Tucson. I think he is the most ready of this list. Um the defensive game is I mean he’s not a physical defenseman but I mean kind of like Milan McCullik if you remember him from the Arizona days. Of course you remember him because how could you forget him. Uh just solid defensively, right? Uh Simashev can play the left side. He’s, you know, there’s some talk that he prefers the right side. So we’ll see. Yeah. Uh, it seems like he’s kind of been taken under the wing by Mikuel Sergev as well. Don’t know if they’re living together, but you know, we’ve already seen they’re doing karaoke together. Yeah, karaoke. And doing it not too bad either. So, uh, if hockey doesn’t work out. Yeah, potentially. I didn’t even recognize the song, so I I can’t I can’t comment on on their singing because Okay, that’s a little Yes. Uh, also a a chess fanatic. I remember his draft draft year. Uh, he was talking about how he likes to play chess to keep his brain sharp. His English is incredible and has been since his draft year at 18 years old. There is also a video of him reacting to his teammate and good friend Denil Boot getting drafted by the Arizona Coyotes at the time just six picks after him and how thrilled he was to see that. Yeah. Uh, I think he’s he’s he’s good to go. Um, I think we’re going to see players like Ian Cole. Ian Cole was I think he got kind of kicked around by fans last year, but I mean, you look at what he did and the number of shots he blocked. I think if he didn’t finish first, he was second or third in the league. Uh, he was a really important piece on a penalty kill that kind of turned it around. I think he’s going to take a lesser role this year just as a, you know, that wing veteran and then there’s going to be more opportunities for Simichev to eat some of those minutes. Uh I don’t know if Simv will play the full 82 as he as he learns the North American game and gets into it, but uh I think he is going to be on Utah this year. Yeah, I would agree. Um and you know maybe one of those things where he plays a couple games, comes back out, but you know Ian Cole is a little bit older now. Um, and the other piece I wanted to mention was Alima came in and was just fantastic for the team after the trade. He was also playing for a contract and not only for the Utah Mammoth, he was playing for a contract to stay in the NHL as he was getting a little bit older as well. And a lot of times that can elevate your play, give you that extra motivation. And this may be one of those seasons where Cole loses a little bit of a step for being one year older, Ma loses a little bit of a step for being one year older, and having that two-year contract uh wrapped up. Um so I think I think there’s going to be a nice healthy rotation, which ultimately is good for these players to keep their legs sharp for potentially that playoff run at the end of the season. Mhm. All right, two more defensemen. This is one that I may be butchering the name, but Graden Strohawk, I believe that’s another camp invite. And then second name, VD Vassin. You get to go, you get to you get to do this one. What is it? I think it’s VD Vasin. That’s what I’m going to say. At least I think you’re right, too. Uh Finnish defenseman. We saw him come over last year with Medicine Hat. uh opportunity there where they went to the Memorial Cup. um just another name on a you know there was a point where our defensive depth at the prospect level was pretty thin and then you and now it’s where are we going to put all these defenseman so I don’t know because there’s a big name missing Will Scahan 64 drafted in the second round two drafts ago I think he was the Utah Mama’s first second round pick if I remember correctly uh at Boston College Um, and that’s another player that has a ton of potential. Um, again, more of that shutdown type defenseman, but big and you know, he’s got a little bit of a mean streak. So, you’re right. It’s you look at this and Duda, Lamra, Lavoy, trade, semichev, and scan right there is enough to just completely refill the blue line, let alone all the vets that will still be on the team or trying to acquire, you know, a difference maker from a different team. So, we have plenty of trade chips and and depth here. And like you mentioned, couple years ago, did not feel like that, right? Yeah, I think these are the names you point to. If we are in the thick of the play up race at the deadline and we just need that extra oomph to get in and you’re kind of looking at that, you know, the second tier of prospects that you could maybe move out to make that sort of deal, it’s these names that we’d be pointing at. Yeah, agreed. And I think there is one of those misconceptions about the depth because they’ve only spent a first on two defenseman since Bill Armstrong took over and kind of kicked off this rebuild in 2020. They have spent a lot of second round picks on them though and and actually I’m going to do that with a little asterisk here. Up until two drafts ago, they they had not spent much draft capital, high draft capital on defenseman um outside of the Simichev and Lamaru pick and Duda I think was the only other one in the first three rounds or two definitely two. the past two drafts, it feels like they’ve really intentionally grabbed defenseman that they like in the second and third rounds. And then finally, we have three goalenders here who were all invites, and I’m not even going to attempt some of these names. Um, the team’s top goal tender prospect is in the NCAA just like Will Scayan is, which means that they cannot come over for team camps such as rookie camp unless they pay their own way. So, a lot of times these NCAA players will not come over um until they sign that entry- level contract with their NHL team, which means they would have to leave college as well. So again, we they’re it’s crazy to think that even on this list, there are names missing, right? Yeah. And with these goalies, it’s an opportunity for them, right? They’re all camp invites. Um you know, somebody has to play in the net at these camps, but again, it’s an opportunity for them for more uh NHL talent eval evaluators to put eyes on them. Um and you look at our depth in the in net. I mean, we just signed Bamela longterm. Um Connor Ingram is back. We brought in Banichek. We have at the NHL level, we have uh we have Thornton down there. We have Dylan Wells who’s uh who I believe he was on an invite last year. Uh Matt Valta, Jackson Stabber who came in and played some pretty solid games for Utah last year. Shut out in his first ever game. Um so we’ll see. Yeah. But yeah, if you are going to rookie camp, let us know uh any standouts, some of these maybe deeper cut names that are making impact or even maybe some of the big names um that are making an impact. Let us know what you see. Send us some videos. We’d love to see that. I know a lot of the members of the Clean Hits Discord post videos when they’re at the the training camp practices or scrimmages. Uh let us know who you’re excited about uh in the comments as well. Um otherwise, I think that’s it. and enjoy rookie camp and then we got training camp and then puck drop time. Yeah, I cannot believe it. Enjoy training camp and that new practice facility is just Yes. What they were able to put together in a such a short period. It looks incredible. I think Bill Armstrong said it’s the best practice facility in the league and yeah, there was uh they did not cut one corner in building that building. It looks phenomenal. No. Yeah, they it it looks incredible. Uh we’ll have to go out there uh in our next pilgrimage up to the Salt Lake City area, Corey. Um but yeah, anything else before we sign off, Corey? Just tusks up. Tusk up. All right. Make sure you’re liking and subscribing the Clean Hits Hockey podcast on YouTube, Apple Podcast, and Spotify. And again, if you want to help support the podcast, you can pick up any of our merch at shop.cleanhit.com. I am Brad. This is Corey signing off. We will catch you next time. Adios. We holding it down. We know we running it now. Watch the game change. Watch the game change. What’s the game?

The Clean Hits crew sit down with Lee Stempniak, Director of Player Development for the Utah Mammoth. He discusses how he got into player development, some of the tricks of the trade, and some of his favorite development moments.

Rookie camp is here! So we also discuss all of the attendees and what you should know about the Mammoth’s deep prospect pool.

Make sure to like and subscribe to the premier Utah Mammoth podcast, the Clean Hits Hockey podcast. And get all of your Clean Hits merch at SHOP.CLEANHITSHOCKEY.COM

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