Cole Bagley breaks down the Utah Mammoth’s free agency signing and talks development camp for the…
Speaking of uh getting to know these new sneees a little bit more, we’re going to defer to our Utah Mammoth insider for kslports.com. Cole Bagley, who’s uh just coming straight out of Park City here getting some look. How are the young guys looking? We’re talking about development versus signing guys and getting better right now. That the draft brings you all the developmental guys and in the couple years of of those drafties, the pipeline, how’s it look with all these new guys skating up in Park City?
Yeah, today was a lot of fun. Um, you know, it’s it’s not the most common thing to have five or six first round picks at your development camp. Uh, but that’s what’s going on for the Utah Mammoths right now. And, uh, these these boys can play. Um, you know, looking at guys like Simichev and Boot. I mean, Simv is probably the most talented young prospect that they have right now. The way that he can I mean, this is a defenseman, a 65 defenseman who is an elite skater. you know, he’s just head and shoulders above everybody else in that in that department right now. Uh so, it’s fun to watch him and and you know, see how close he is to being NHL ready. Uh TJ GIAla, arguably the biggest um you know, headline from this week is the fact that he he had dual hip surgery, but he looks fine. You know, he’s out there skating strong. Um you know, his his turns were smooth and crisp and, you know, he he you know, Bill Armstrong said he looks totally normal and and the the head of their player development Wow.
Never a good thing for an 18-year-old to have dual hip surgery, but he looks strong. And then, of course, Caleb Denoier. And Alex, I love the way that you were uh you know, pronouncing his name while you guys had him on the air the other day. Very, very French.
My favorite part is when we when we brought up uh when we brought up uh Beer Touri, he goes, “Oh, you mean Andre?” And I was like, “Oh, boy. We’re gonna have to go full French with the with the French Canadians uh getting together. But yeah, hey, look, when we get the pronunciation guides, and it’s never perfect. I mean, look, they added names today that I’m like, “Oh, boy.” Uh, let’s go. You got these check names and you’re trying to figure it out. So, the NHL is not the easiest when it comes to the pronunciations. You You’ll always have to bear with us on that.
Yeah. No, it’s uh I mean I I always question the way that I’m even saying him and there’s times where it’s like you think you have it down and then he says it himself and you’re like, “Oh boy, I’ve been saying his name so wrong for for a long time.” But uh no, Denoier look
correcting you without you know he’s uh he’s uh he’s confident. He I mean he is as confident as as can be. Not not necessarily cocky, but he knows he’s a winner. He knows you know how good he is. And you know, Utah was really big on him and he’s a special player. You know, his offensive skill set was on, you know, full display this afternoon. A couple individual moments of brilliance where you kind of you watch it back and you go, “Oh my goodness, you know, this this kid’s got it,
man. I love it.” Well, I mean, talk a little bit more about these additions, right, from the draft, from this free agent sightings. You getting getting guys from from valuable teams, right? We talked about how great the Winnipeg Jets were all year and you talked about how great the Florida Panthers have been the last three to four years, man. And so you were getting guys from both of those teams and other assets, but like um in envisioning that as a Utah Mammoth fan um increasing our depth, increasing um our skill set across the board, what what type of value are these guys bringing um to our team to start the season and and be able to endure a full NHL season and getting ready for playoffs? Yeah, I’m gonna I’m gonna tell you right now before before we start talking about this, Brandon Tanv, look up his head shot right now. Look up his head shots right now. He takes the funniest head shot every single season. It’s something he’s known for. So,
he’s like he’s like the Jimmy Butler of uh of the of the Oh my goodness, the eyeballs, the eyes. Yeah, every year. Every year he’s got the best head shot. So, uh I’ll let you guys enjoy those. But, uh, yeah, I mean, talking about these signings, you know, today for for Utah was was all about adding physicality and depth, you know, from from the goalending edition to um, you know, Tanv to Yamamoto to um, you know, I don’t know if it’s the Utah Mammoth or the Utah Panthers, you know, based on all of all of these Florida Panthers that they’re signing. Uh, you know, but but that’s what really what they’re looking for. you know, a guy like Nate Schmidt, I believe he’s uh, you know, in his early 30s, but he’s got a lot of experience. You know, he was um, you know, a solid guy for Florida this last year. I think he had, I want to say, 12 points in the 23 games that he played for him. So, you know, for Utah, the the the vision is becoming clear, right? They’re trying to develop and continue to buy time for their young players. you know, as as you know, Coach Bear and and Bill have have repeatedly said, you can’t make Logan Culie any older. You can’t make Dylan Gunther any older. You know, you can’t hit a hit a, you know, fast forward button on TG Ginlow or Kobo Dwan or Denoya or anything like that. And so, they’re trying to build this championship uh mentality. Um, and how do you do that? Well, you add championship players. add guys who have gone deep in the playoffs who who have been uh you know parts of of championship runs and you know so that’s why you know they’re adding Schmidt um and then Brandon Tanv you know he he’s not going to come on this team and score a bunch of goals um you know that’s that’s not his role that’s not how he plays but he packs a punch you know he he’s a you know he’s a dangerous player um you know he he he’ll deliver some nasty hits and and he’ll definitely raise the physicality of this team um you know that’s that’s kind of been his role for the last couple of years. So, you know, as Bill said, you know, Utah needed size and they needed scoring. Well, they went and they got their scoring in Purka. That was the big swing and now they’ve added depth and physicality and size to their team with these free agent signings today. That’s what I was going to ask is that with these signings and and I think in terms of you have to look at it from the perspective of all right uh did you come out on top like is the is the net gain or the net loss uh what do you look at this as because I was I was going back and forth with one of my buddies today and he was like uh like both of those guys better than uh what you lost last week. uh when when you when you look across the board and you have names that you people really like and then you add other names in and you go well but from a talent perspective and from a personality perspective Utons will love these two guys. Yeah. I mean, you know, Bill Bill told us today after all the signings that this this is going to be the most competitive team um that he’s overseen here, you know, obviously in Utah, but I think as a whole over his run with the, you know, the Coyotes and now Mammoth organization. Um yeah, it’s it’s obviously tough to lose guys like Kessle Ring and Don. uh you know, two young uh you know, fairly promising players, uh big locker room guys, but the end of the day, you know, you had to give up something, right, to get to get a a guy like JJ Purka who had 68 points last season, careerhighs and and goals and assists, and at just the age of 23, you knew that there was, you know, something significant was going to have to be going out the door. And I think the fact that Bill Armstrong was able to only have to send Don and Kesser is a huge win. you know, when I when I originally saw that that deal was coming through, you know, and I I didn’t know what the return was, I was I was worried that Utah was going to be sending the fourth overall pick and they still maintain it. And so now you get Purka, you get Denoier in in your pipeline and now, you know, with like with these free agent signings, um I think these are culture guys, you know, these are guys that are a little bit older. You know, they’ve been, you know, they’ve been around for a long time and I’ve only heard good things, you know, about Brandon Tanv and about Schmidt. So, I’m excited to, you know, uh, to get to talk to these guys and to see how they are. But, but I think, you know, a lot of fans might be worried. Whoa, Utah didn’t didn’t make any big swings today. What did that happen? Well, they took their swing with with Purka and now they’ve added, you know, just those those um, you know, those glue type players, those guys that are going to really help mold what they’re trying to build.
What type of vibe is up there in Park City, right? you with these new guys, new guys coming in and their excitement, um allowing the media to come up there. What what is going on up there in Park City with these new guys and getting ready for the second season um for the Utah Hockey Club Mammoth? Yeah, it’s uh it was a lot of fun the last two days up in Park City. You know, it’s it’s all young prospects. Um you know, it’s it’s their their it’s all their draft picks. Um so, you know, a lot of first and second rounders for Utah, which is exciting. And um it just it it’s kind of starting to again we’re seeing this vision of what’s being built and now you’re seeing the talent of these young prospects. You know I I I could go on and on and rave about each one of these um you know highly touted players. You know Denoier today he had a certain play where it was a twoon-one on the go on the goalie and his teammate puts a shot off the pad. Well, Denoy off balance lifts his left leg and kicks the puck on one on one foot back to the net front for his his teammate to try to finish. Like there’s the end, you know, there’s the offensive brilliance of Denoya. And then again, uh he can absolutely just light it up in terms of offense. The way that he’s able to shoot the puck, not only the speed, but the precision of it is unbelievable. And then Michael Rabble, the goalender. Um, he is 6’6, so he is a massive human being, but he can move silky smooth in the net. You know, he’s he’s very quick. You know, his reflexes are very good. He swallows the puck up. Um, and you know, I I’m not sure if I said it said said it here earlier, if it was with Hans and Scotty, but there’s a strong belief that Rabbel is the goalender of the future for the Utah Mammoths. Uh, and so it’s it’s just so fun to see like, hey, this was a team that was only seven points back from a playoff spot and they’ve got a lot of youth on their team, but there’s even more coming and they’re not too far off.
Yeah. And and to have Bill Armstrong say this is the most talented group that they’ve ever seen. Like that’s uh that’s from a guy that’s that’s from a guy who t typically has been understating like, hey, don’t forget we’re in a rebuild here.
And I think we’re firmly past the rebuild section. And I think now the expectation this team has, what what are some realities for what this team can do? Is it a wildcard team? Is it firmly in the playoffs? So, how do you kind of picture this this team for next year the way that the roster set up?
Yeah, I think that their um kind of their floor expectations is a wild card spot. Um and I think their ceiling would would be, you know, maybe that third spot in the division. uh because you know it’s it’s the toughest division in the NHL right now just with with what Winnipeg was able to accomplish you know how good St. Lewis was playing down the stretch. Uh Minnesota, you know, was really tough. And obviously with with Colorado and Dallas being as good as they are, this is a tough this is a tough division for for you to compete in. And the West only got better, you know, with Mitch Mner headed to Vegas and you know how good Edmonton was, like
this is tough. So even even as competitive as they are, um it’s not going to be easy. Yeah, I mean, sure, yeah, they were seven points back and, you know, on paper, it looks like they’ve made the additions to help get them over the top, but, you know, they’re gonna have to they’re gonna have to, you know, uh, really just do everything that they can, right? I mean, it’s hard to put it into words how difficult it’s going to be, but I I do believe they’ve made, you know, the right additions. Um, you know, as I’ve said many times, you know, timeline is so important with this team. Uh, you know, Bill is not looking to to skip any steps. You know, he’s not looking to for this big massive leap. It’s steady progress each and every year. And the team’s going to score a lot more goals. I’ll tell you that. Um, and I like the depth on the on the back end. Uh, you know, one thing Bill said today was, “Look, we added a lot of defensemen because we didn’t like the situation we were in a year ago where Jersey goes down and um, you know, and then, you know, and Marino wasn’t ready as as they had anticipated and Lamaru goes down. I mean, they they had to they had to take a bunch of guys off waiverss and they they went through a couple rounds of that before they landed D Simone and they had to make a, you know, kind of an out-of- pocket quick trade to to get Oolada. So, um, I think Bill is right. I think this is going to be the most competitive team um that he’s ever overseen, but you know, is it enough to make the playoffs? You know, time’s time will tell. I would not book it for the Mammoth, but I do expect them to to make a really strong push. And um you know, I think we will see playoff hockey here next summer.
Cole Bagley, you can read his by line at kslports.com. He is the Utah Mammoth insider that we have here on staff. He does a phenomenal job covering them and he’s fresh off of coming up from camp up in Park City. So, we appreciate it, Cole. Have a good one, man. We’ll uh we’ll dip in with you again if uh if anything other any other wild things happen here, man.
All right. Thanks, guys.
There you go. Cole Maggler, buddy.
Man,
good news for hockey fans, man.
It’s got me excited. Well, I’ll tell you, I’m a hockey fan now. So,
you got the you you guys bought the jerseys, so you’re in.
I I got the originals.
Oh, the OG’s. The hockey club,
right? The hockey clubs. So, I know I’m going to get my Mammoth any day. I can wait. Got to save up for those. But
sweaters. Sweaters. This is a hockey sweater. This is my hockey.
Cole Bagley, Utah Mammoth insider for KSL Sports
