Episode # 48: Utah Mammoth Draft Pick Max Pšenička Loves Utah at Dev Camp as Free Agency Opens

Episode # 48: Utah Mammoth Draft Pick Max Pšenička Loves Utah at Dev Camp as Free Agency Opens

Hello and welcome to the Utah Hockey Podcast. My name is Kelly Qu. Michael and I are out of town, so we’re all zooming in. We’re also joined by Cole Baggley, and we are all thrilled today because today we get to talk to the 46th pick in the 2025 NHL draft, Mash Baza. How are you doing, Max?
Hey, thank you very much for having me. Um, I’m doing really good. Yeah, a lot of exciting moments these days and I’m really happy to be here.
So, we were just discussing with Max. They are in Park City for development camp uh for the first couple of days. He was drafted on Saturday. So, everything has gone really really fast, then came out to Utah, now out here in Utah really suddenly. Take us back to kind of those moments of draft day and being at the draft. Oh yeah. Well, for me it was just um dream come true, you know, getting drafted by Utah. I just the full year I wanted to get drafted by Utah because we had a really good good connection throughout the year with with with those guys. So yeah, when when I heard my name growing up with Utah, I was so excited and really happy with that.
So yeah, just pure happiness, you know, with my parents there, they were also very happy. So um yeah, it was amazing and I’m so excited for for for the future. That’s so exciting to hear,
Max. I know the I know Utah scouts were were pretty high on you. You know, what is it about your game that you know they they see as as potential, you know, and a you know, potentially a future defenseman for them in the NHL?
Yeah. Well, I think it’s uh the size is probably one of the things. You know, I’m 6’5, so that’s probably one of the things. Um my play style is kind of being a 28D. uh help on both sides of the ice and do whatever I can to to help the team win. So, um being really strong in the battles and win as much as I can. So, um yeah, being really clever, really shifty, good skater, I think. So, yeah, these things probably. We’ve been saying that for a couple weeks because we keep picking up these taller and taller guys. We’re excited to have some size on our team. You’re adding a lot of that.
Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. What about uh uh Max, I know that um you know you’re saying it’s your first time in Utah. What has your experience been so far with the state and I know there’s a couple fans there to fans there watching development camp I guess. What what are your first impressions of the fans and of the state in the area? Yeah. Well, since I came into city to the airport, the drive to to to the city, well, it’s been it’s been amazing. You know, the mountains like that’s that’s unbelievable the nature around here. So, um yeah, that’s been that’s been really good. And the fans that that’s just so so good that they are in our practices. I had the chance to give a stick today, so that’s that’s really good, too. So, yeah, it was it’s amazing to be here and see everybody that loves hockey, too. That’s so cool. Well, we have um another person from your home country, our our Carella as our goalie, and he has been around Utah. We keep calling him like a a travel I don’t know, a tour guide. He’s been traveling all around Utah, and he says really similar things. Just loves looking at the nature.
Oh, yeah. Yeah.
Yeah. That’s kind of
It’s really beautiful here. Yeah.
Does Does Utah remind you at all of home? Uh yeah. when you’re going to the mountains, it’s it’s pretty similar, but here it’s like all bigger, you know, and stuff. So, um yeah, it’s pretty similar uh as as in check sometimes, but yeah, it’s it’s for me like US and stuff like this like whole another world like the culture and stuff. So, um yeah, it’s beautiful and I just love love the nature around here. The mountains are just unbelievable. Yeah,
you’ve you’ve had a a couple days to interact with a bunch of the other prospects, you know, guys like uh you know, Simichev and B and and Denoy and Agima Bodwin. I’m just curious, you know, what have those interactions been like, you know, with the boys whether on or off the ice?
Oh, yeah. Well, everybody here is a really good person. I think I’ve met probably everybody now. So, we had a really good talk with Simf today um about some stuff. So for me, he’s a really good guy and one of the best here who I can talk to. So and he’s a really good player too. So uh I can like watch his game and take the details that he does from from from his side. So uh for me is a really good guy and yeah, as I said, yeah.
Was there any chirping going on during those drills?
Yeah, we’re we’re trying to go a little bit into each other, you know, for the first day Thursday scrimmage, but just a little bit, you know. Um, Max, I’m curious too. I mean, we want to get to know you a little bit more off the ice. You know, what what kinds of things do you like to do off the ice? What are some of your hobbies and interests?
Well, since I was a kid, my dad was a tennis player, so I kind of play that, too. So,
last
Oh, yeah. I played a lot of tennis when I was younger, but had to stop, obviously. And, um, I What else did I do? I did Canc for for like two years back in check. And right now I’m trying to learn how to play golf. You know, we were in Portland in playoffs in Spokane. We had like day off and we went to a curse and I was the worst one there. I was so horrible. I couldn’t hit the ball. So I wanted to, you know, show them uh for next season how how good I am. So I’m trying to learn golf now.
So mult athletes.
Yeah. Utah’s a good place to learn golf. We got some good courses here.
I saw some courses. Yeah, looks really good.
Max, who’s your favorite who’s your favorite tennis player?
Uh, has to be Chooich for me. He’s just a legend, you know, one of the one of the best. So, um, it is him for sure.
That’s awesome. Now, um, I Yeah, I’m personally huge fan of tennis. So, I love that you said that. I feel like I feel like every hockey player though, like you were saying, ends up just getting into golf. Why is that? Why does every hockey player like playing golf? Is it h is it
happy gilmore?
Yeah, I I’m not I’m not really sure. For me, it’s just like, you know, being around people I love and play something that’s that’s fun and just relax a little bit from hockey, which is like highly paced and everything is going on so so so fast and stuff. So, you kind of want to have some time to relax and, you know, be in the nature like and be with your friends first of all. So, that’s probably the reason.
Yeah. Being outside really pretty. We know Clayton Culler, uh, your captain has a lot of love for golf, so he’ll go golf with you.
Oh, yeah. Nice. That sounds good.
What about your parents being able to come to Utah? Are they going to get to come to Utah?
Oh, yeah, for sure. Uh, probably not like this week, but for sure someday they will come and I’m really happy to meet them here. So, yeah, they will come. That’ll be so awesome. Has there been, now that you’ve been in Utah a couple days, has there been anything that’s surprised you about it or or anything that um you know has has been interesting? Um for me right now is the nature, you know, the mountains and stuff. It’s so beautiful to look at and it’s something like different when where I come from, you know, Prague. It’s like really like hilly and and straight. So a lot of like old town and old buildings and not too much of a nature. So, it’s something something different for me. So, I’m really happy to to see all of that stuff. Um, go ahead, Kelly.
No, I was going to say what we do have, and I’m going to say it wrong, but I’ve been to Prague and ate the most delicious dessert of my life, which is a trinelic. Does that sound right?
Oh, yeah. Trone. Yeah. Thank you. And guess what?
He pronounced it better.
Yeah. He found I have no hope. Uh, we have those. We have those in Utah, but they’re called crispy cones. So,
crispy cones.
You got to go to Yeah, I’ll try one of those for
They went to They went to your country and brought it back to Utah, so they have those here.
Yeah, I’ll try one of those someday. Yeah,
that’s pretty good.
I’ll keep my I keep on my own eye on it.
Yes. So, Max, I wanted to just hear some uh opinions on the Utah hockey sweater. You were the second player to be drafted that got to put on the jersey with the new logo that’s right behind you and on your shirt.
How do you feel about the logo? How do you feel about the sweater? Well, for me when it came out for me it was the best logo I’ve seen in a while. So, u it’s so beautiful. Like are you saying that? Right. No, no, I mean I’m kidding.
No, I mean it for real. Like it’s really beautiful. You know, it’s something else than everybody has, I think. Um, and there’s like a lot of meanings like the tusks, you know, and the mountains. It’s it’s really beautiful and the colors are some something different out of this world, I think. So, yeah. And we look good in in it. So, yeah.
Yeah. Follow-up question. Have you learned how to say do you know how to say mammoth in Czech? What’s the word?
Mammoth. It’s pretty similar. Yeah.
Is it’s like the brand.
Oh, yeah. How do how do you how do you say how do you say tusks up in your native language?
Oh my god. Um glauoru. Yeah, you have you have a lot of uh people to speak to. That’s for sure. We just signed another goalie from Czech and uh our own spicy tuna is teaching his daughter a bunch of Czech words because his wife is from Czech. So
you’re in good company. Oh yeah. Yeah. I’ve noticed there’s a couple guys to hear in that’s from Czech. So yeah, it’s really nice to to some people around that are from
drafty. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah. Max, did you get a chance to watch Utah much of uh this last season?
Uh no, I didn’t watch too much. I only like watched the highlights because of the season that been for me really crazy going around from from Czech to to US. So I didn’t have much time for that. But I watched a lot of highlights then and saw some clips. So yeah, a little bit amongst you know uh players of your age and and kind of around the country and and in those leagues. Was there much uh you know talk of Utah or much buzz about Utah? What’s going on here with you know the inaugural season and and you know how hockey has found a new home in Salt Lake City? Um yeah, like for me like be as Utak being a new team in in the NHL, it’s always going to be special. You know, there’s go going to be a lot of buzzing around for the team. So, um I think it’s really good good good way to get people back to hockey and give it more more fans and stuff. So, I think it’s a really good opportunity for for young players as we are to to get play playing in these teams. So yeah, I think it’s a really good thing for for the state, too. That’s awesome. Uh, speaking of the fans, you know, what uh what do you want them to know about you? Whether that’s, you know, the game that you bring, whether that’s, you know, who you are as a person, you know, I mean, that’s that’s why we wanted to talk with you today is to kind of give a fans more of an idea of, you know, who who is Max, you know, what what defines him on and off the ice. Yeah. Well, um, probably I’m trying to be a really good guy to everybody outside of outside of like the game, you know. You got to be a little bit of a rat sometimes in the game, too. So, you know, you can’t be that in in normal life. So, yeah, I’m trying to be really kind to everybody, you know, just just be normal. Don’t do something like really crazy. Just just live and enjoy life, you know, just be happy about everything about small details and yeah, just love what I do and stuff like this. Hey, you’ve been you’ve been very outspoken. You’ve said it multiple times that you’re just so happy to be in Utah. You know, that’s as someone who grew up here and you know, we we we didn’t have the NHL until obviously this last year we had the NBA and for you know, there’s always kind of been this stigma that you know, NBA players are unhappy. Well, then here you come and Caleb come and and you get drafted and you just talk about how excited are. Why are you so excited to be in Utah? Well, first of all, you know, getting drafted to NHL, that’s like one part of it. It’s just something special for everybody. It’s a dream come true. And it’s, you know, something really special for it’s just like a kind of um how would I say it? Like um uh I’m missing a word for that, but it doesn’t matter. Like it’s uh like a something like paycheck, you know, just you know that you did something something right so you get like oh rewarded. Yeah. Rewarded for for your for your hard work. So, so yeah, it’s really really amazing and you know Utah as a new team, you’re always excited to to see what the people are inside of that organization and how everybody behaves here and yeah, it’s just the fans are will be going crazy throughout the season because it’s, you know, new team in the NHL. So, yeah, it’s just awesome to be here and with everybody else with such an uh experiences and the players here at the DV camp, too. So, it’s just amazing. What was the Go ahead. No, you go ahead, John.
What would you say is the biggest um amount of fans that you’ve played in front of so far? H that’s a hard hard question. Um back in Pom, back in PM, we had like average probably 8,000 people watching us. In Portland, it’s probably going to be something similar, maybe more. I’m not quite sure, but yeah, probably like 10,000 maybe.
Yeah, to have 16 in our arena hopefully makes you
a little more surprised.
Yeah,
we’re we’re proud of how loud we get in our arena.
Oh, yeah. Well, can’t wait to play there someday. Max, Max, I don’t want to keep you too much longer, but I’m just curious, you know, uh, what are your what are your plans here? Um, you know, throughout the rest of the summer, and, you know, what are you hoping to achieve? And then and then how do you kind of approach this next season now that you have been drafted, but, you know, returning to the league that you play in?
Uh, well, for me, the past season was really like defensive, I said many times. So, I want to focus more on offensive play style of the game, you know, more two-wayd being in uh on on the ice. So, that’s probably what I’m going to focus on, you know, just bring in the hard hard work every time and just Yeah, be really patient and happy what I do. So, probably that. Well, last one for me. Are you at all a fighter? Do you like to drop the mitts and and and go toe-to-toe with somebody? Uh, I didn’t had a chance uh yet, but yeah, we’ll see. We’ll see. That’s
He said He said he likes to be a rat. That’s good enough for me.
Yeah.
On the ice. A little angel off the ice and a rat on the ice.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You have to like make a wall beforeh between the lives, you know, hockey life and normal normal normal personal life.
Yeah.
Max, I know we’re pretty much out of time here, but one last question just just from myself. I know that hockey fans really like to know this. Um, and I think all of us here grew up as hockey fans and had favorite players that we watched.
And um, maybe if for those of us that played, maybe try to model our play style and how we how we carry ourselves.
Um, like that player, who was that player in your life that you watched growing up that either was your favorite player or someone that you maybe modeled your game after a little bit or
both? Oh. Oh my god, that’s that’s really hard. you know, being being born in Czech, there’s a lot of lot of really good players playing in the NHL and all over the world. So, uh probably the most recent I I really like Campnney, uh Goodas, Heron that were like in the NHL. So, probably these guys from Czech, but like I don’t have like a role model. I watch like a lot of as I said a lot of the NHL highlights and I’m trying to pick up small details from like more players than one you know to see what they do like and even how they behave off ice and like how they prepare and stuff so I did that kind of stuff but like I don’t have a like one role model one guy who I like just do the stuff that he does.
Love that. Is there a player that you’re looking forward most to playing against once you have NHL? It has to be Sydney Crosby.
I want to play against that guy.
Great answer.
You don’t Max, you don’t know this, but my friend Cole Bagley over here is absolutely obsessed with
Sydney Crosby and has been for his whole life. So, that was a good answer.
That’s my favorite player.
Oh, yeah. He’s a legend in the league and all over the world. So, properly this guy.
All right. Well, Max, we appreciate you joining us. Uh, we’ll let you get back to your development camp festivities, but uh, you know, congrats on being drafted and and good luck on Thursday.
Yeah. Thank you very much for having me. It was a fun time. Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you so much. We’re so happy to have you. Thanks. Okay, so we just got to talk to Max Pisnishka. baby. I I tried my best that name is I practiced him saying his own name and I watched that enough times to come up with Pishnishka and then he released another video of him saying his own name and I think he said it differently. So maybe we’re all pronouncing it different every moment and that’s just fine. What a sweetie. Uh so exciting to have all of these prospects here in Utah at development camp. our own Cole Baggley has been up there every day. So, give us a little uh breakdown of what Max has looked like on the ice. Yeah. I mean, I think, you know, you sit here and you watch development camp and you just get really excited about, you know, not only the immediate future of this team, but, you know, three, four, five years down the road when, you know, all these first and second round picks start to figure it out and and develop their bodies a little bit more. Um, Max has looked great. Uh, I know that, you know, according to a lot of analysts and whatnot, he probably went a little bit higher than than a lot were expecting, but Utah, you know, Utah scouts were really high on him and and I can see why. Um, he’s a big body. Um, you know, he’s he’s a pretty strong skater. Um, he’s been really good on the puck, um, both in, you know, receiving um, and then carrying the puck. Um, I’ve been impressed with him. You know, I think he’s kind of I think he’s one of those players that you look at and you go, you know, there’s a lot of raw talent here, but it but there’s a lot of upside and potential to be developed. Uh that’s that’s kind of what I think with him is, you know, he’s got the body, he’s got the frame, he’s got, you know, the potential, the skating, um and all the things that can make him, you know, a great NHL defenseman one day. Um so it’ll be interesting to see how he develops. But yeah, he’s he’s just the nicest kid. I mean, he’s he’s so kind. He’s so, you know, uh he’s got great manners and he’s just been so grateful and happy to be in Utah. Um which just continues to be refreshing, right, to to hear these guys, you know, to see a fourth overall selection and Caleb Denoier just stoked to be a mammoth. And then, you know, as well with Max, uh you know, he’s he’s just so happy to be here and it’s been fun to watch him uh you know, share that excitement. Well, even for him to have said to us that he’s been wanting to be a mammoth for months, months, you know, it’s just like so sweet to hear that anybody is interested in me and my team. Yeah, for sure.
Wild. That’s so cool. Yeah, I think that it’s a it’s just a it’s this difference that we keep um coming back on because Utah for the longest time when it comes to big four sports has only had the Jazz. And so when you when you have, you know, kind maybe a history, I don’t I don’t think recently with this draft pick. I think that a lot of the noise around the Utah Jazz’s draft pick on this last year was fabricated. I think he is kind of excited to be here, but I think for the most part,
hockey players are just excited to have their shot to to just be in the league and usually aren’t trying to control who’s drafting them,
but are just excited to be drafted. um and honored to be able to be in the league kind of no matter who they’re going to because it’s an opportunity. So um I think it’s refreshing.
That’s what he just said. Rewarded hard work paying off.
Yeah.
To even be in the league. And I think what’s like a, you know, maybe a positive that you don’t really consider with Utah is like I think it’s very similar to where a lot of these guys are coming from in Europe and in Canada, you know, like they’re they’re used to mountains, they’re used to snow, they’re used to cold, they’re used to, you know, what kind of Utah is in a lot of ways, but I think, you know, for a lot of these guys, it might even be a step up. Not to knock where they’re coming from or anything like that, but you know, Utah is, as Max kept saying, Utah’s a beautiful place. You know, what a great place to start your NHL career as part of an organization that is so new and so fresh and everybody’s talking about it. And Caleb Denoy uh found out that he would be in the Utah Olympic Oval for some practices and said, “Oh yeah, that’s where I grew up kind of playing in a similar facility in
uh when I was younger.” So, it was kind of cool. Um go ahead. Sorry. What else um observations have you had of Dev Camp? Yeah, I think the three biggest things from Dev Camp have been um first of all, TJ Gin looks great. Um you would never know that he had, you know, dual hip surgery this past winter. Um he’s skating incredibly strong. His turns are really uh tight and uh smooth. You know, he’s handling the puck while he’s shooting it lights out. Um I might even say that he’s the best skater here. uh which I don’t think is something you would expect from from anybody that just had you know dual hip surgery six months ago. So um you know he it’s exciting. You know we talked to Bill Armstrong about it and he said you know you always worry um you know when one of your players especially one of your young you know first round draft picks goes through something like that. Uh but you know I to see him out here he looks great. He looks normal. Um and he said you know he he talked to him before he spoke with us. He said TJ’s just giddy. you know, he’s so happy to be here and to be uh you know, this is the hardest skate that he’s had since he had surgery. You know, this is the most intense competition that he’s been a part of. So, um he looks phenomenal. Uh second, I would say that Dimmitri Simichev just looks head and shoulders above everybody else. Um you know, he is so NHL. Yeah. Literally,
literally,
figuratively and literally. Um you know, his skating is elite. Elite elite. immediately, you know, the way that he moves, um, how quickly he moves, how smooth he moves, his transitions from offense to defense, you know, how how well he closes gaps. Um, he’s he’s a talented player. He can shoot the puck, too. You know, he’s he’s uh he’s having to rediscover his offensive game because in a KHL, you know, his coach has said, “We don’t want you really doing anything offensively,” which is so weird to me that the game is that different. Um, but but it is. And, you know, he’s been exploring that. And then uh Caleb Denoier um you know he looks good. You know I think he’s as advertised um his offensive abilities are um incredible. You know he he made a play today where it was a twoon-one against the goalender. Uh you know his teammate shoots the puck. Caleb crashes the net. It kind of awkwardly comes off the pads and it falls beneath him. So he lifts his left leg and kicks it on one foot on his right back to the to the net front to give his teammate another chance. Now the goalie stopped it, but like ridiculous play. Ridiculous play. You know, the IQ that that takes, the awareness that takes, and the talent that takes um are just awesome. For him though, I think uh I don’t expect him to really be pushing for the roster. I think the biggest thing is just his weight. You know, he needs to probably add 20, 25, 30 pounds. Uh he’s tall uh but you know he needs to thicken up a little bit. And then one more thing to add, Michael Ravel has looked unreal. Um he’s a 6 foot6 goalender who is coming off a phenomenal year with uh UMass and then he also won bronze at the World Championships with Chetchia. Uh he is athletic, he’s smooth, he covers the crease really well, he’s you know he reacts really well to rebounds, he tracks the puck strong. like this this dev camp has been fun because there’s so much talent, you know, not just like one or two guys. It’s like there’s four, five, six dudes that could be, you know, really important players for the Mammoth uh over the next few years.
That’s I’m I’m only a little bit fuming jealous. Uh I poorly planned my trip because that would be super cool.
Yeah, that one’s on you. This this is I this is our first um actual podcast because we did a a a Twitter space um after the draft just kind of talk a little bit about that. But um I feel like we we’ve I we’ve just interviewed Max. I feel like we should talk a little bit about what Caleb Denier brings to the team because um for podcast listeners, they probably haven’t heard it from us, but I mean, how do you how are you guys feeling about this fourth overall pick? I
I mean pretty Michael take a bow, right? You had him at the top of your prospect list.
Yeah, thank you everybody. You could tell that uh Yeah, Bill was listening to you when you made your picks for sure.
That’s probably That’s probably He was like, “Man, I’m thinking about going Martone, but Cole said Martone, but Michael said Dino Yay. That’s who I’m gonna go with.”
And Brady Martin went fifth. That was pretty cool to see.
Brady Martin went before Porter Martone.
Yeah, that was that was wild. Caleb’s great.
Caleb’s great, you know, with like you now you’re seeing why they kept the pick, right? Like there were offers on the table. You know, Bill Bill was landing phone calls and you know, people there was interest. You know, obviously you I think the New York Islanders were probably pursuing that pick because they wanted to draft Schaefer and Hagens. Um but you know there’s no there was no deal that that uh that came you know that that surfaced because Denoier is a great player. Um he he you know it was it was interesting to talk to Bill about it because he said he said we were very fortunate because Denoier not only filled a need of the team but he was also the best player available on the board when we got to number four. You know he’s he’s a big he’s a you know he’s a bigger uh center. you know, he’s very offensively uh impactful. You know, his talent is obvious, his handles are obvious, his his goal scoring, his IQ, his ability to not only score himself, but create for others is obvious, but he’s also got a really good, you know, 200 foot game. Um, I think he’ll need to continue to improve defensively, but the effort’s there, right? He’s not some guy that’s just going to jump on the ice and only contribute offensively. He’s going to contribute on every inch. So, um, great pick for Utah. I’m glad they kept it and you know they add yet another talented prospect to their deep pool. Yeah, his family was across the aisle from me at the draft.
Um and for those who weren’t following along, I was I was here I’m still here in Los Angeles. Um, and the the general sentiment from those that because I I didn’t go as an official member of the media just went and um I happened to be placed around a couple other media members and actually a good amount of media members and some other like hockey content creators. It was kind of cool. The general sentiment from all of them was that kid is a pretty good shot. That kid ends up being the best player in the draft. Like we always see this looking back on on drafts in the past of of oh if this if we reddraft with the 2014 or 2013 or whatever draft it ended up being. It’s pretty possible that you look back in five or six years and the reddraft boards look like Dengo and won. Not that nothing against Matthew Schaer because he’s a fantastic player. I’m not saying I mean clearly he’s I think he’s going to end up in the league pretty quickly and have a really great career, but um the the speed, skill, shooting ability of a player that big um is I feel like there’s just a lot a lot to be excited about as a Utah fan and taking it and like you were saying there were so many we were hearing are they gonna trade are they going to trade back and take somebody like Porter Martone or or Jacob Bryan? Are they gonna trade up and try and try and move into a different spot? But um I I ended up being pretty happy that they took it. And it was funny cuz when when Deno was on the red carpet um he was walking around. I ended up taking some pictures of him and he was talking to the guy who made his suit who was standing right next to me and uh I was like, “Hey Caleb, I’m excited for you to play in Utah.” Yeah. He was he was like, “Oh, thank you.” like kind of probably what every player would do in that situation. But um
he’s confident, man.
He is a confident kid. And it’s not
it doesn’t come off as cocky. It comes off as like he knows who he is. He knows his talent and and it comes off as
I know what I’m going to achieve,
you know, like he he he’s a winner. You know, he won three gold medals in the span of nine months with Team Canada. He was the QMJHL uh playoff MVP. like he wants to win in Utah.
And then as I said on the on the Twitter spaces too, his billet family was saying he’s competitive even when he’s fishing, even when he’s playing games at home. And he’s a competitive kid because of all this winning, too.
Yep. I love that. So, it’s No, it’s it’s a good pick. I’m excited for him and uh you know, we’ll just continue to push on, right? We’ll have uh we’ll have the development game on Thursday. It’ll be fun to kind of see these because they’ve just been split. We’ve had defense and offense and, you know, they’ve been doing some drills and offense was really fun today. We we we saw Denoy and Aginda running, you know, running some plays and and Bodwen and and and Boot and it was uh, you know, they they were having a good time. You know, they were cheering when they’re scoring and and they’re making, you know, all these, you know, oo and a’s and the crowd got into it. So, it was fun. I’m excited to see um, you know, how that uh how that all kind of comes together on Thursday. Uh, but you know, it’s been a crazy week, right? And and we’ve got some free agency to talk about.
Happy free agent day to those who celebrate. Um, us.
We NHL pretty much didn’t celebrate today cuz what happened yesterday?
Utah.
Yeah. Uh, we were speculating Friday, when did we have an emergency podcast? Friday. that uh we were wondering like what big money players we were going to sign. We heard uh Sunday uh that Matias Machelli was headed to the Leafs which gave us a little bit more cap space. So we were kind of uh trying to assess how Utah was going to use this cap space. We knew in free agency we wanted to potentially get a goalie to potentially sign McBain and uh Logan Kulie. So far McBain and [ __ ] haven’t locked down any deals. I’m sure they will by the time we speak because it seems to always happen when we release an episode.
Yeah. Don’t worry. We’ll release an episode and it’ll happen.
Yeah. But uh we’ve signed five people today. Is it five? Kind of absurd. Yeah. I mean, you know, kind of just to preface what they did. Um, you know, I I like to refer to the draft in free agency as lying season. You know, there’s always rumors, there’s always big reports, and and it felt like Utah was attached to every big name. You know, Utah was attached to Mner and Bennett and Ellers and Besser and Marartian and and all these things. But the front office, they just kept saying like, “We’re not, you know, like like you know, we’re still re we’re still rebuilding, you know, and not that they’re deep in the rebuild. They’re trying to emerge from that,
but they stayed true to what, you know, what they said they were going to do, which was look, we took our big swing with Peter. Now we’re going to add depth. Now we’re going to add, you know, more veteran experiences.” And that’s what that’s what today was all about because this team is not rushed for time. You know, they they’ve got time on their side. They’ve got, you know, more years to develop, right? Because Kulie and Gunther and and Purka, they’re all under 23 years old. And even some of their veterans, you know, Keller and Sergev, 26, 27, and as we’ve been talking about, they’ve got this deep pipeline of 18 year olds and, you know, 19 year olds, 20 year olds. um they’re not trying to win a Stanley Cup next year or the year after or probably the next two years after that. Um you know, I think their championship window probably will not open for another four, five, six years. You know, like uh like Bill said, you’re not winning Stanley Cups with your core guys until they’re they’re 20, you know, 27, 28, 29. Look at what Florida is doing. So, you know, today just was a testament to the process of of sticking to the process. you know, they they needed to add just more defenseman because of the situation they found themselves in, you know, this last year. So, what do they do? They go out and they they take, you know, a Panthers defenseman. And I really like the Brandon Tanv addition. He adds grit. He adds a little bit of craziness. He adds, you know, uh, you know, the guy’s just got an incredible motor. Um, and he takes it, you know, phenomenal profile pictures, uh, for every NHL season. Be fun to see what he does.
Yeah, his head shot amazing. Uh, and then, you know, they go out and they sign uh some some goalender depth. That’s what that’s exactly what they needed because I think what what they’re looking at right now is, you know, obviously with the Connor Ingam Ingram situation, they don’t know how that’s going to unfold. And so, they sign a one-year deal, which which I think is is a positive because it gives some leeway to Ingram to maybe come back and maybe figure things out. But what it also does is is give you a solid backup goalender um that is going to support Vamela and it also doesn’t shure up anything for long, you know, in the long term because I’m telling you right now, there’s a belief that Michael Rabble is the goalender of the future. And so you’re setting that you’re setting this all up, right? You’re continuing to trust that process and everything they did today was to continue to develop these young guys and help build a championship organization. Yeah. I I personally really really love I mean there there were three actual or one-way signings and then there were a couple other two-way signings that I really liked but the Kyler Yamamoto signing I really love that for forward depth. Um he ended the season pretty strong and I think there’s a general sentiment among fans of like why didn’t he play more? Um, and there’s probably a lot of reasons behind that that I I’m that I don’t know, but um, I thought that was a good depth forward signing. I agree with you. Like we we found ourselves with for a good chunk of the season without a lot of depth at um, in on defense. So, signing a guy like Nate Schmidt, who as you guys heard a couple of weeks ago when we talked to Liam O’Brien, he is the one who gave Liam O’Brien the tuna nickname. So, kind of cool for that to come full circle. And um him and Liam are are friends. So, that’s an awesome awesome addition. Brandon Tanov is a is a forward who’s kind of nuts. Um it’s a it’s it’s a it’s a it’s a it’s a Brad Marshan similar. You’re you’re getting you’re getting a guy who’s a little bit of a rat on the ice and um
for much cheaper and for on a I I think is a pretty team friendly deal um for a guy like that. He’s he’s going to come in and get you some goals and get you some production in terms of points, but mostly he’s going to come in and grind out tough minutes. He’s got a pretty aggressive forch check and he plays good defense. So, um I think all those things that we’re kind of looking for maybe on a third line, maybe filling filling a a hole that Josh Stone left. Um and then yeah, what a lot of newer fans might not know is that um it’s not it’s not uncommon for teams to carry three goalies because of what we saw happen last year where I mean go goalies get injured. You’re you’re doing you’re a little acrobat in a in a in the crease like you you were doing some crazy stuff with your body to try and stop bucks from getting in the net. Injuries are common. um needing to miss a little bit of time is common. And then and then um even even nowadays, players going to the NHL player assistance program tends to be more common. I love that. Players getting help for their mental health and for whatever they’re going through, I think is really great. But getting a guy like Vanichek who has a lot of experience in the league, just won a Stanley Cup, didn’t play a lot in the playoffs, but still a guy that you’re going to bring in with experience that um get gives gives him an opportunity to take some games off every once in a while.
So, I thought all good things so far. And like we were talking about, I think most most fans were kind of disappointed that uh all those big names got off the board quickly. Not not even quickly. Actually, before the game even started, before before free agency even opened up, most players had resigned and most of the major names had resigned. Pretty much everyone off the top of the board was gone. Um but I think it’s fine. I I I’m really not I’m not bummed out about missing out on any of these players because like Cole said, I think Bill Armstrong is pretty good at trusting the process. So
yeah, in GMBA we trust and now we’re starting to see a full-fledged team come together and we’re going to be able to see more depth as the season goes on. But as Cole said, you can see that these prospects are just going to get bigger, literally physically bigger and better.
And to have them kind of in our back pocket as we continue to build our own players forward is great. I disagree with Cole that I think the cup’s coming this year. But, you know, it’s just a me thing, I guess. Yeah, it’s uh you know if there are any fans out there that are disappointed or or thinking that you know Utah was saying all these things about you know free agents are going to you know love to come here and we didn’t get any big you know anybody big. Well we Utah just signed like five guys and so you know free agency is not an issue. It’s more of timeline, you know, Marner and Bennett and um, you know, Martian and Besser, like they just those guys don’t fit Utah’s timeline. And so
if you’re older than Clayton Keller and MueL Sergeev, you probably don’t fit the timeline.
No, you don’t.
Especially if you’re in your prime and you’re a player of that caliber,
right? Like,
yeah,
you know, the what what these deals are going to allow them to do is, like I said, it’s gonna allow them to develop. It’s gonna allow Kulie and Gunther and Purka and and Simichev and Boot and Agla and you know Denoy and Bodwan. They’re buying time. They’re buying time. They’re allowing you know they’re allowing development. So hopefully this you know this organization can be the next Tampa Bay Lightning, right? you know, the next, you know, what have you, the Penguins, you know, whatever teams, you know, you think of when you when you consider, you know, championship organizations that have long runs, that have time, you know, the Detroit Red Wings of, you know, the the, you know, the of the past, right? Like teams that put it together
of the past.
Yes. Team teams that put it together not just for a year or two, but teams that can compete for six, seven, eight years. um that’s what they’re trying to build here. And so, you know, some sort of miscalculated, you know, free agent signing just to sign them because you have the money doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. They’re being smart about that. And so, you know, have a have a little patience, right? You know, understand what’s being built here. Um the future is very very promising and you can see that vision unfolding and getting to talk to Max just solidifying all of that. I mean, the potential that these players can be here for a long time and that they’re having a good time and want to be here, right? These are all things that feel really special to us as a team for sure. And then just seeing the kind of height, the kind of depth that they’re all going to make on this team. It’s It’s exciting stuff.
Yeah. Well, I know you’re there watching the development camp play out. Um, if if you were to maybe guess which players we’re going to see where, I think a lot of fans want to know
who which of the new players can we expect to be coming? Which of the young players can we expect to be coming up this year? Who do you expect to see in a mammoth jersey this year instead of playing in in juniors or in college or, you know, wherever these players end up?
Yeah, we’ll see this year. Um, it gets interesting, right? Like I I think Simichev is like definitely NHL ready. Um but now there’s 10 defenseman, right? You know, that’s a deep room. That makes it tough. Um
you know, he’s going to have to to beat out some people. And I still expect him to see some time and see some minutes. So, Bill Armstrong even made the point of look, last year we got in trouble, you know, because we had all these uh we had all these injuries to our defense and suddenly we had to make trades. We had to pull guys off of, you know, waiverss to uh to even have a defense. So, uh I I do expect Simichev to see minutes. I think we’ll see boot as well. I think Simichev will have an easier transition. Um you know, he just I think his talent’s just a little bit higher and I think, you know, the way that he skates and moves the puck and handles the puck is is more ready than boot. Um, but you know, I can’t wait. I can’t wait to see Boot deliver just a nasty hit, uh, you know, this fall. He is such a big body. You know, he stands six foot seven before he straps his skates on. So, uh, very exciting. In terms of everybody else, I think we’re going to see again Lambo Dwan go back to the juniors another year. I think those guys are probably going to be, you know, banging on the door of being NHL ready next season. Um, you know, Rabble is already committed to go back to UMass and he’s very big on continuing his development there. he believes that’s the best place for him. But what I’ve been what I’ve heard is that he’ll be signing his contract with Utah next season. So, we’ll see what that looks like. Um, you know, usually even once goenders sign their contracts, you know, it’s a much longer process, right? It’s like four, five, six year process. Um,
you know, I think there’s a good chance we see him in Tucson for a while just, you know, get, you know, develop and continue to play at a higher level. Um, as for Denoier, um, he’s confident he wants to make the team. I don’t think that’s going to happen. Um, as you know, Bill Armstrong noted, he needs to become hockey strong at the NHL level. You know, I think he only weighs like 180 pounds, soaking wet. So, you know, give me another 20 25 pounds on him. Couple more years of development. He said he’s potentially open to the NCAA um as an option. Um, so it’ll be we’ll see how that develops. Does he go back to juniors? Does he go back to the queue? Or, you know, does he elect to uh play college hockey? I think there’s been some interest from Boston College in bringing him in. So, um, we’ll see. But I I would say that’s kind of where all these prospects are at in terms of where they’ll be playing this fall. That is so cool. Um, before you go, I have to tell you that I’m at a house on a golf course in Nebraska uh on my trip and Jake Gunel teed off in front of my friend today.
That’s awesome.
I know. I was like, I got to tell my hockey friends.
Does he Does he have a good swing?
I I’ll have to ask. You would think anybody who plays hockey for that long in a season probably swings like Happy Gilmore, but I’ll have to ask Ian what he thought about it.
That’s where Wait, where are you right now?
Omaha. Why is Jake Gensel in Omaha?
He went He went to college here. He’s from
Oh, that’s right.
Yeah. Pretty funny.
Yeah. Well, that’s awesome. Nicole, we will uh let you get back to development camp and there’ll be more information coming out of there. Um for those listening, thank you for being here. Thank you for listening to the Utah Hockey podcast as always. You can find us on the KSL Sports YouTube on video and on audio so you can see us and listen to us, which do you want that? Probably yes, you do. Maybe not for Cole. Maybe for the rest of us. Um, you can also find us on Apple and Spotify and uh so much more coming. So, we’re really glad that Cole just doesn’t doesn’t get an off seasonason. He doesn’t get to spend time with
I actually don’t mind it either. Well, time for work.
I like being busy. Let’s just put it that way.
Yeah.
Busy watching NHL is fine. I think we all love that.
Yep.
Awesome. Thank you guys so much for tuning in. Good to chat with you besties. See you guys. Love you.
See you. Bye.

Today on the podcast, we were joined by the second-round draft pick to the Utah Mammoth, Max Pšenička, who is loving Utah and development camp. We also discussed the bombshell of a day that was the first 24 hours of NHL free agency for Utah.

-Czech this kid out
-Dev Camp Developments
-Big Tennis guy
-Veggie’s Travel Show Companion
-REWARDED
-More from the crew on the UFA