SALT LAKE CITY – Following another poor and disorganized performance, the Utah Mammoth prospects wrapped up their rookie showcase with a demoralizing 8-1 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights.
Here are the key takeaways from Utah’s final rookie showcase matchup of 2025.
Tij Iginla nets his first goal as a Utah Mammoth, and it was a beauty
Let’s start with one of the only positives from this game, shall we?
Before things got completely out of hand, Utah salvaged a little momentum as Tij Iginla scored his first goal in a Mammoth sweater.
Desperate for some offense, Iginla received the puck out on the right wing, surveyed his options and then fired an absolute laser beam up high to bring Utah within one just past the midway point of the second period.
TIJ IGINLA SCORES HIS FIRST GOAL FOR THE UTAH MAMMOTH!
Laser beam from just outside the right Faceoff circle.
2-1 Vegas.
— Cole Bagley (@BagleyKSLsports) September 13, 2025
This is what Utah loves about Iginla’s game.
He’s absolutely lethal and so precise with his shot.
Once that confidence is there at the NHL level, watch out for No. 12. https://t.co/x6k5pnPUKh
— Cole Bagley (@BagleyKSLsports) September 13, 2025
While the game did quickly get out of hand shortly after, Iginla’s goal was a sign of things to come as he demonstrated his patience, vision and deadly accuracy.
Now, if he could just do that a few more times over the next few weeks, he might force the coaching staff to make a really tough decision.
Regardless, the talent is clearly there, and once its matched with confidence at the NHL level, watch out for No. 12.
A pitiful effort by the Mammoth resulted in a dominant win for the Golden Knights
Despite a solid start immediately following the initial puck drop, the Mammoth offered a very lackadaisical effort against the Knights and were completely demolished 8-1.
Similar to their performance against the Avalanche the night before, Utah was beaten to most 50/50 pucks, greatly lacked offensive chemistry, surrendered far too many rushes and eventually, just gave up.
Related: The Hat Trick: Late Mistakes Cost Young Utah Mammoth In Loss To Colorado Avalanche
Heading into the second period with a 2-0 lead on goals from Kai Uchacz and Mateo Nobert 😎 pic.twitter.com/RnD84OM5C7
— Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) September 13, 2025
For the most part, this is a meaningless rookie showcase and there was very little preparation ahead of time.
However, to be outscored 13-4 over the course of two losses with five first round picks on the ice, I don’t think it’s unfair to say that this weekend was fairly disappointing and mostly unacceptable.
This wasn’t a matter of skill, but more a lack of effort.
As head coach Steve Potvin pointed out following the loss to Colorado, sometimes the best way to stand out is to play simple.
Unfortunately for Utah, their performance was far from simple as they consistently complicated situations throughout both games and struggled to build any momentum.
“In these types of events, players are trying to do the best they can to make an impression. A lot of times, the best impression you can make is by playing simple and just doing things for the moment and for the team,” Potvin explained.
“We’re looking for players to be the best versions of themselves, and I think a lot of times they can get outside of that…it’s an unfortunate thing that players have to go through these types of scenarios and just master simplicity.”
Utah’s top prospects need to learn from rookie camp and play their game during training camp
As previously mentioned, the rookie showcase is nothing to get overly worked up about.
After two days of training, a collection of prospects varying in talent are thrown on the ice and asked to play together.
Not a huge surprise when it’s fairly sloppy.
However, with that in mind, Utah’s top prospects need to play much better moving forward if any of them want a shot at cracking the roster.
While I don’t expect any to actually make the final cut, it wouldn’t hurt for them to force the coaches to make tough decisions and demonstrate that they’re not far off.
This means that Lamoureux needs to avoid doing too much offensively, Daniil But needs to attack the crease with more ferocity, Iginla needs the puck more, Beaudoin needs to finish in front of the net and Simashev just needs to get more involved.
If not, cuts aren’t going to be overly tough, and the veterans won’t feel a whole lot of pressure from the young guys.
Nobody wants that.
Regardless of how likely it is that Iginla and Beaudoin head back to the juniors and the rest start the year in Tucson, they need to be pushing every chance they get.
The talent is there.
Unfortunately, the effort this weekend was not and there’s some work to be done next week for each of the top prospects.
What’s next for the Utah Mammoth?
Training camp is set to begin on September 17 and will run through October 4.
The Mammoth’s first preseason game will be a split-squad matchup on October 21 against the Colorado Avalanche.
The first game will be at 2:30 pm MT while the second puck will drop at 6:30 pm MT.
Both games will be available on Mammoth+.
Cole Bagley is the Utah Mammoth insider for KSL Sports. Keep up with him on X here. You can hear Cole break down the team on KSL Sports Zone and KSL 5 TV.
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