SALT LAKE CITY – After concluding the preseason with a 6-4 victory over the San Jose Sharks on Saturday night, final cuts will take place over the next 24 hours as the Utah Mammoth prepare to submit their opening night roster on Monday afternoon.
Following a highly competitive training camp and considering some notable injuries that have taken place, the Mammoth’s opening night lineup will likely include a few new faces.
Who will make the Utah Mammoth’s opening night roster?
Notable injuries to consider
While unfortunate, injuries are just part of the preseason process, and the Utah Mammoth were not exempt this year as they experienced their fair share.
In addition to a few minor injuries to players like Jack McBain, JJ Peterka and Tij Iginla; Liam O’Brien, Barrett Hayton and Logan Cooley missed a significant portion of camp while Alexander Kerfoot missed most, if not all.
So, where do things stand as of right now?
Currently, McBain and Peterka are healthy, and the expectation is that Cooley will also be ready this week.
Per Tourigny, Logan Cooley will not play tomorrow against San Jose but they have a “good feeling” he will be ready to begin the season.
— Cole Bagley (@BagleyKSLsports) October 3, 2025
Logan Cooley is skating in a regular practice sweater 👀 pic.twitter.com/xUOtT6Xa7H
— Cole Bagley (@BagleyKSLsports) October 3, 2025
Meanwhile, there’s hope that both Hayton and O’Brien will return to practice in the next few days while Iginla is still day-to-day and Kerfoot is week-to-week.
Barring a major development, those injuries will likely impact the opening night roster as spots become available, and players are called upon to step into the lineup.
Tij Iginla needs another year in the juniors
First of all, despite a great camp and taking some significant steps forward after returning from dual-hip surgery, I do not expect Tij Iginla to make the roster.
Yes, his offense was impressive, and he looked really good considering this was his first taste of hockey since returning, but he simply needs more time to develop.
Iginla’s feet impress me the most here.
Watch his stride and how he positions his body to attack. That’s ridiculous. https://t.co/YTjxydSTjJ
— Cole Bagley (@BagleyKSLsports) September 23, 2025
“Iggy showed his skill,” Head coach Andre Tourigny said. “What’s impressive for Iggy, he did not play for nine months before he showed up to camp. He was starting from a farther distance in terms of being game ready and I think he got better.”
The best thing for Iginla right now is to go back to juniors, really get back into the swing of things, put up 100 points and get a little bit stronger.
If he does that, he’ll have a much better chance to make the roster a year from now when some more contracts come off the books and spots become available.
Once he’s no longer day-to-day, I expect he’ll return to Kelowna.
Daniil But and Andrew Agozzino may have a chance to make the roster
With some lingering injuries up front, Danill But and/or Andrew Agozzino may get a chance to begin the season in Salt Lake City if Hayton, O’Brien and/or Kerfoot aren’t ready by October 9.
If any combination of those three aren’t ready, that will open the door for both Agozzino and But to make the roster.
So, let me just be the first to say that I’ve been blown away by the progress But has made over the last few weeks.
After beginning rookie and training camp without making much of an impact, the young Russian burst onto the scene and quickly proved he belonged with several impressive performances.
“You can see the progression from rookie tournament to this point as he got better every game,” Tourigny said.
“He’s got some good touch; he needs to keep working on his consistency during the game which did improve a lot. We’re happy about where he stands.”
Look at Iginla & Smith battle in close. Relentless. No fear.
Nice little sneaky bump from Iginla on the defenseman right before the shot. If there was a rebound, he would’ve cleaned it up.
However, no need as But BURIED it. What a shot. https://t.co/0KCnz3mW9t
— Cole Bagley (@BagleyKSLsports) October 1, 2025
When But gets going downhill in the offensive zone with the puck on his stick, he is dangerously lethal.
Combining his smooth mitts with towering size, good speed and a blistering shot, But is the kind of prospect GM’s dream of.
No ifs ands or BUTS about it pic.twitter.com/xsTXn413l8
— Utah Mammoth (@utahmammoth) September 22, 2025
As for Agozzino, the 34-year-old has provided a veteran approach as he’s battled in the dirty areas, fought for loose pucks and facilitated some dangerous chances.
Agozzino makes it 3-1, Mammoth! pic.twitter.com/ED5XnkoxfW
— Utah Mammoth (@utahmammoth) October 5, 2025
Which player will make it?
Tough to say.
Maybe both? But most likely at least one.
Obviously, Butsky has way more potential, but Agozzino is a safer bet with years of experience in the NHL and AHL.
For now, we’ll let the coach’s figure that one out as both players have offered a worthy performance to be considered for a spot.
Dmitri Simashev has proven he’s ready for the NHL
Watch Dmitri Simashev for about five minutes and it becomes clear, he’s ready to test the NHL.
Not that he’s necessarily going to compete for the Calder, but Simashev has demonstrated the confidence, patience, awareness, vision and calmness that is required to play on the blue line in the best league in the world.
“If you look at Simashev, he’s doing a really good job in terms of his focus, his skating, his one-on-one battle,” Tourigny said ahead of Thursday night’s preseason matchup.
“He’s showed he had pro hockey inside of him in the past, so that helps a lot.”
Similar to Mikhail Sergachev (which makes sense because they live together), Simashev is never rattled.
His approach to the game in all three zones is so calm and collected as he consistently makes the right decisions, rarely makes mistakes and has never once looked out of place.
Simashev is ready pic.twitter.com/5cvgoEBWWp
— Cap’n Cook 🦣 (@JazzePinkman) October 3, 2025
Assuming he does crack the roster though, it may require Utah to roll with seven defensemen on a nightly basis as they certainly aren’t going to keep Simashev around just to sit with the scratches.
He needs to play.
Bagley’s projected opening night roster
Forwards:
Agozzino, But, Carcone, Cooley, Crouse, Guenther, Keller, McBain, Peterka, Schmaltz, Stenlund, Tanev, Yamamoto
Defensemen:
Cole, DeSimone, Durzi, Marino, Maatta, Schmidt, Sergachev, Simashev
Goaltenders:
Vejmelka, Vanecek
Utah’s opening night roster must be submitted on Monday by 3 p.m. MT.
What’s next for the Utah Mammoth?
At the conclusion of the preseason, the Utah Mammoth will officially kick off the regular season on October 9 against the Colorado Avalanche at Ball Arena at 7 p.m. MT.
The game 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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