Utah Mammoth fans, there’s some good news and bad news relating to this year’s NHL draft, which begins June 26.
The bad news is that the Mammoth have a much later pick than they’ve been accustomed to having recently (19th overall), so the prospect pool might not grow as suddenly as it has the past few years.
The good news is that outside of the top 10, there’s not much consensus on the correct order of players. Translation: Teams picking in the 11-20 range are highly likely to get their preferred guys, rather than what’s left over.
With so many options available, it’s hard to know exactly which direction teams will want to go with their picks. With that in mind, here are a few players the Mammoth might consider with pick No. 19.
JP HurlbertPosition: left wingHeight: 6-foot-0Weight: 183 poundsHometown: Allen, Texas2025-26 team: Kamloops Blazers, WHL2025-26 production: 68 games played, 42 goals, 97 points
Almost every draft ends up with a handful of stars selected in the latter half of the first round. JP Hurlbert could absolutely be one of those guys.
He hit the ground running from Day 1 this season, scoring a hat trick in his WHL debut. Things hardly slowed down from there. By season’s end, he was fourth in league scoring and earned the Rookie of the Year award.
Hurlbert is a dual threat: He can shoot and he can find impossible passing options — not unlike Mammoth captain Clayton Keller. That’s the type of guy you want on your top power play unit.
He won’t likely be a top-10 pick, largely because he plays wing rather than center and he’s not a big body. But the hardest thing to do in the NHL is score goals, and Hurlbert has potential to do exactly that.
If Hurlbert is still on the board at 19, the Mammoth will have the chance to get the steal of the draft, and if they don’t believe they can get him there, they should consider trading up.
Elton HermanssonPosition: right wingHeight: 6-foot-1Weight: 181 poundsHometown: Örnsköldsvik, Sweden2025-26 team: MoDo Hockey, Allsvenskan2025-26 production: 38 games played, 11 goals, 21 points
Elton Hermansson might be the most dynamic player potentially available at No. 19 — though there’s a good chance someone takes him earlier than that.
Much like Hurlbert, he can shoot and he can pass. What makes him so fun to watch, though, is the way he can stickhandle around guys.
Hermansson began the season in Sweden’s U20 junior league, but it didn’t take long for the men’s league to call him up.
At the defense-heavy Allsvenskan level (Sweden’s second-tier men’s pro league), point-per-game players are almost non-existent. That makes Hermansson’s 21 points in 38 games a little more impressive than it looks at first glance.
Hermansson hails from Örnsköldsvik, Sweden. The city only has about 33,000 residents, but it has produced more than a dozen NHL players — including Hockey Hall of Famers Henrik and Daniel Sedin and Peter Forsberg, future Hall of Famer Victor Hedman and three-time First Team All-Star Markus Näslund.
Ryan LinPosition: right defenseHeight: 5-foot-11Weight: 178 poundsHometown: Richmond, British Columbia2025-26 team: Vancouver Giants, WHL2025-26 production: 53 games played, 14 goals, 57 points
Mammoth general manager Bill Armstrong and company have not drafted a defenseman in the first round since 2023, so if there’s an area of Utah’s prospect pool that’s shallower than the rest, it’s the top-tier defensemen.
A lot of experts see Lin as the smartest defenseman in this draft. He isn’t the biggest guy and he’s not particularly flashy, but being able to think the game at a high level is one of the most important assets a defenseman can have.
Lin scored a little more than a point per game in the WHL this season, though a disproportionate amount of them came as secondary assists on power play goals. NHL penalty killers won’t give him nearly as much time and space as he’s used to, so don’t expect him to keep the same scoring pace at the highest level.
That said, Lin has committed to the University of Denver for next season — the same school that produced Zeev Buium. Playing against older, more developed players at that level could help his transition to the pro game be a bit smoother.
Maddox DagenaisPosition: centerHeight: 6-foot-4Weight: 196 poundsHometown: Montreal, Quebec2025-26 team: Quebec Remparts, QMJHL2025-26 production: 62 games played, 30 goals, 62 points
The NHL is a copycat league, and one player teams are trying to find is the next Porter Martone.
Martone, the sixth overall pick in last year’s draft, joined the Philadelphia Flyers at the conclusion of the NCAA season and contributed immediately: Ten points in nine regular-season games, followed by five points in 10 playoff games. He’s also big and mean.
If there’s a Martone type in this draft, it’s probably Maddox Dagenais.
Standing at 6-foot-4 with 196 pounds of muscle, Dagenais has an easier time transporting the puck to the net than most players do. His offensive numbers aren’t as impressive as Martone’s, but a point per game as a 17-year-old in the QMJHL ain’t shabby.
Dagenais also plays center — a more coveted position than Martone’s wing.
The Mammoth’s playoff run this season highlighted the fact that they need to get bigger. That has definitely been a top priority of Armstrong’s in his drafting thus far, and Dagenais is right up that alley.
Adam ValentiniPosition: centerHeight: 5-foot-9Weight: 190 poundsHometown: Toronto, Ontario2025-26 team: University of Michigan, NCAA2025-26 production: 40 games played, 11 goals, 27 points
Another guy teams are trying to replicate is Ivan Barbashev, who is currently competing in the Stanley Cup Final where he could earn his third championship.
Adam Valentini has some Barbashev in him.
Neither guy is decidedly big, but both play a big game. They’re physical, they work hard and they throw big hits — and they can both contribute enough offense to keep them near the top of the lineup.
Armstrong, coincidentally, was the St. Louis Blues’ director of amateur scouting when they drafted Barbashev in 2014. He’d love to get his hands on the next one.
Some guys get you to the playoffs and other guys get you through them. Valentini is the latter.
Tommy BleylPosition: right defenseHeight: 6-foot-0Weight: 165 poundsHometown: Glenville, New York2025-26 team: Moncton Wildcats, QMJHL2025-26 production: 63 games played, 13 goals, 81 points
The Mammoth have watched Tommy Bleyl all year long, as he plays alongside Caleb Desnoyers and Gabe Smith on the Moncton Wildcats. And with Bleyl’s game, there’s much to be impressed about.
With well over a point per game as a defenseman, Bleyl’s offensive upside is his obvious selling point, but another thing he does as well as anyone is transport the puck through the neutral zone. He’s a one-man breakout machine, which puts his team in more positions to score.
Bleyl is far from the biggest guy in the draft. At 165 pounds, he would probably struggle to compete at the professional level. He probably recognizes the same thing, as he has stated that he will return to Moncton for one more season, after which he will play at Michigan State.
Remember, he’s only 18 years old. He still has some growing to do. And having won the QMJHL’s defenseman of the year award, there’s something special about him.
Tobias TrejbalPosition: goalieHeight: 6-foot-4Weight: 190 poundsHometown: Most, Czechia2025-26 team: Youngstown Phantoms, USHL2025-26 production: 42 games played, .916 save percentage, 2.12 goals-against average
Armstrong and his staff seem to like their Czech goalies.
They signed Karel Vejmelka directly out of the Czech league and made him their starting goaltender that season. Last summer, they brought in Vítek Vaněček as a free agent, and coming up through the ranks is top goalie prospect Michael Hrabal.
Here’s another one who could garner their consideration: Tobias Trejbal.
Trejbal is big and he put up impressive numbers in the United States Hockey League this season — enough to earn the goalie of the year award.
The tricky thing is that goalies’ development isn’t always linear, even when they get to the NHL.
Ryan Jankowski, who co-headed Utah’s scouting efforts until leaving for an assistant GM job with the Seattle Kraken last summer, offered an explanation.
“Goaltenders are tricky because it takes them a long time — a lot longer than the normal player — and they also go very fast on the board in draft day,” he said.
The Mammoth have taken a goalie every other draft since Armstrong took the reins in 2020. They selected Ivan Tkach-Tkachenko in the fifth round last year, but if they want a premium goalie prospect to come in a few years behind Hrabal, Trejbal could be their guy.
It’s seldom a bad idea to take the best goalie in the draft, and there’s a decent chance that Trejbal could be the guy.