Utah Mammoth Development Camp: Notes From Day Two

Jul 2, 2025 , 1:53 PM

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Utah Mammoth, Dmitriy Simashev....

Black Team defenseman Dmitriy Simashev (26) controls the puck while guarded by White Team defenseman Justin Kipkie (58) during the Utah Hockey Club’s development camp intra-squad scrimmage held at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Friday, July 5, 2024 (Isaac Hale, Deseret News).

(Isaac Hale, Deseret News)

COLE BAGLEY


Utah Mammoth Insider

SALT LAKE CITY – Following the completion of the 2025 NHL Draft, the Utah Mammoth’s deep pool of prospects made their way to Park City Ice Arena to participate in on-ice drills.

After watching both sessions on Tuesday and speaking with several players, here are three takeaways from day two of the Utah Mammoth’s Development Camp.

Related: Utah Mammoth Development Camp: Notes From Day One

The Utah Mammoth’s young forwards had a blast as they scorched the nets on Tuesday afternoon

While the first sessions on Tuesday for both groups included a long list of skating drills, the second sessions were all about getting pucks on net which allowed the forwards to demonstrate their elite skills.

With 2-on-1 and 3-on-1 drills that included each of the first-round selections from the last three drafts, the ice turned into the highlight reel that drew “Oohs and ahs” from the crowd and some celebrations from the boys.

“It’s very rare that you have that many first rounders in a dev camp,” General Manager Bill Armstrong explained. “I know this is standard in Utah but it’s not normal in the rest of the NHL that you have five first rounders out there. I think that inspires them.”

Notably, each player was as advertised.

Daniil But was a monster in front of the net, Tij Iginla fired shots with precision, Cole Beaudoin made plays and Caleb Desnoyers craftiness was on full display which made the session simply a joy to watch.

Not only because of the abundance of talent, but because Armstrong’s vision continues to unfold in front of our eyes.

The team is improving; acquisitions are being made and Utah’s plethora of first rounders continue to make progress towards NHL debuts.

Dmitri Simashev stole the show at Utah’s development camp

While the forwards gave everyone something to cheer about on Tuesday, defenseman Dmitri Simashev was far and away the best player this week.

Following two full seasons in the KHL with Lokomotiv, Simashev has clearly developed his skills to the point where he’ll battle for a roster spot with the Mammoth in October.

So, where does he excel?

With his 6-foot-5 frame and elite skating abilities, it’s easy to understand why the organization snatched him as an early first-round pick.

While his size is notable and certainly makes him a fierce defenseman, it’s his skating, edgework, initial steps and top speed that makes him such an elite prospect.

“The elite quality of him is his skating ability,” General Manager Bill Armstrong told KSL Sports. “His agility is the elite of the elite…so, he is someone that we get truly excited about.”

After watching him up close this week, it became easy to understand the excitement.

Amongst a talented pool of prospects, Simashev looked like an obvious NHL skater with the potential to become a staple of the Mammoth’s blue line for years to come.

Utah Mammoth add depth, physicality and goaltending in free agency

As Utah’s young prospects took the ice in Park City, July 1 also signaled the beginning of free agency, and Bill Armstrong went to work.

While the first few hours were fairly uneventful for the Mammoth, a sudden outburst of free agent signings appeared later in the afternoon.

Full Story: Utah Mammoth Make Bevy Of Free Agent Signings

So, what did Utah accomplish?

They addressed their need for physicality, experience and depth to help bolster a young team on the rise.

“I think we tidied up the loose ends and make us a stronger team,” Armstrong explained.

“I think you’re going to see that come training camp…it’s probably going to be the most competitive team we’ve had so far, and it will be the most competitive camp.”

By signing Scott Perunovich and Nate Schmidt, Utah added some security (with a little championship experience) to their defense.

As Armstrong put it, they wanted to try and avoid the situation they found themselves in last season with so many injuries to their blue.

Additionally, Vitek Vanecek will provide some short-term goaltending depth and Brandon Tanev is all about grit.

These are the areas Utah wanted to improve and at first glance, this should be the best team that Armstrong has constructed.

While some may worry that the Mammoth didn’t do enough, as Armstrong has repeatedly stated, sticking to the process is critical.

They took a swing on a young scorer via trade, kept the fourth overall selection to add another talented player to their pool, added depth and have money left over to take care of some housekeeping (signing Logan Cooley and Jack McBain).

“We didn’t do anything crazy,” Armstrong said. “We were able to continue to draft, we kept all of our prospects intact, kept our team intact and made it better, and added a goal scorer.”

“What we’ve done is sure up our team and given us some more depth, some more competitiveness on our team, and chance to take that next step and make the playoffs.”

Time will tell, but both the immediate and distant future seem incredibly bright in Utah.

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Next For The Utah Mammoth

With an inability host a full development game at Delta Center, the mammoth will participate in a four-on-four intra-squad scrimmage that will simulate a mock game with on-ice officials on Thursday, July 3 at 12 P.M. at Utah’s Olympic Oval.

The Mammoth will host 500 youth hockey players throughout the Utah Amateur Hockey Association to watch the closed scrimmage.

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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