{coyotes} Iginla, Desnoyers 'could have a huge impact' with Mammoth

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SALT LAKE CITY -- When Tij Iginla was asked directly during Utah Mammoth development camp whether he believes he's ready for the NHL, he didn't hesitate.

"Oh yeah, I do," Iginla said during the five-day camp, which wrapped up July 2. "I think I am ready. I'm looking forward to a big summer of training and pushing it hard in the gym and everything like that. But yeah, I feel ready."

For fellow first-round pick Caleb Desnoyers, his answer was even shorter.

"Yep."

As the Mammoth prepare for training camp following an offseason that added veteran talent while keeping its young core intact, the message from Utah general manager Bill Armstrong couldn't have been much clearer.

If a prospect is good enough, there is a job to be won, which could lead to roster spots for Iginla and Desnoyers, each a 19-year-old forward selected by the Mammoth in the first round of the NHL Draft -- Iginla with the No. 6 pick in 2024 and Desnoyers with the No. 4 pick in 2025.

“Those guys are going to come into camp excited because they know there's a spot there and there's opportunity for them,” Armstrong said. “I think for them, having a little bit of that opportunity is a great thing. You never know, one of those kids could have a huge impact.”

Iginla’s confidence comes from the progress he has made over the past year with Kelowna of the Western Hockey League, which included a healthy season after battling injuries earlier in his five-year junior career. He was named to the Canadian Hockey League Second All-Star Team after he had a WHL career-high 90 points (41 goals, 49 assists) in 48 games.

"It was great to be back for a full season," Iginla said. "I felt like it was a good season. I felt like I got a lot better and improved. That's just kind of my mentality -- to just keep getting better and growing in whatever ways I can every day."

That growth hasn't only come from game experience.

Iginla has been skating with forward Gavin McKenna, the No. 1 pick by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 2026 NHL Draft, focusing on subtle improvements.

"Sometimes it's just picking up something small," Iginla said. "Whether it's a thing like change of direction ... just more of those little skills and movements that I'm trying to continue to build into my game."

His training camp task is equally straightforward.

"My goal is definitely to make the team," he said.

"Every year he takes a big step," Armstrong said. "He went back there and embraced being a center ... He's really kind of grown his game. He's not just an offensive player, he's a two-way guy with great offensive instincts and ability."

Like Iginla, Desnoyers understands making the leap will come down to mastering details. He's coming off a strong third season with Moncton of the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League, with 78 points (22 goals, 56 assists) in 45 games in 2025-26.

His approach is simple.

"My mentality is I'll always aim for the highest thing," Desnoyers said. "The highest level I can play this year is the NHL. So I'll focus and do everything I can this summer to achieve that."

Armstrong said he believes Desnoyers has already taken meaningful steps.

"He's gotten bigger and stronger since the season ended," Armstrong said. "He's been working on his skating. He's just fine tuning his game."

One sequence that particularly impressed Armstrong came during the World Junior Championship, when Desnoyers willingly shifted from center to wing.

"They asked him to move to the wing, he moved to the wing and he was excellent," Armstrong said. "He's the type of kid with his hockey sense and his skill and ability, he can play with really smart players."

After the signings of Anders Lee on July 1 and Barrett Hayton on July 8, and the acquisition of Vincent Trocheck in a trade with the New York Rangers on July 1, the Mammoth now have a logjam at the center position, with eight possible skaters able to fill the four spots on the lineup sheet.

Rather than viewing those additions as roadblocks, Armstrong sees them as creating the kind of internal competition winning teams need.

"We talked about coming in and taking someone's job," Armstrong said. "You've got to come back with a little bit of snarl. You've got to be ready to play exhibition. You've got to basically take somebody's job.

"Caleb and Tij have the ability to come in and make our team. Both can play wing, both can play opposite sides. There's a lot of flexibility for our club ... When you have somebody that comes in and pushes to make your team, you can always make openings for that player.”

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{coyotes} Schmidt high on Mammoth taking step forward as Stanley Cup contender

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EDINA, Minn. -- Nate Schmidt, no stranger to experiencing Stanley Cup Playoff atmospheres with fledgling organizations, said he's hoping to help the Utah Mammoth take the next step toward a sustained run as a Cup contender this season.

The defenseman, who turned 35 on Thursday, said the Mammoth are looking to build on their first trip to the postseason, which ended with a six-game loss to the Vegas Golden Knights in the best-of-7 Western Conference First Round following a 43-33-6 finish last season, good for fourth place in the Central Division.

“That excitement and energy was really hard to quantify because it was all over the place,” Schmidt said Wednesday between games at Da Beauty League, a summer hockey league featuring NHL and collegiate players with ties to Minnesota, played at Braemar Arena. “That’s all you ever want as a hockey player.” 

Schmidt said seeing the first-time jitters and excitement from his mostly younger Utah teammates was a reminder of “why you play.” 

A Stanley Cup winner with the Florida Panthers in 2025 and a member of the Golden Knights team that reached the Cup Final in 2018 following its inaugural NHL season, Schmidt said the Mammoth, as well as their fans, should be excited about the elevated expectations of a team looking to rise toward their ultimate goal.

“You have to have that moving forward as a group, otherwise you never get out of the murky middle,” Schmidt said. 

Utah has taken a significant step in that direction with the additions of 36-year-old center Anders Lee, who signed a three-year, $16.2 million contract (average annual value $5.4 million) on July 1, and 33-year-old center Vincent Trocheck, acquired in a trade with the New York Rangers the same day. 

Lee, who had played 14 seasons with the New York Islanders and was their captain the past eight, had 42 points (19 goals, 23 assists) in 82 games last season. He's fifth in Islanders history in games (923), fourth in goals (308), and 10th in points (549).

“He’s another fantastic human, and another captain to boot,” Schmidt said. “You add a teammate like that to your team, it makes a big difference.” 

Adding Trocheck, “fresh off a gold medal” with the U.S. men’s hockey team in the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympics, brings another veteran presence to Utah, Schmidt said. Trocheck has played 13 seasons in the NHL and had 53 points (16 goals, 37 assists) in 67 games last season, his fourth with the Rangers.

“I just think he can play anywhere,” Schmidt said. “A Swiss army knife and go anywhere in the lineup and do anything.

“You can never have too many guys that could do that in your lineup that can give you so much value in other places.” 

Schmidt said he's looking forward to watching continual growth from the Mammoth's youthful players, including 23-year-old center Dylan Guenther, who had an NHL-high 73 points (40 goals, 33 assists) in 79 games last season, and 22-year-old center Logan Cooley, who had his third straight season with at least 20 goals (43 points; 24 goals, 19 assists in 54 games).

“For them to be able to experience not only the playoffs and the intensity that comes in, but how their game has elevated over the last year, it’s my job just to steer," Schmidt said. "They’re going to take off. That’s pretty much all you ever want as a teammate.” 

Mammoth fans have something else to anticipate this season: Hosting the 2027 NHL Winter Classic against the Colorado Avalanche on New Year's Eve at Rice-Eccles Stadium, on the campus of the University of Utah.

Schmidt said he's “fired up” about playing in his first Winter Classic, which he said should make for “a good mountain-range rivalry.”

He wouldn’t mind a little falling snow, either. 

“I hope it’s adverse conditions," he said. "It’s almost more fun.”

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{coyotes} NHL announces home openers for 2026-27

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{coyotes} NHL Alumni Association introduces post-retirement wellness plan

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UXBRIDGE, Ontario -- Glenn Healy says the edict of the NHL Alumni Association is “Make tomorrow better than today.”

Thanks in part to that organization, it’s become exactly that for more than 5,000-plus living ex-players who are grappling with life after hockey.

In what must be considered a significant step for all of them, the recent collective bargaining agreement between the NHL and NHL Players Association features a $4 million-plus donation from both parties combined for a post-retirement wellness plan.

The final details of that program were ironed out last week, allowing Healy to announce details of it to the 40 former players on hand for the NHL Alumni Celebrity Golf Classic at the picturesque Coppenwood Golf Club on Monday. With Hall of Famers like Paul Coffey, Doug Gilmour, Bryan Trottier, Mike Gartner and Mark Recchi showing their support, the association president outlined just how deeply its members now can get help once they’ve taken their final NHL shift.

“The way it’s set up now, if you’ve played one shift in the NHL you will get a family doctor. If you played one shift in the NHL you get a mental health wellness professional for you, your wife and your kids,” Healy said.

As impressive as that may be, it runs far deeper than that.

For those who played 400 games, they’ll receive dental and prescription eyewear coverage too. And for former players who haven’t reached that threshold and can’t afford the healthcare that they need, the League and NHLPA have established a slush fund for those, as Healy puts it, “in financial distress or find themselves in catastrophic situations.”

“This is Christmas Day for us in the sense that we took into consideration while building a better tomorrow than today, a wellness plan,” he explained. “That was always a goal.

“We wanted to be proactive because, in the past, we seemed to be reactive, waited for problems and then reacted to them. Too late. Be proactive. Preventative. Get on top of your own health. Go get bloodwork. Check to make sure that, for males, particularly when it comes to prostate cancer, don’t wait until it’s too late.

“All of us have something when it comes to health. Even as something as simple as: How many former NHLers still have their own teeth? These are all things we were looking to help deal with.”

According to Healy, one of the final details worked out last week involved NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and NHLPA president Marty Walsh coming to an agreement on how to help the widows and families of former players.

In the big picture, Healy said the process of completing the plan was drawn out because of the number of different native countries involving the Alumni’s members, each with their own individual insurance regulations.

“Hey, if this was, say, the NFL, you’re basically just dealing with a U.S. situation,” he said. “But we’re a global sport. We have 1,300 members in Europe alone.”

As part of the festivities Monday, each former player on hand was presented with a special platinum alumni ID card. Each one is numbered predicated on when an individual player signed their first respective NHL contract starting with the late Gordie Howe, who was No. 1.

For Gartner, who served as the president of the NHLPA from 1996-98, it’s been a lengthy road to finally get the healthcare the alumni deserve.

“First of all, it’s essential,” Gartner said. “Secondly, it’s come a long way.

“This was a vision years and years ago. But in order for it to come to fruition, you need two things. You need the funds to make it happen, and certainly the NHL and the NHL Players Association stepped up into that role in a big way and helped to do this. And then you need someone with a passion to put it all together and make it happen, and that’s Glenn Healy. He’s done an unbelievable job on behalf of the former players to make something like this happen.”

Coffey is playing a significant role in that, too. The 65-year-old, who is on the Alumni Association’s board of directors, has aligned himself with EAS (Empowerment. Accessibility. Support.), an organization stressing support for wellness in the workplace including mental health and supplying an outlet for those who need to talk.

“The issues aren’t any different than they were 10 years ago. The problem was still there with the players, all of us,” Coffey said. “The difference is, now they have a place to go. And it’s OK. And it’s not just for the players: it’s for the wives, for the kids, for the families.

“Listen, we’re partnering with the families but we’re going to partner with other companies, too. So, it’s not just for athletes -- it’s for people in general. There’s a lot of stuff going on out there. And it’s not like the old days where you couldn’t tell anyone because you didn’t want to be perceived as weak. Those days are over.

“People still have issues. They still need somewhere to go for help. Look at what happened to Claude Lemieux.”

The entire hockey world was in shock when Lemieux, a four-time Stanley Cup champion, took his own life on May 28. He was 60.

“It shook all of us in a big way,” Healy said. “Look at who showed up in Florida for his service. Wayne Gretzky. Joe Sakic. Steve Yzerman. That says a lot.

“We are going to fight for him, and for the hope that there won’t be a next one, even though there will be. We’re going to do everything we can to make a difference, bit by bit.”

Truth be told, they already have.

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{coyotes} Trocheck, Lee see 'a lot of potential' with Mammoth

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SANDY, Utah -- When Vincent Trocheck and Anders Lee were introduced as members of the Utah Mammoth on Friday, the forwards each spoke about having the same goal with their new team.

"Obviously a lot of potential and they've been taking a lot of strides the past few years," Trocheck said. "They're a very good young team. And I think for me, one of the biggest things is just going to a team that has a chance to win.

"Every year you go into training camp, your goal is to win the Stanley Cup. There are no moral victories."

Trocheck was traded to the Mammoth by the New York Rangers on July 1 for defenseman Sean Durzi, forward prospect Cole Beaudoin and a third-round pick in the 2027 NHL Draft. He had 53 points (16 goals, 37 assists) in 67 games with the Rangers last season.

He and Lee will be looking to help the Mammoth build off of last season, when they qualified for the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time, losing to the Vegas Golden Knights in six games in the first round.

Lee signed a three-year, $16.2 million contract ($5.4 million average annual value) with the Mammoth on July 1 after spending 14 years with the New York Islanders, including the past eight as captain. He had 42 points (19 goals, 23 assists) in 82 games last season.

"As an opposing player the last few years, you can tell every year, they're taking a step," Lee said. "You can see on their run last year and in the playoffs that their window is coming and it's open. That was a big part of the fit for me, wanting to come to a team that has an opportunity to win."

Trocheck, 32, and Lee, 36, each arrived in Utah after a lengthy tenure in New York and bring leadership, playoff experience and a relentless style of play to one of the NHL's rising teams. Trocheck has 56 games of playoff experience, and Lee has 46.

"It's a proud moment for the organization to have these two special players join our organization," Mammoth general manager Bill Armstrong said. "Our goal has always been the same: to compete for and ultimately win a Stanley Cup. I feel with these two players beside me that we're one step closer to doing that."

"We have to get more competitive if we want to make it out of the first round," Armstrong said. "They play a hard game, an inside game with skill. They can beat you with their bodies or their minds. We needed that inside game."

That style is something both players proudly identify with.

"I like to do a lot of the dirty work for the guys on my line and get to the net front," Lee said. "Try to create some havoc for the goaltender and play a 200-foot responsible game."

"I play a similar style," Trocheck said. "A lot of dirty work, hard on the forecheck, gritty style of game. Play 200 feet. Penalty kill, power play, whenever I can."

The two are also happy to be teammates after battling against one another in the Metropolitan Division for years.

"I'm getting a competitor to play with," Lee said of Trocheck. "He's always been someone you kind of hate lining up against because you know it's going to be a tough shift."

Trocheck returned the compliment.

"It's been a pain in the (butt) playing against Anders," Trocheck said. "I know I'm not moving him out of the net front. You're getting a great leader, a competitor who's going to play hard every night."

Trocheck is already familiar with one the young stars on the Mammoth roster. He and forward Logan Cooley have spent years practicing together in the summers in Pittsburgh. Now the two will be NHL teammates for the first time.

"We'd always kind of fantasize a little bit about what it would be like to play together," Trocheck said. "I watched him when he was 12, and he was skating with us and making me look bad. He still does that now, but now to be able to play with him on the same team, I think it'll be cool.

"This is my first full day here. Just to be able to come see this facility, it's a pretty special place, honestly. I think there aren't many places, if any, like this in the League. So my first taste has got me pretty excited."

Lee knows it will be an adjustment in Utah but is excited for the next chapter of his career.

"It's a big change. There's no doubt about it," Lee said. "Every day I look at this jersey and the logo and I start to like it even more and start to feel more comfortable with it.

"The last couple days just being here and driving around, seeing what our life could look like and the mountains and all that stuff. The people have been phenomenal. Coming in today and seeing the facility, getting to meet the staff, all the guys we'll be working together with, it's been pretty incredible."

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{coyotes} Armstrong: No hard feelings with Hayton, Devils over offer sheet

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Utah Mammoth general manager Bill Armstrong told reporters Wednesday there are no hard feelings with Barrett Hayton or the New Jersey Devils over last week’s offer sheet.

Utah announced Wednesday they would match the one-year, $4.775 million contract tendered on July 1, keeping the 26-year-old centre with the Mammoth’s young core through the 2026-27 season.

“It’s just business. Players want to get paid, they want to make as much money as they can in their lifetime, we get it. There’s no hard feelings between us and New Jersey. We called them and said we’re going to match. There’s no hard feelings between the club and Barrett Hayton,” Armstrong said Wednesday via KSL Sports’ Cole Bagley.

Bill Armstrong explains that there’s no hard feelings between the Mammoth, Hayton, or Devils:

“It’s just business. Players want to get paid, they want to make as much money as they can in their lifetime, we get it. There's no hard feelings between us and New Jersey. We called…

— Cole Bagley (@BagleyKSLsports) July 8, 2026

“We have really good relationships with the players, the player’s agent, and also New Jersey. There’s no hard feelings. It’s just doing business, and it’s a part of the NHL, it’s a part of the CBA. We have to respect the process.”

Utah cannot trade Hayton next season, as per the collective bargaining agreement. He will become an unrestricted free agent next summer unless extended, which he would be eligible for after Jan. 1.

Armstrong also said he wouldn’t be surprised if offer sheets grow more frequent around the league.

“It’s the new world of the NHL, and I think offer sheets are going to become very common,” Armstrong said. “I think you’re going to see them every single summer. I think every GM is going to be aware of them as they negotiate during the course of the year.”

Armstrong spoke highly of Hayton and said the Mammoth were happy to get him back.

“Barrett’s a key piece for us,” Armstrong said.

“He really anchors our team in a lot of different ways... He’s a valuable piece of our team and somebody that we believe we can move forward with and help us win a championship.”

Hayton also said he was glad to be back with the organization he’s spent the entirety of his career with.

“I’m fired up to get back with my teammates and remain in Utah,” Hayton said. “I’ve been with this core group for my whole career and it’s exciting that we have an opportunity to do some special things next season.”

He had 10 goals and 15 assists for 25 points in 67 games for the Mammoth last season.

Hayton was the first player to sign an offer sheet this summer and first since the St. Louis Blues offer sheeted both Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway of the Edmonton Oilers in 2024.

Anaheim Ducks centre Leo Carlsson inked a massive five-year, $90 million offer sheet with the Philadelphia Flyers last week. Anaheim has until Friday to decide whether or not to match.

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