Welcome Back Drive Time on a Wednesday afternoon, the four o'clock hour here on ESPN seven hundred, talking to Utah Mammoth in this segment with none other than Bell Fraser of the Salt Lake Tribune. It's at Bell Fraser one on social media in the pages or I guess online now at Salt Lake Tribune. Bell Fraser. Have you ever seen a actual printed version of the Salt Lake Tribune or did you miss that?
I have? We still print on Wednesdays and Sundays. I forgot about to get their printed version.
I was going to say, I need to subscribe to that just because I get it. It's you know, it's not exactly practical. We all get the stories beforehand online anyway, but there's there's something nostalgic. There's a good feel about cracking open the paper when when you get your hands online.
I yeah, I will say selfishly, as a writer, it's it's cool seeing your name in print, as cool as it as it is online. It's fun being able to save those.
Clips for sure, right And I'm sure folks you know grandma's or aunts somewhere love clipping your articles and putting them somewhere. So Yeah, we'll keep printing them for now with days and Sundays on the Salt Lake Tribune every other day of course at sltrib dot com. On the sports side, bell, let's uh, well, I guess we'll make it easy by starting where you're at and on site at the Utah Mammoth off season development up in Park City. Correct, give us the lowdown from up there and what to
expect from a bunch of new faces already. I don't know how many of them are on site, how many of them you expect to be on site, but man, a lot of changes. It feels like we're drinking through a fire host on the Mammoth off season so far.
Yeah, it's been a wild week, you know, starting off with the NHL Draft, right into development camp and then obviously free agency happens yesterday, So a lot of Mamoth news this week. But development camps started on Monday. They had two on ice sessions at Park City Ice Arena. They were split into a forward group and a defenseman group.
Each session was around two hours, a lot of non puck drills, you know, a lot of skating, and then in the second half they'd have pucks and more drills and tomorrow will be the four on four scrimmage at Utah's Olympic Oval, which is not open to the public unfortunately, but these last two practices were and it was really cool to see all the fans that came out up
to Park City to watch these prospects play. I think some standouts that were more anticipated names who attended the camp this year Colb Woodwen, he was one of their first round picks last year. Tijaginla, Daniel Boot, Kayla Danoier, he was their fourth overall pick this year, Dimitri Simaschev, Michael Robbel, who's the goaltender. So a lot of the names that people have kind of been following throughout the season in their respective leagues finally made it to Utah
and got to get an uppost view of them. I think there were a lot of questions around Tijaginla and if he would be able to fully participate, and he has been. He revealed that he got double hip surgery
this year. He got his right hip done in December and left hip done in January, and he took the year off obviously from the whild to go through rehabilitation, did a lot of you know, mental work and video work with the development staff with Utah and with the Colonna Rockets, who was his team in the junior Canadian leagues, and he said that this week at development camp has kind of been the first time he's been fully back
to skating. He wasn't in a non contact jersey, which is a good sign, and he said he's feeling good. He's doing a lot of work away from the rink after, like rolling out and doing different kinds of stretches to keep his hips good. He said he feels a little stiff,
but other than that, really good to be back. And I think it's a sigh of relief for Mammoth management because he was the sixth overall pick last year, first ever pick for this franchise, and will is projected to be a really big forward for them in their top six eventually, probably maybe not next year, but I think that's been a highlight from dev campas that Tjaginla is okay. He looks good, as do a lot of the other top prospects.
You mentioned Tginla in some of the prospects from last year, and I like a lot of people here in Utah are still kind of learning a little bit more the intricacies of the NHL of hockey. You know, when you look at the Jazz, you look at NBA, you make a draft pick in the association bill, and a lot of times that guy is playing in summer league a week later and is contributing, you know, as a player
that year. Especially with first round draft picks, it seems the NHL is much more of a kind of Baseball style where you're picking in a draft sometimes nine, ten eleven players and well you might see one of the first rounders in a year or two. Give me an idea how it differs in hockey and how we should be looking at some of these prospects and maybe highlight one of the or two or three of the rookies from this year that we may actually see in coming seasons.
Yeah, well, NHL is different. Like you said, I don't think fan should be discouraged if you don't see some of these prospects in the NHL roster, because teams own a player's right for three to four years after they get drafted, whether they go the NCAA college hockey route, or they go back to Canadian juniors or whatever it might be. So if they're not playing next year. It doesn't mean they're not in the name of system. They
still are. Everyone's keeping tops on them. But the NHL is a big, heavy league, and a lot of the times management likes these guys to go get a bit more experience and get more playing time. You know, if you're the best guy on your college team, you're playing top line minutes, you're playing the power play, penalty kill, you're you're developing in all situations, where if you're in the NHL or even the AHL, those opportunities kind of
limit themselves. So a lot of these guys will go back for a year or two and kind of get bigger, get stronger, Like I said, get a little bit more situational experience so they're able to come in and make a quicker impact. I think it varies for you know,
first round, second round, third round picks. I think if Tijaginla didn't get hip surgery this year and he had a full year in the WHL and he was on pace for you know, a record season in points, he only played around twenty games, but there would have been probably bigger conversations about him making the team this year. And I think that is probably the same for Caleb Danoye. You know, he said he was the fourth overall pick this year, so usually those guys can go right away
or they'll take a year or two. And he said he's going to trust Bill Armstrong and management and his family and his agent to make the decision on his development. That he wants to make the team this year. He could go back to the queue with the Monks and Wildcats and be their captain, he could commit to an NCAA team, but he said he wants to surprise everyone
and he wants to make the roster. So it really is in these players' hands, and it's going to be a really competitive training camp because there are limited roster spots and they've brought in so many guys, they've drafted so many guys, but there are surprises all the time. You know, Josh Done made it last year and Bill and guntherer didn't make it the year before, and now he's one of their top fowards, So you really never know.
And I think the overarching theme here is fans shouldn't be this courage if you don't see some of these names immediately in the roster. It's honestly probably a good thing because they're getting better before they make that transition.
Well, it gives those guys time to sit behind some already established players on the Utah Mammoth. But that doesn't mean they're not making other changes, right. You may not see some of these fresh faces for a year or two, but the Mammoth are also making moves on the free agency and the trade market. I guess it's best to
just ask about the most recent ones. Mammoth signed a former Stanley Cup winner, Nate Schmidt, to a three year deal worth ten point five million last night, and they've made a bunch of signings in the last couple of days. Give us the latest on their free agency acquisitions and then we'll recap their latest trade real quick as well.
Yeah, Ny Schmidt was one of their free agent signings yesterday. He's a thirty three year old defenseman, one of Stanley Cup last year with a Florida Panthers and it was really approve it year for him. He was only on a one year deal in Florida. It was under a million dollars aav and he made his money in the postseason and I think that's a big reason why Utah brought him in. He went from nineteen points in eighty regular season games to twelve points in twenty three playoff
games and route to the championship. He was a guy they had out there in big moments of the game. He'll block a shot, you know, he'll take a hit, he'll throw a hit, and he put it all on the line. I think that you saw that through the Florida Panthers lineup. So to get that winning experience and mentality in the room is good and also just adds defenseman depth because they had so many injuries last year and had to call up guys from the AHL and
pull guys off of waivers. This is just a bit more insurance and a guy that's been around the block and knows what it takes to win at this level. And then Scott Parunovich was the other defenseman they signed. He'll probably be more of a seventh eighth defenseman, might spend some time in the AHL, but again, just a bit more insurance. He's twenty six years old. He signed a one year, two way contract where seven hundred and seventy five thousand dollars at the NHL level. Then goaltending too.
You know, there's an uncertainty around Connor Ingram in his
situation when he'll be able to rejoin the team. So Utah signed Nate Schmid's teammate from Florida v Tech, Vanichek, twenty nine year old goaltender on a one year, one point five million dollar contract, so kind of bridges the gap, gives them some more options in net before some of their prospects already like Michael Rabbel, who's seen this year in development camp, and they hope he's just able to go in there and take some of the workload off
with carell Va Milka. In the last signing, and they also sign Kyler Yamamoto, but everyone knows Yamamoto from last year, so I'll say the last news signing is Brandon tannev another veteran, thirty three years old. He's a winger. He signed a three year, seven point five million dollar contract. He'll probably be a middle six, bottom six player. Bill Armstrong described his game as having some bang in it. He'll fight, he's physical, hull block shots, but he also produces.
He had twenty two points I believe this year. But we talked to him today and he was excited to be in Utah. He said he was attracted to the team because of their young core, because of the ownership, everything that's been going on here the past year, and he's looking to just be another one of those voices that younger guy can look to. And he brings a lot of energy, a lot of bite to the games, and I think that's something that Utah was missing at
times last season. So not a lot of flashy names are the ones that are on the headlines of the national news or the national trackers. But it's Bill Armstrong style. He was conservative with the Caps. They have around ten million dollars left in cap space this year. Is still looking to sign restricted free agent Jack mcvain, maybe extend
Logan Cooley. So he added where they needed to in all different positions and didn't overspend on someone that's going to give them problems six years down down the road. If you sign them to a seven or eight year contract.
I know you've got a run. So we'll be quick on this one. Quick reaction of course. JJ peterca one of the high scores for the for Buffalo sixty eight points last season, a career high. And the big part is not just trading for him, but of course the agreed upon a five year, thirty eight million dollar extension. He would have been a free agent yesterday had that not gone through so.
Quickly.
React actually to Paterca and maybe some other trades you may see and we'll set you loose.
Yeah. I think Paterca for a while, Buffalo made it seem like he wasn't going to be available on the trade market. He was going to be a restricted free agent, so they still had his rights, but it sounds like he kind of forced his way out of Buffalo. Bill Armstrong said that he started to hear that Paterka might be available around the NHL combine in early June, so he proceeded to continue to make calls and work out a deal, and Utah got Paterca in exchange for defenseman
Michael Kestering and sad Josh Stone. I know that was pretty sad for a lot of fans because those guys were a big part of the inaugural season, just really good human beings. But Armstrong said it to get a great player, you have to give up good guys as well, and you know that's what serious teams that want to win do. I think you know, two of the main things about JJ Peturka is his age. He's twenty three
years old, which matches with Utah's core. You know Logan Cooley and Dylan Gunther both twenty one twenty two, So Paterka's going to develop and alongside these guys. It's not like they signed a twenty nine year old for five years who's going to be ahead of the team's timeline. And from what we've talked about from Buffalo reporters and people who have watched him play, they think he hasn't reached the ceiling at all. People think he could have
a forty goal season one year. He scored twenty seven last year. So I think that's really a feeling for Utah as well, because he could get better and he will get better, and they're signing up on his potential as well. So we should be able to talk to him tomorrow, I believe, so we'll have more on his perspective of the trade and sign but expect him to be an important part of Utah's top six next season.
That is bel Fraser of the Salt Lake Tribune up at Park City's development camp for the Utah Mammoths get her coverage of it there and at the Salt Lake Tribune.
Thanks Belle, awesome, Thank you.
Always appreciate Bell's time. She is a rookie on the beat. Obviously it's the first year here for the Utah Mammoth here in Salt Lake City, but well second season, but she is in her first year covering the Utah Mammoth and she's done a really really good job of doing it. A good feel of the team and a wealth of knowledge on the game of hockey. Always appreciate her time, and we'll chat with Bell next week when we know a little bit more on the Utah Mammoth free agency
trades and the like. She mentioned of course, Jj Paterka the trade that they made last week, a player who probably a first line caliber player, but from what we understand, probably going to be a second line player, kind of a sixth man Jordan Clarkson, if you will, for the Utah Mammoth. As she mentioned, they also sign Yamamoto, Schmidt, Tanev Perunovich, a bunch of new faces for Utah. They will try to get restricted free agent Jack McBain signed as well, So there's still a lot of movement and
Utah Mammoth will be busy. I think that's something you'll probably just have to get used to number one. Hockey rosters go and undergo a lot more change than your typical like basketball roster. So you folks who are are not used to following hockey more like a baseball roster where you're seeing farm teams. You're seeing a bunch of different signings. It's not like the NBA, where you know
there's not an official G League team, EHL. It goes down and down and down, and there's so many players that sometimes it's hard to get a track of think to Thanks to Bell for reading between the lines on that and giving you guys an idea of what players you may actually get to see, not only at development camp, but in twenty twenty five twenty twenty six with the new look Utah Mammoth, who will be a young but really talented, talented unit with the aspirations of making a playoff.
A lot of folks think that they are in kind of the wild card range, so some postseason hockey not out of the question next year here in Utah,