7 Utah Hockey Club players to keep an eye on this preseason

Psst. Wake up. The Utah Hockey Club plays this weekend.
It’s just the preseason, but fans will finally get to see the team play NHL-level hockey starting on Sunday. The team will travel to Des Moines, Iowa to play the St. Louis Blues in a neutral-site game — similar to the games that took place at the Delta Center before Utah had its own NHL team.
Utah HC returns to Salt Lake City on Monday for their first home game, where they’ll take on the Los Angeles Kings — the team that has played the most NHL games at the Delta Center.
Training camps league-wide begin this week and will continue until the end of the preseason. Don’t expect all the big names to be in teams’ lineups in the first few games, though each team is required to dress at least eight “veterans” in every preseason game.
As training camp goes on, players will be reassigned to other teams. Younger guys might go back to their CHL teams; Europeans might go to their teams overseas; Veterans might go to the AHL and ECHL; Other players will simply be released from their tryout contracts, freeing them to sign wherever they can.
By the time Utah HC meets the Colorado Avalanche at the Maverik Center on Oct. 5, it will be a mostly finalized roster.
Here are some of the players who could make training camp interesting.
After sitting out at Utah’s rookie camp with a hip injury, Tij Iginla is included on the training camp roster. He told the Deseret News on the first day of rookie camp that it was nothing too serious, which could mean he’s planning on playing at rookie camp.
Iginla, the club’s sixth-overall selection in this year’s draft, is known for his goal-scoring ability — something he seems to have inherited from his father, Jarome Iginla, who twice won the Rocket Richard Trophy as the NHL’s leading goal scorer.
While nobody questions Tij Iginla’s offensive abilities, his play on the defensive side of the puck needs some work. NHL teams often feel confident that they can teach the defensive side of the game, but they can’t teach the pedigree or natural goal-scoring touch that accompany him.
It will be interesting to see how the coaching staff works with Tij at training camp to develop that side of his game.
Though he has only played 11 NHL games, Josh Doan was not on Utah’s rookie camp roster. This could be an indication that the team expects him to make the NHL team on a full-time basis this year.
That being said, he’s still on an entry-level contract, which means he can shift between the NHL and the AHL without being put on waivers. If he doesn’t have a good camp, the team might start him with the Roadrunners and give his NHL spot to a veteran.
Training camp will likely be the determining factor for where Doan ends up to start the season.
Like Doan, Michael Carcone has a lot riding on this year’s training camp. He had career highs in goals, assists, points and games played last year and he certainly seems to be a true NHL player, but Utah has a log jam of wingers and someone will have to be the odd man out.
A good training camp could solidify Carcone’s spot on the roster. A bad training camp could expose him to waivers, where any team could claim him at no cost. The need for waivers could work in Carcone’s favor, though, as the team will likely be more hesitant to send him to the minors because they could lose him.
Having led the Utah Hockey Club in goals and being tied for the lead in points during the Rookie Faceoff, Owen Allard has generated some buzz.
His success does not come without adversity: He missed almost an entire season due to a shoulder injury which he suffered at the Ottawa Senators’ development camp in 2022. But Allard is determined to achieve his goal of playing in the NHL.
Allard will most likely return to the OHL for his final year of eligibility, but he’s looking to make an impression — something he has done an exceptional job at so far. He would like to play in the AHL next season if the opportunity doesn’t arise this year.
Unlike the others on this list, Kailer Yamamoto does not have a guaranteed job next season. The 25-year-old winger joins Utah’s camp on a PTO, which is a tryout contract.
If management likes what it sees from Yamamoto, he could earn himself a contract for next season. If it goes poorly, he must be forced to try his hand in one of Europe’s professional leagues.
As mentioned, Utah HC has an abundance of eligible bottom-six wingers, so if Yamamoto doesn’t knock the socks off of management in camp, he could find himself on the outside, looking in.
After dominating Utah’s rookie camp in every regard, Maveric Lamoureux is showing that he’s a cut above the rest. If shows well in training camp, he might be able to land himself an NHL roster spot sooner rather than later.
It’s unlikely — but possible — that Lamoureux makes the team straight out of camp. Utah already has six defensemen signed to one-way contracts, in addition to Robert Bortuzzo, who will make the team despite his two-way contract, barring anything extreme happening.
Death, taxes and injuries in hockey are the three unavoidable things in life, so a good training camp now could put Lamoureux on management’s radar as one of the first call-ups when the injuries start to roll in.
Like Lamoureux, Vladislav Kolyachonok is a dynamic defenseman who can play in all situations. He will also be on Utah’s shortlist of call-ups if and when defensemen get hurt.
He has been in the organization since 2021, spending most of his time with the Roadrunners. He also has 39 games of NHL experience under his belt.
Kolyachonok played the final four games of the season with the Coyotes, scoring four points during that stretch. He will look to solidify himself as a full-time NHL player, and that starts this week at training camp.
Unless Kyle Crnkovic suddenly wakes up with the hockey skills of Connor McDavid, there’s nothing that could land him an NHL contract at training camp this year. He’s playing for a hockey job in general, whether that’s in the AHL, the ECHL or elsewhere.
Crnkovic played lights-out for the ECHL’s Tulsa Oilers last year, putting up 20 goals and 54 points in 60 games. In his six AHL games, though, he failed to register a point, which lands him in a precarious situation this season.
In two games in the Rookie Faceoff, he registered two points.
The five-foot-seven winger, who won the Ed Chynoweth Cup alongside Dylan Guenther and Tij Iginla in 2023, must have a good training camp if he’s going to continue his career as a professional hockey player.