As previously mentioned, a solid defense will always lead the way to winning at the highest level and for NHL teams like the Utah Hockey Club, building a winning tradition begins with cultivating stellar blueliner prospects. As the Utah HC faces growing pains in its inaugural season, help is on the way from Russia.
Defensive prospect Dmitri Simashev was drafted by the then-Arizona Coyotes and inherited by the Powder Blue and Black in the Wasatch Range. Simashev is in his final season and contract with Lokomotiv Yaroslavl of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) and his contract runs out at the end of May this year. Simashev has clearly indicated his intentions to move to North America once his contract runs out and the 20-year-old looks to be every part of a great prospect add for the Utah Hockey Club for next season.
Another safe bet to count on in the Utah Hockey Club's training camp next September is fellow blueliner Maveric Lamoreaux
Lamoureax looks ever the part of a true defenseman with a 6'7" and 214 pound frame to add. During the 2023-24 season, Lamoureax scored 33 points in 39 games with Drummondville in the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) and this season a promotion to the AHL Tucson Roadrunners has netted Lamoureax with two goals and six assists in 17 games played.
The Laval, QC native did receive a taste of the National Hockey League this past fall with an emergency call-up to the Utah Hockey Club as a backup blueliner but it's safe to say at this point, Lamoureax's on track to potentially make the move permanently to the NHL for next season.
Utah Hockey Club has a strong goal tending pipeline in the works.
Veteran Utah HC goalie Karel Vejmelka is in his last year of a contract and will soon become an unrestricted free agent (UFA) and let's be honest, the door may be shown to him after the season ends. Fortunately for the hockey folks in the Wasatch Range, backup Connor Ingram still has a year left on his current contract and prospect Jaxson Stauber has made appearances with the "big club" earlier this season as well and held his own in four games with a 2.23 goals against average and a .924 save percentage as well.
The biggest news in the Utah Hockey Club goalie prospect pool hasn't even made the transition to the professional level as of yet. When mentioning the biggest news, the irony is in the fact that prospect Michael Hrabel truly is a big prospect as he towers over the pipes with hi 6'7" frame.
Hrabel was a second round pick in 2023 with the then-Arizona Coyotes but chose to pursue playing at the NCAA level with Division One powerhouse UMass Amherst. Hrabel currently has a solid .924 save percentage along with a 2.47 goals against average in the shark tank known as Hockey East and Hrabel also led his native Czechia to a bronze medal performance in the IIHF Junior World Championships earlier this year.
One word of caution must be used with Hrabel since he signed his entry level contract (ELC) at the beginning of his freshman collegiate year. Under current NHL and NCAA rules, a college player can declare themselves as free agents after four seasons and Hrabel will have that ability to make his own pathway to Salt Lake City or any other NHL destination should he choose so.
The Utah Hockey Club will no doubt have to tread a bit lightly in dealing wit Hrabel as a bona fide prospect after his UMass days are over because many other NHL opponents would love to sign a 6'7" netminder with top-notch collegiate and international experience under his belt.