Top Prospects: The NHL System Rankings

#5: Utah HC

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Number of Ranked Prospects: 40

Number of Forwards in the Top 50: 3

Number of Defensemen in the Top 50: 3

Average Rank of Top 10 Prospects in Pool: 51st

Top Forward Prospect in The System: Tij Iginla (6th)

Top Defenseman Prospect in The System: Dmitri Simashev (18th)

System Score: 4.75

The long and meandering desert journey of the once-Winnipeg Jets ended last summer when the NHL essentially took control of the organization and sold it to Utah billionaire Ryan Smith, and the Arizona Coyotes moved to Salt Lake City to become the Utah Hockey Club. General Manager Bill Armstrong has been with the team since the fall of 2020, and in that time he has completed four drafts in which the team has added 42 players. Two of those picks, Logan Cooley (drafted 3rd overall in 2022) and Dylan Guenther (9th overall in 2021) have become mainstay players and key contributors at the NHL level for the club. 

The depth of the UHC prospect pool and the relative strength at the top end result primarily from the accumulated top-round draft picks over the past couple of years. Fifteen first- and second-round picks over four drafts can give an instant boost to any prospect pool, and Armstrong has been working hard--and successfully--to rebuild the team's young talent. 

The Top of The Pool:

Tij Iginla is one of the hardest working, most complete hockey players in the prospectverse. Drafted sixth overall last summer (Hockey Prophets ranked him 8th), Iginla brings Hall of Fame pedigree from his father, Calgary Flames legend Jerome Iginla (1554 NHL games played, 625 goals, 675 assists, and a litany of medals, awards and honors that are too numerous to list here), Tij has already started on his own list of accolades, including a U18 World Championships gold medal, a WHL championship trophy and a WHL first-team All Star selection. He is currently second in scoring for the Kelowna Rockets with 14 goals and 18 assists in 21 games.

Iginla is a player that coaches give a letter and put on the ice in any situation. He brings every bit of his lineage on each and every shift he plays, flying around the rink using high speed lines of attack to efficiently and aggressively win battles to the net, to the puck, to the boards, on the forecheck, on a backcheck, killing penalties or going for rebounds. He has a sniper's shot and incredible game intelligence, making smart and accurate reads on and off the puck. He is exuberant, intense and so much fun to watch play the game of hockey. Iginla will likely get a short look at the end of the WHL season, and unless he just falls apart during the fall training camp, there is every reason to expect that coaches, management and the fans will want to get him into the NHL lineup for the 2025-2026 season. 

The top defenseman in the UHC system is a Russian blueliner out of Lokomotiv Yaroslavl system, Dmitri Simashev, whom the team drafted 6th overall in 2023 (ranked 31st by Hockey Prophets). Simashev brings great size at 6'5, 203 pounds, and excellent skating ability for a young player that big. His speed and agility give him the freedom to join in transition and get into the offensive zone at every opportunity. Simashev is a zealous attacking defender who looks eager to get up ice whenever he can, often at the expense of his own defensive responsibilities. His defensive play overall is marked again by his size and footwork, each granting him excellent gap coverage with his long reach and four-way movement. However, he does tend towards getting up and out of his own zone, particularly when he sees the chance to get a pass and carry the puck through the neutral zone. Simashev is currently playing in the KHL, with more than a hundred games logged in the top Russian men's league despite not having yet reached his 20th birthday. His contract expires at the end of this season, so it is possible that the big blueliner will make his North American debut as soon as this summer. 

Maveric Lamoureux is another top blueliner in the UHC system and is actually even bigger than Simashev. At 6'7, 214 pounds, Lamoureux has a massive, strong frame and he uses it well to deny time and space from opponents, and when he can, punish them for having the audacity to enter his zone. His offense is mostly limited, but his control of the defensive zone is impressive and necessary for any winning team. After playing four seasons for the Drummondville Voltigeurs of the QMJHL, Lamoureaux moved to the minor-league professional ranks this season, but his stay in the AHL did not last long. After four games in Tuscon, the Utah HC called him up to the NHL where he played 15 games before taking a puck to his hand in late November. He has been out of the lineup since then, but he should be returning relatively soon and likely will stay in the NHL. 

Cole Beaudoin and Daniil But are two top forwards in the pipeline, and are quite different types of players. Beaudoin is a player who makes his impact via sheer force of will and persistence. He is not a prolific scorer but he is a consistent contributor (in 24 games this season with Barrie, Beaudoin has 13 goals and 16 assists). He is a valuable player because he can play a variety of roles on the team and is willing to do whatever is required at the time. He will likely top out at the middle six at the NHL level.

Daniil But continues the Armstrong theme of the big, easy-skating prospect, this time as a 6'6, 216-pound puck handler from the same Russian system as Simashev. But works magic with the puck on his stick, and excels in coming in off the right halfboards with the puck, slithering to the circle and to the slot, and often getting a clean shot on net. His vision is outstanding, and he can pass or shoot on the move and off balance, but in light of his puck wizardry he has never been able to generate powerhouse offensive numbers. Scoring may be coming to complete the rest of the upper-echelon offensive skills, but that remains to be seen. 

Defenseman Will Skahan brings down the average height of the defenders in the Utah prospect pool, standing just 6'4 at 216 pounds. The Boston College blueliner was drafted 65th overall in the 2024 draft, and is another crunching stay-at-home defender who can command his own zone with physical play and sound positional defense. 

Return to the Team System Rankings

Below is the full list of the Utah HC's ranked prospects.

Top Forwards 

Top Defensemen