Utah Hockey Club General Manager Bill Armstrong and Head Coach Andre Tourigny face a tough decision.
Despite inviting 37 forwards to their inaugural training camp, there has been only one available roster spot up front since camp opened. I say this because Clayton Keller, Barrett Hayton, Nick Schmaltz, Jack McBain, Logan Cooley, Dylan Guenther, Lawson Crouse, Alex Kefoot, Matias Maccelli, Michael Carcone, Nick Bjugstad, Kevin Stenlund and even Liam O'Brien all looked locked in to make the Utah Hockey Club's roster in their inaugural season. With these 13 locked in,
It only leaves one spot available for the extra forward, primarily sitting up in the press box as a healthy scratch, and it did not take long to figure out which two players would be battling for this last roster spot.
It was quickly established that the battle for the last roster spot was likely going to be between Josh Doan, who was drafted in the second round of the 2021 NHL entry draft, and Kailer Yamamoto, who has 300+ NHL games of experience and was brought in by Utah on a professional tryout contract.
The Utah Hockey Club's dilemma: Josh Doan or Kailer Yamamoto
Kailer Yamamoto has seven years of NHL experience but has only played 50+ games four times each of the last four seasons. He has a career-high of 41 points but has yet to eclipse the 25-point mark in the previous two years. But that has not stopped Yamamoto from impressing at camp so far.
Right out of the gate, Houston Brogan reported that Andre Tourigney had been "really impressed" with what he had seen from Yamamoto. But Belle Fraser also noted that Andre Tourigny loves Doan's game, as he said, "He's a smart hockey player. He has great hockey sense. He's in good position. He goes at the net. He goes to dirty areas. He has an unbelievable feel for the game".
Tourigny says he’s really impressed with Kailer Yamamoto so far. Says there’s a lot more to his game than his size and stats.
— Brogan Houston (@houston_brogan) September 25, 2024
I wouldn’t be surprised to see him make this team.#UtahHockeyClub
Josh Doan is the son of Arizona Coyotes legend Shane Doan. He is a 22-year-old second-round draft pick who got his first NHL action at the end of last regular season. He got into 11 games with this team last year and registered nine points in 11 games.
Both of these guys belong in the NHL, and if Yamamoto were to be cut, it would be a matter of when and possibly with whom. Both have continued to impress throughout the preseason. Doan has registered four points in the five preseason games, and Yamamoto has scored three goals in the four he played.
Doan will fit the bottom six roles better. His size and physicality are just something Yamamoto can not bring. But with Bjugstad starting the year injured, I think both will make the team. Unfortunately, if both make the team, Doan's two-way contract will likely make it easier to move him up and down between the AHL and NHL.