Ever since Bill Armstrong took over as GM in 2020, his focus has been on the future and building sustainable success. Initially, that meant assembling an elite scouting staff to acquire draft picks or young prospects and flood the system with players. As those numbers grew, it also meant assembling a top-notch development staff to shepherd those prospects from their junior or college teams to the American Hockey League (AHL) or, in cases such as Logan Cooley, straight to the NHL.
The fruits of all that labor are starting to take shape with Utah Hockey Club. Cooley, Dylan Guenther, Josh Doan and Michael Kesselring are some of those prospects already in the NHL, but there are many more players on the way; some of them a step away with the AHL's Tucson Roadrunners.
"This is the first time we've had a good amount of guys in Tucson," Utah director of player development Lee Stempniak said. "We've got five, six, seven prospects there that are first- or second-year guys there.
"Whether it's Miko Matikka coming from college hockey (Denver), or Julian Lutz who has played pro in Europe but is coming from the USHL, or Artem Duda coming from USports (Canadian collegiate hockey), or Maveric Lamoureux coming from Canadian juniors, it's a big step up in size, strength, speed and just how hard and intense the game is played. It's a big adjustment for guys."
That's where Stempniak and his staff come in. While much attention is paid to the scouting staff's performance at NHL Draft, the development staff plays just as critical a role in maximizing prospects' potential. There are weekly or bi-weekly calls with the players. There are visits to watch them play live and chart their progress. There are occasional sessions on the ice when it doesn't interrupt the priorities of their current teams (the NCAA does not allow on-ice sessions), and there are recommendations — immediate and long-term.
The Utah development staff
Lee Stempniak - Director, player development
Jeff Shantz - Forward prospect development coach
Kurtis Foster - Defensemen prospect development coach
Clay Adams - Goaltending prospect development coach
Nathaniel Brooks - Development coach
Steve Potvin - Roadrunners head coach
John Slaney - Roadrunners assistant coach, defensemen
Zack Stortini - Roadrunners assistant coach, forwards
Jeff Hill - Roadrunners goaltending coach
Parker Poore - Roadrunners strength & conditioning coach
Brian Slugocki - Roadrunners skills development & Utah rehab coach
Kyle Bochek - Utah skills coach
Lars Hepso - Utah skating coach
Devan McConnell - Utah high performance director
Mitch Stewart, Ryan Wysocki - Utah performance coaches
Carl Bombardier - Utah high-performance nutrition coach
Vince Lodato - Utah director, mental wellness/player performance
Every month on the website, we'll check in on a handful of players to compile a prospect report. Occasionally, we will talk to the players. Most of the time, we'll get a sense of their progress through the eyes of the Utah development staff, as well as the players' respective coaches.
This month, we check in on Barrie Colts (Ontario Hockey League) center Cole Beaudoin, BK Mladá Boleslav (Czech Extraliga) center Vojtěch Hradec, and Cape Breton Eagles (Québec Major Junior Hockey League) defenseman Tomas Lavoie.