Which bottom-six forwards will make the Utah HC roster?

Utah Hockey Club coach André Tourigny told the media at the start of training camp that he loves when players make his job hard. “Bear” got his wish because he has some tough decisions to make as he prepares for the final few rounds of cuts.
At defense and goaltending, the roster is more or less set. But there are far more good forwards than available spots. Let’s take a look at the bottom-six forwards and see where each guy might end up.
One of the most intriguing names on this list is Kailer Yamamoto. The undersized veteran winger is attending training camp on a PTO, and while some may have doubted his chances of making the team at first, he is proving that he still belongs in the NHL.
“He’s a good NHL player,” Tourigny said of Yamamoto on Wednesday. “You got caught looking at the (scoresheet) and looking at his size. If you look, really, at what’s going on on the ice, he wins a lot of battles. When he goes in the corner, he’s way bigger than his size and he competes, he wins those puck battles, he recovers a lot of pucks, he creates possession for your team and he’s a great guy. You can see he’s a pro.”
“I’ve tried to play that way ever since I was in juniors,” Yamamoto said. “I’m obviously smaller, but I can play a bigger game, so I pride myself in that.”
Logan Cooley also had high praise for his teammate.
“I think he’s a really shifty forward,” Cooley said. “(He’s) good on both sides of the puck, which is super important. He has scoring ability and when he’s out there, he’s making things happen.”
Yamamoto said management has not given him a clear path to earn a spot on the roster, but they did tell him to work hard and prove himself.
“It’s a little nerve-wracking now, but every day (I’m) just trying to prove myself, that I still belong,” Yamamoto said.
He sees it as a good sign that he’s gotten lots of special teams ice time, though he did note that some of it has been due to injuries of other players.
Another big decision for Tourigny to make is the future of rookie forward Josh Doan. Doan showed extremely well at the end of last season with the Coyotes, scoring five goals and nine points in his 11 games. He has looked like he belongs in the NHL throughout training camp and the preseason, but being on an entry-level contract, he could be the easiest player to cut.
Dylan Guenther, who had a similar contract situation last season, spent the first half of last season in the AHL. When he got called up in January, he went on a tear and earned himself an eight-year contract extension. Management could do the same thing with Doan, though Doan is doing his best to prove that he’s ready for the big leagues right now.
“I think it’s always healthy to have competition like that,” Doan said. “It means you’ve got a good team if there’s a lot of guys battling for a spot. It’s one of those things where, as an organization, you’ve got to be happy to have that battle. It’s better to have that battle than to have it the other way around and try to find guys for the spots.”
Don’t fret — Dylan Guenther is not likely to be limited to bottom-six minutes this season. But the top two lines have recently consisted of Nick Schmaltz, Barrett Hayton, Clayton Keller, Matias Maccelli, Logan Cooley and Lawson Crouse, meaning that Guenther could technically be in the bottom six.
Frankly, a team with Guenther in its bottom six is probably not going to struggle offensively. With a fresh eight-year extension in his back pocket, Guenther will be looking to prove this season that he is an NHL star. In his 45 NHL games last year, he scored 18 goals and 35 points. If he records similar numbers this season over an 82-game course, he could be a 70-to-80-point player.
Liam “Spicy Tuna” O’Brien knows his role on the team, and it isn’t to score goals.
He did not have a contract for the 2024-25 season when he got the crowd going at the welcome event at the Delta Center in April, but his performance that night may have been a factor in the team’s decision to extend him three more years.
Tuna brought the Delta Center to its feet again when he dropped the gloves in the first home preseason game. Fans can expect a lot more where that came from.
It’s possible that O’Brien finds himself a healthy scratch at various points throughout the season, but it would take a lot for the team to send him to the AHL.
Among the players on this list, Kevin Stenlund’s job might be the most secure. Utah HC brought him in primarily for his expertise on the penalty kill — something he did at a Stanley Cup-winning level for the Florida Panthers last season.
To no one’s surprise, Tourigny told the media on Wednesday that Stenlund will join Alex Kerfoot as the team’s go-to penalty killers. The 6-foot-5 centerman is on a two-year deal worth $2 million each way, so they’re committed to giving him every chance to succeed.
Alex Kerfoot is an excellent third-line center who can fill in on the top lines when needed. He scores roughly half a point per game and he’s a penalty-killing specialist.
Although he did not practice on Monday or Tuesday, the team says he is healthy. Tourigny told the media on Tuesday morning that he believes Kerfoot will play in Wednesday’s game against the Anaheim Ducks.
Barring anything extreme, he will be a big part of the team from the beginning of the season to the end.
It’s hard to get a good idea of where Nick Bjugstad will slot into the lineup because he has been injured since the start of camp. He participated in a full practice for the first time on Tuesday, but the team says he’s still “weeks” away from returning.
Last season was his 12th in the NHL, yet he posted his second-best numbers in goals, assists and points. He brings both size and veteran leadership to an otherwise young and average-sized roster.
We’ll see where Bjugstad ends up when he gets back, but for now his absence creates a spot in the lineup for someone else.
When the Deseret News asked Stenlund which bottom-six forward has impressed him the most, he had a clear response.
“I think Carcone has been really good,” he said. “He’s been scoring goals, he’s a fast player.”
That’s exactly what Carcone was known for last season — especially the part about scoring goals. He surpassed the 20-goal plateau last year, despite rarely seeing time on the powerplay.
Last year was Carcone’s first full season in the NHL. He spent six seasons in the AHL before getting his first call-up, and it took him three years to become a permanent NHLer. He does not intend to go back to the minors, and the team likely doesn’t either.
Jack McBain’s offensive numbers don’t tell the whole story. Eight goals and 26 points in 67 games doesn’t jump off the page as a permanent NHL player, but there’s far more to his game than that.
He’s as versatile as they come: He looks natural at center and on the wing and can play on the first line, the fourth line and everything in between. He also plays on the penalty kill, which is a valuable skill to have.
Needless to say, the coaching staff loves McBain. Entering the final season of his two-year contract worth $1.6 million annually, his job is probably as safe as those of the top-six forwards.
“It’s a really competitive group,” McBain said. “If you look at our roster, we have some serious depth all the way through. I feel like there’s a lot of guys who are pretty much on the bubble and fighting for a bottom-six, top-six role. It’s good. That’s what you want.”