(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Hockey Club celebrates their goal in the final minutes of the game, in NHL action between the Utah Hockey Club and the San Jose Sharks, at the Delta Center, on Friday, Jan 10, 2025.
The Utah Mammoth have some tough — yet exciting — decisions to make come the 2025 NHL Draft in late June.
The team jumped 10 spots in the draft lottery on May 5 and secured the fourth overall pick. There was a 1.5% chance of that happening, and now the Mammoth will look to welcome a franchise-type player with their luck.
On episode 17 of Inside the Club, the Salt Lake Tribune’s Utah Mammoth beat reporter Belle Fraser is joined by Chris Peters, who is the content manager for Flo Hockey and an NHL draft and prospects analyst.
Peters spends the entire year leading up to the draft going to games of the top prospects, crushing a high volume of film, talking to scouts and putting together his initial analysis of how these players could pan out in the NHL — and what team might be the best fit.


🎙️Inside the Club, EP 17: Assessing the 2025 NHL Draft pool with @chrismpeters

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He joined the Tribune’s hockey podcast to discuss who the Utah Mammoth could select with their top-five pick.
“For one, it’s just like, that changes the dynamic for everything for them in terms of what’s going to be available,” Peters said. “Because the drop off, quite frankly, in this draft — once you get past the first couple of guys — and I don’t even think there’s a huge separation between the first six or seven guys. But there is a difference. They’re in a tier where they’re going to be able to get a difference-making prospect.”
As of now, it is widely believed that Matthew Schaefer and Michael Misa could be the first two players picked in the draft. That, of course, can change in an instant when teams are on the clock. Assuming Schaefer and Misa — and likely, James Hagens — are off the board, Peters talked about Porter Martone, Anton Frondell and Caleb Desnoyer as potential options for Utah.
“Martone is probably the biggest of the best available. He’s not a center; that’s one downside. I think he’s a top-six wing,” Peters said. “He’s highly skilled, he’s got great hockey sense. I think the biggest complaint about him from scouts throughout the season was that the compete can kind of go in and out a little bit, and when he’s not consistently competitive, he can fade into the background of games.”
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Hockey Club General Manager Bill Armstrong, during a press event at Hotel Park City on Monday, July 1, 2024.
Martone, who is 18 years old, had 98 points (37 goals, 61 assists) in 57 games as the captain of the OHL’s Brampton Steelheads this season. Martone stands at 6-foot-3, 208 pounds and has a right shot on the wing.
If the Mammoth wanted to go the center route and get a guy who could be No. 2 behind Logan Cooley in the future, that could be available too in Frondell and Desnoyer. Frondell played in his native Sweden for Djurgårdens IF and logged 25 points in 29 games this year.
“He’s a bit of a thicker player. He played all season in professional hockey, had a great second half of the year,” Peters said. “I think when he’s on, he’s exceptionally gifted offensively. He’s got a good shot, he’s got good skill. He can make plays, he’s good down low. I think that there’s not a lot of perimeter to him — that seems to be when he plays his best.”
And, while Desnoyer may not be the objective best player in that top-tier group, Peters thinks he may make the most sense for the Utah system and the character athletes general manager Bill Armstrong likes to bring in.
(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Hockey Club celebrate a goal against the Dallas Stars during the first period of the NHL game at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Monday, Dec. 23, 2024.
“The more we think about it, the more we look at it, it wouldn’t shock me if Caleb Desnoyer is a realistic option for Utah because I think he’s the kind of No. 2 center where you get the two-way value out of him,” Peters said of Desnoyer. “You get a guy that can match up against other teams’ top lines. I think that he’s aggressive defensively, he’s physical, he gets to the interior pretty well. He doesn’t play on the perimeter at all. I like the work ethic, compete, the different things. I think stylistically, there’s a fit there for him in Utah.”
In the podcast, Peters also talks about the different developmental timeline for NHL draft picks compared to the NBA and NFL, what it would take for Utah to trade its fourth overall selection and more.
Listen to the full episode now.
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