Ahead of the first playoff game in team history later tonight in Vegas, the Utah Mammoth shared that several players have been called up from AHL Tucson. Forwards Andrew Agozzino, Cameron Hebig, and Ben McCartney were summoned, along with defensemen Maveric Lamoureux, Maksymilian Szuber, and Scott Perunovich. Finally, goaltender Jaxson Stauber will also join the group.
Similar to the moves made by several other playoff teams this week, Utah’s intention is for the players to serve as “Black Aces”, spending time at the highest level but not expected to play at any point. They join Daniil But and Matt Villalta, who got the call Friday. The Tucson Roadrunners had a respectable season, finishing 19th, but missed the postseason.
Lamoureux, 22, is the most notable of the group, a top prospect. Arizona’s first round choice at 29th overall in 2022, the towering righty only got into five games with the Mammoth this year, a step back from 15 in 2024-25, but held down a top-pairing role for the Roadrunners this season and was finally able to stay healthy. Into the future, Utah’s defensive core is mostly locked up, but it will allow for the Quebec native to ease into a full-time role.
Agozzino has just 53 games of NHL experience at age 35, but any dedicated fan of the game is likely familiar from his excellent AHL tenure. Making his NHL debut with Colorado in November 2014, back when Nathan MacKinnon was just a second-year-pro, the undrafted 5’10” winger has impressively stuck around in North America ever since. He’s 34th all time in AHL scoring with 662 points in 847 games, fourth best among active players. The Ontario native got into two games for Utah back in October but otherwise spent the year in Tucson. If he can earn another contract for next year, Agozzino will have the chance to play alongside Tij Iginla, son of Jarome Iginla, a teammate in his NHL debut years ago.
Hebig and McCartney, 29 and 24 respectively, were top scorers for the Roadrunners this year but neither were able to get a look on the big club. Hebig, a center, still awaits his NHL debut despite two straight seasons as Tucson’s #2 top point-getter. McCartney, a 2020 seventh-round choice of Arizona, got into two games with the Coyotes four years ago but has been in the AHL since, putting together his best professional season in 2025-26 with 51 points.
Szuber, 23, continues to show promise at the AHL level as he looks for his first action wearing a Utah uniform. The 6’3″ lefty made his NHL debut in the Coyotes’ fifth-to-last game in existence. Not only having size, Szuber has put up real offensive output in Tucson, 59 points over the last two years and has real upside as a third pairing defender.
Another defenseman who flashed offense this year, Perunovich led all defenders in scoring with 49 points in 64 games. Once a promising Blues prospect, the 27-year-old spent the entire year in the AHL and will be an unrestricted free agent this summer.
Stauber rounds out the bunch serving as another practice goalkeeper. The 26-year-old split duty between the pipes with Villalta almost evenly in the AHL, where he had a slight edge in goals-against-average (3.07). Undrafted, he has 12 NHL games of experience both in Chicago and Utah, son of Robb Stauber, a Los Angeles Kings netminder in the early 1990s.
The crew, composed of impressive AHL veterans and younger prospects, will relish being along for the ride for an inaugural playoff series in Salt Lake.