Ben McCartney

The Mammoth have signed winger Ben McCartney to a two-year, two-way contract, per a team release. He was a pending restricted free agent with arbitration rights. He’ll earn the league minimum $775K salary if in the NHL for both seasons, but his minor-league salary wasn’t disclosed.

McCartney, 24 in July, gets some more runway to climb back up to the NHL after debuting way ahead of schedule for the Coyotes in 2021-22. A 2020 seventh-round pick by Arizona, he made a strong first impression upon arrival in AHL Tucson in 2021 and got his first call-up amid a rash of injuries early in the season. He recorded four shot attempts and seven hits in two games while averaging north of 14 minutes per night, but didn’t get on the scoresheet outside of a few penalty minutes. He’s stuck in the minors ever since, regressing offensively since his initial 18-17–35 showing in 57 games in 2021-22. After posting 0.61 points per game in that rookie season, he’s operated at 0.45 points per game over his last three seasons.

After battling some injuries during that time, McCartney showed more signs of life in 2024-25. The Manitoba native is now an alternate captain with the Roadrunners, where he returned after clearing waivers for the first time in his career back in October and posted a 16-17–33 scoring line in 63 games. He finished seventh on the team in scoring and fourth in PIMs (86) en route to his best offensive campaign since that rookie showing.

That isn’t enough to make him a legitimate candidate for a roster spot in the fall, but he may have at least earned a longer look in training camp to help push himself up Utah’s list of potential call-ups. If he doesn’t log 80 career NHL appearances by the time his deal is up in the summer of 2027, he’ll qualify for Group VI unrestricted free agency. The Mammoth now have 40 of 50 possible standard contracts on their books for next season.

Over the past few weeks, Utah has been busy re-signing several pending free agents.  They continued that on Monday as the team announced that they’ve inked winger Ben McCartney to a one-year, two-way deal.  While financial terms were not disclosed, CapFriendly reports (Twitter link) that the contract pays $775K in the NHL and $100K in the minors, meaning he took less than his qualifying offer to secure a higher guaranteed AHL portion.

The 22-year-old finished up his entry-level contract this season, playing exclusively in the minors with Tucson although he did have a brief early-season recall to Arizona.  McCartney played in 46 games with the Roadrunners in 2023-24, picking up six goals and a dozen assists.

In his rookie year, McCartney had 35 points in 57 games in the minors, earning him a two-game stint with the Coyotes.  However, even if you add in his output from 2022-23, he has just 37 AHL points since then which made him a possible non-tender candidate if GM Bill Armstrong decided he wanted to give someone else a shot.  Instead, McCartney will get another chance to prove his worth, assuming he clears waivers in the fall to return to the Roadrunners (who remain Utah’s affiliate for next season).