Who did the Utah Mammoth select in the 2025 NHL draft?

LOS ANGELES — Utah Mammoth general manager Bill Armstrong told his team heading into this weekend: "We won the lottery, now let's win the draft."

Time will eventually tell whether or not Utah "won" the 2025 NHL draft, but at the very least, we know whose names will be mentioned when looking back.

The team took seven players across Friday and Saturday's draft in Los Angeles, with one selection in each of the first five rounds and a trade to pick up a second selection in the sixth round.

Round 1

No. 4 — Caleb Desnoyers, Center, Moncton Wildcats (QMJHL)

Armstrong wanted to "take a swing" with the top-four pick Utah lucked into in the lottery, and got "their guy" with Quebec native and two-way center Desnoyers.

He was named playoff MVP en route to the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League championship with Moncton and is seen as one of the most "NHL-ready" prospects in this year's draft.

"He's got a little bit of everything that we want," Armstrong said. "He's got the skill, he's got the high hockey IQ, and he's someone that led his team down the stretch to a championship as a 17-year-old. That's hard to do. So he's got all the great components we look for in a player, and he really fits our identity for the Mammoth."

Round 2

No. 46 — Max Psenicka, Defenseman, Portland Winterhawks (WHL)

The Mammoth took back-to-back players from Czechia in the second and third rounds, beginning with the 6-foot-5 right-handed defenseman Psenicka.

"I can't wait to get to Utah," Psenicka said on the Mammoth social accounts. "Excited to meet you all and 'Tusks Up,' everybody."

Psenicka said offensive improvement is his primary focus after putting up 7 points in 24 regular-season games for the Winterhawks and 8 points in 18 playoff games.

Round 3

No. 78 — Stepan Hoch, Left Winger, Ceske Budejovice Junior (Czechia)

Hoch was the second of the consecutive Czech selections for Utah, with the 6-foot-4 left winger joining the Mammoth program from the Extraliga in Czechia.

Described as a left-wing power forward, Hoch put up 12 goals and 17 assists for the Budejovice U-20 team before moving up to the senior squad.

Round 4

No. 110 — Yegor Borikov, Winger, Dinamo Minsk (KHL)

The Mammoth traveled further east for their fourth-round pick, selecting Belarusian 19-year-old Borikov from the Kontinental Hockey League, considered to be the strongest professional ice hockey league in Europe.

Borikov has played over 100 games at the KHL level and had a breakout season in 2024-25 with 12 goals and 13 assists. He shoots with his left but has played both winger positions.

Round 5

No. 142 — Ivan Tkach-Tkachenko, Goaltender, Tolpar Ufa (Russian Junior Hockey League)

Utah selected its lone goaltender of the draft in the fifth round, making Tkach-Tkachenko the first goalie off the board in the round.

The 6-foot-3 Russian came through the KHL's Salavat Yulaev Ufa system, most recently playing for the club's minor league side Tolpar Ufa in the top tier of junior hockey in Russia.

Round 6

No. 174 — Ludvig Johnson, Defenseman, Fribourg-Gotteron (Switzerland National League)

The 6-foot left-handed defenseman played 31 games at the highest level of Swiss hockey last season and held his own as an 18-year-old.

He is a dual citizen of Sweden and Switzerland, though he has played exclusively for the Swiss national team at the youth level.

No. 182 — Reko Alanko, Defenseman, Jokerit (Finland Second Division)

The Mammoth made a move to acquire a seventh-and-final pick by sending a 2026 sixth-rounder to Nashville in exchange for Alanko.

The 6-foot-6 right-handed defenseman is the youngest pick for Utah this year, turning 18 next month. He has spent his entire career in his native Finland, playing last season with the youth squads of Jokerit in Finland's second-division Mestis.

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