Mammoth Sign Seven Players To PTOs
The Mammoth will have some added depth in training camp by way of seven professional tryouts targeted toward their AHL club, the club announced today. Among the seven, only two – forward Austin Poganski and goaltender Dylan Wells – already have a contract in the organization with Tucson for 2025-26. There will be five names – Ryan McGregor, Dryden McKay, Lleyton Moore, Ty Tullio, and Samuel Walker – looking to land either a two-way deal with Utah or an AHL contract with Tucson.
The 26-year-old McGregor has spent all five of his professional seasons exclusively with Tucson. The 6’0″ forward was a sixth-round pick by the Maple Leafs in 2017 but went unsigned, instead landing an entry-level deal with the Coyotes upon turning pro in 2020. That preceded a solid run as a bottom-six piece in southern Arizona, totaling a 24-44–68 scoring line in 201 career games for the Roadrunners. He spent last year in Tucson on an AHL deal after reaching Group VI unrestricted free agency. His lengthy history with the Arizona/Utah organizations makes him a solid bet to return for another year in a minor-league support role.
McKay actually already has a landing spot for 2025-26. He signed on with the Avalanche’s ECHL affiliate, the Utah Grizzlies, back in July. He didn’t get an invite to Colorado’s NHL camp, though, so he’ll instead stay in his new team’s area and get some reps in an NHL camp with the Mammoth. He’ll serve as a camp piece for roster management purposes in the preseason before presumably getting released and returned to the Grizzlies. The 27-year-old former Hobey Baker Award winner has a career .904 SV% and 3.06 GAA in 99 ECHL games over the last three years.
Moore, 23, is a skilled but undersized (5’8″, 179-lb) rearguard still adjusting to the pro game. He has two pro seasons under his belt, both with Tucson, and will be looking to land another minor-league deal to make it three. He has 12 points in 46 career games for the Roadrunners with a +5 rating.
Poganski’s PTO is just a formality to get him into camp and add a veteran player for preseason purposes. The 29-year-old was Tucson’s captain last season and will reprise the role in 2025-26. He had 15 goals and 41 points in 71 appearances for them last year. He has 22 career NHL appearances with the Blues and Jets between 2019 and 2022, but no points.
Tullio is still looking for a contract after a tumultuous 2024-25 season. A fifth-round pick by the Oilers in 2020, he was traded to the Sabres in last summer’s Ryan McLeod deal. He only played sparingly for their AHL affiliate in Rochester, though, leading the Sabres to loan him to the Flames’ farm club to finish the season. He had eight points in 13 games down the stretch in Calgary, so there’s some promise that he could land a two-way offer from the Mammoth or at least be something of an impact contributor for Tucson.
Outside of Poganski, Walker is the only other player here with NHL experience. He has a goal and an assist to his name in 13 games with the Wild, all of which came in the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons. He spent all of last year in the minors and was acquired by Utah midway through the season in a minor swap. He didn’t see an NHL recall after his acquisition, which saw him score 22 points in 31 games for Tucson, and subsequently became a Group VI UFA. The 5’10” pivot will now be angling for a two-way deal or a contract with Tucson.
Wells, 27, has been an AHL backup/ECHL starter for some time now, although not routinely under an NHL contract. He’s entering his third season in Tucson and had a solid .900 SV% and 2.89 GAA in 10 games for them last year.
Tucson Roadrunners Re-Sign Three Players
Craig Morgan of PHNX Sports reports the Tucson Roadrunners of the American Hockey League have brought back a trio of players for the 2024-25 AHL season. Goaltender Dylan Wells and forwards Ryan McGregor and Hunter Drew will all be back with the Roadrunners next year on one-year AHL contracts.
Wells and Drew are the only individuals of the trio that have made their NHL debut with Wells making one start in 2023 with the Chicago Blackhawks and Drew making his a year earlier with the Anaheim Ducks. The goaltender has almost a decade of experience at the professional level between the AHL and ECHL. Overall, Wells has produced a record of 26-23-7 in 60 AHL games throughout his career while posting a .898 save percentage and 3.20 goals against average. He will likely continue his role as backup goaltender for Tucson behind Matt Villalta.
Drew has become quite the enforcer in the minor leagues as he’s accrued 452 penalty minutes in 223 games split between the Roadrunners, San Diego Gulls, and Rockford IceHogs. He usually produces mildly on the offensive side of the puck but did register 10 goals for Tucson last season in a fine year for secondary/tertiary scoring.
McGregor, the former captain of the OHL’s Sarnia Sting, has become an effective bottom-six forward in Tucson. McGregor was originally drafted by the Maple Leafs in the sixth round of the 2017 NHL Draft but only suited up in four games for the Toronto Marlies before the organization decided not to keep him around. Since then, McGregor has scored 20 goals and 54 points for the Roadrunners in 156 games over the last four years.
Arizona Coyotes Recall Zach Sanford
The Arizona Coyotes have recalled forward Zach Sanford from their AHL affiliate, the Tucson Roadrunners. In a corresponding move, the team has reassigned forward Ryan McGregor back to Tucson.
McGregor was recalled last week but did not end up skating in any games for the Coyotes. A 24-year-old 2017 sixth-round pick, McGregor is in his fourth season playing AHL hockey in Tucson and has yet to make his NHL debut. He has four points in 19 games to start this season.
Sanford, on the other hand, has done more than make a debut in the NHL: he’s a Stanley Cup champion and a veteran of over 300 games in hockey’s top league.
Sanford scored 16 goals and 30 points in 2019-20, but failed to build off of that breakout year in the following campaign. He was traded to the Ottawa Senators but couldn’t make an impact there, and has since bounced around the league a little bit. He was a depth forward for the Nashville Predators last season, scoring three points in 16 NHL games.
Sanford made more of an impact for Nashville’s AHL affiliate, the Milwaukee Admirals, scoring 12 goals and 28 points in 45 games. Signed to a contract in the offseason to play a similar role for the Coyotes, Sanford has only managed four points in 16 AHL contests.
He has scored a point in his one NHL game for Arizona, though, and should provide the club with some experienced depth.
Coyotes Recall Ryan McGregor On Emergency Basis
The Coyotes have made a roster move up front in advance of their game tonight against St. Louis, announcing (Twitter link) that they have recalled Ryan McGregor from AHL Tucson on an emergency basis.
The 24-year-old is in his fourth season in the pros and this is his first-ever recall to the NHL. McGregor, originally a sixth-round pick by Toronto back in 2017 but went unsigned, has played in 19 games with the Roadrunners this season but is off to a slow start, notching just two goals and two assists. This performance comes on the heels of a 12-goal, 18-point effort in 2022-23.
With those numbers, it might be surprising that it’s not Jan Jenik getting recalled; he had just been sent down earlier this week. However, at this point, it makes more sense for Jenik to see some regular action in the minors instead of regularly getting shuffled back and forth while seeing sporadic playing time.
McGregor is playing on his first post-entry-level deal, a two-way agreement worth $775K at the NHL level. He’s set to once again be a restricted free agent this summer.
Arizona Coyotes Re-Sign Ryan McGregor
The Arizona Coyotes have announced a one-year, two-way contract extension for pending restricted free agent Ryan McGregor. The financial terms of the deal have not yet been disclosed.
The former captain and star forward for the OHL’s Sarnia Sting, McGregor was a sixth-round pick of the Toronto Maple Leafs at the 2017 draft. He didn’t earn an entry-level deal with Toronto, but did manage to get an ATO with the AHL’s Toronto Marlies. After his final OHL campaign in 2019-20 McGregor signed an entry-level contract with the Coyotes.
McGregor, now 24 years old, scored 18 point in 34 games in his first pro season with the AHL’s Tucson Roadrunners. After he missed most of the 2021-22 campaign due to injuries, McGregor managed to get into Roadrunners head coach Steve Potvin’s lineup 59 times, scoring 18 points.
He set a career-high of 12 goals in that span, and while he remains a long way from NHL viability this extension gives McGregor another year to develop his game in the AHL. He’ll now have an extra year to distance himself from his past injury issues and hope to make a sustained push for a greater role in the Roadrunners’ lineup.