SALT LAKE CITY, Utah — Two new faces for the Mammoth officially took the ice on Thursday for day one of training camp. Vincent Trocheck was traded from the Rangers, and Anders Lee signed with the team in free agency this past summer. Both have high hopes for their future in Utah.
“My expectation for this team is to make the playoffs and obviously make a push, and I think we have the team to do it," Trocheck explained. "I obviously love what I saw last year when playing against these guys and wanted to be a part of it. So I think our expectations are high.”
"I'm excited that this is a new opportunity, a new challenge for myself," Lee explained. "And my family, we're in a new place. I'm on a new team, and it's a really good hockey team.”
WATCH | Trocheck, Lee ready to make their mark with Utah Mammoth
1:56The 33-year-old Trocheck has played for the Florida Panthers, Carolina Hurricanes, and most recently, the New York Rangers.
Lee is 36-years-old, and has spent all 14 years in the NHL with the New York Islanders before coming to the Mammoth. He was a captain for his former team and can translate that level of leadership to Utah.
“With our talks with [head coach Andre Tourigny] and management, I think they just want me to come in and be myself, and that's what I plan on doing," Lee said. "I've been fortunate enough to be in that position on the Island and took a lot of pride in that... just come in and, you know, be myself, really. I don't think there's anything more to it, other than kind of bringing a little bit of that experience and helping the group.”
Trocheck has special connections on the team. He won gold with Mammoth captain Clayton Keller when they represented Team USA at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
He has also known Logan Cooley for over a decade and skates in the summer with him as well.
“For me personally, it's, it's great for me to be able to skate with him just because of how much he pushes everybody on the ice," Trocheck said. "Just how good he is and how hard he works, it makes me work even harder than I would coming into the summer. He's on the ice nonstop it feels like.”
“Great player, great two-way player, does all the little things that, you know, to make a team successful," Cooley said about Trocheck. "Off the ice, [he] is such a great guy. A guy that you know I've leaned on a ton growing up. A guy that I'm super pumped to be here, and I think he's going to do a lot of amazing things for our team on and off the ice."
As the Mammoth chase another Stanley Cup Playoff appearance this season, the veteran duo will be key in that push.