What should Kailer Yamamoto’s role be with the Utah Mammoth in 2026-27?

There’s a saying in hockey that goes, “Small guys have to prove they can play. Big guys have to prove they can’t.”

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With a listed height of 5-foot-9, Utah Mammoth forward Kailer Yamamoto falls into the former group. After a few particularly difficult seasons — getting bought out and signing two-way deals just ahead of training camp — his job security has finally been restored.

The 27-year-old signed a two-year contract with the Mammoth this summer, each year of which will pay him more than double his previous season’s salary. It’s also his first one-way deal since 2023-24.

It came at a good time, too. He and his wife, Bailey, welcomed their first child in June.

“What did I prove? That I belong here,” Yamamoto told the Deseret News during his exit interview following the Utah Mammoth’s elimination from the Stanley Cup Playoffs in May.

When he says “here,” he’s referring to the NHL. Yamamoto spent the bulk of the 2024-25 season in the American Hockey League with the Mammoth’s affiliate, the Tucson Roadrunners, where he scored more points per game than all but 10 other players in the entire league.

“Obviously, getting sent down last year wasn’t ideal to play in the NHL,” he said. “But it taught me a lot of things about myself and what I need to do as a player to get better, whether that was working on my shot, becoming a little bit more competitive and kind of stuff like that.”

It quickly became clear that Yamamoto did not belong in the AHL. At the same time, putting him in a bottom-six NHL role is not going to yield consistent results.

What should Kailer Yamamoto’s role be?

Yamamoto is a guy who can play with good players.

As an Edmonton Oiler, Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid — two of the best hockey players in the world — were among his most consistent line mates. At the peak of his Mammoth glory last season, he was paired with rising stars Logan Cooley and Dylan Guenther.

“They’re so young, but oh my gosh are they unbelievable players,” Yamamoto said of Cooley and Guenther after signing his new deal. “They bring out the best in my game. … I felt like I fit in with them very well.”

Despite not seeing a single second of power play time in the playoffs, Yamamoto tied five of his teammates for the team lead in scoring: five points in six postseason games. The way he battles in the corners and at the front of the net belies his size, and he’s effective at distributing the puck to his line mates and getting open as a passing option for them.

“That’s going to be my goal, is to raise my game — keep raising it,” he said. “I think that was just a little bit of a showing. I want to show a little bit more next year, for sure.”

Mammoth head coach André Tourigny is a big believer in No. 56.

“We show to the team in pregame guys bailing when Yammy’s coming, and I have the video. I can back up what I’m saying,” Tourigny said in his exit interview. “(Regardless of) his size, he’s not going for the bunt. He’s going for the home run all the time.”

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The upcoming season poses a question mark regarding Yamamoto’s role with the team. Now that he’s on a one-way deal with a significant raise, it would be counterproductive to put him back in the bottom six.

Much of his Mammoth tenure has been spent as a fringe roster player, and that’s not a position where a guy of his stature tends to thrive — despite his bulldog playing style.

But there might not be room on the top two lines.

The Mammoth’s offseason additions of Vincent Trocheck and Anders Lee, as well as the seemingly imminent breakouts of youngsters such as Tij Iginla and Daniil But, make the left-wing spot on the Guenther-Cooley line highly competitive.

One thing to remember, though, is that just because a particular player begins the season in a given spot does not mean it is permanent. Coaches tweak the lines throughout the entire season.

Where is Kailer Yamamoto’s ceiling?

Yamamoto has eclipsed 60 games in a season just once in his NHL career (due in part to the pandemic-shortened seasons and miscellaneous injuries). In that one season, he played 81 games and managed grand career highs: 20 goals and 41 points.

In 59 games last season, he scored 13 goals and 23 assists — a pace of 18 goals and 32 points on a full-season schedule. If given the right role, there’s little reason to believe he couldn’t actualize those types of numbers this year.

If that’s true, the $1.75 million Utah is paying him could be one of the more cost-effective deals in the league.

Many Mammoth players have expressed their optimism for the future of the franchise. Yamamoto’s past experience makes him believe the team can accomplish big things.

“I played in Edmonton in the playoffs a little bit. I know that every year we got kicked out, we wanted to get better (the) next year,” he said.

“I know this team’s hungry, so I know next year’s definitely going to be a big year for us.”

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