Roadrunners gearing up for 2026 season with combination of exciting prospects, returning veterans

Tucson enters the 2026-27 season looking for its first appearance in the Calder Cup Playoffs since two seasons ago after posting a 34-28-10 record in 2025-26, good enough for eighth in the Pacific Division. The Roadrunners missed their fourth straight playoff appearance by a single point.

2026 is year six at the helm for head coach Steve Potvin, who brings a wealth of experience at the American Hockey League (AHL) level, both behind the bench and putting in the work at practice and beyond to mesh a very diverse roster of prospects and veterans.

“I think that over the years watching teams and trying to find clues on how champions (operate), you really start to refine your processes,” Potvin said at Wednesday’s practice in reference to bringing the team together. “It’s going to take a lot of work from our players to remain connected on and off the ice.

“I think we are still all trying to get organized… I think we’ve had some really productive days in camp and the guys are starting to understand the messaging and what we are after.”

Prized prospects

Tucson, the AHL affiliate of the National Hockey League’s Utah Mammoth, is set to benefit from Utah’s rich talent pool of prospects as they refine their skills on the way up the career ladder.

Leading a talented prospect pool is 20-year-old winger Tij Iginla, son of Hockey Hall of Famer and legendary Canadian winger Jarome Iginla. The No. 6 overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft scored 41 goals and 49 assists with the Kelowna Rockets of the Western Hockey League last season before ascending to the AHL for 2026.

“I’m super excited to get this season underway,” Iginla said. “Training camps feel like forever sometimes, so I’m just really looking forward to getting into some game action and into the season.”

19-year-old center Caleb Desnoyers is another key prospect elevated to the Roadrunners this year who could provide significant benefits to the team with a lengthy stay in Tucson. Desnoyers was selected by Utah with the No. 4 overall pick in the 2025 NHL Draft.

“We’ve had some really, really nice surprises,” Potvin said. “This development camp, this rookie tournament and main camp.”

One player Potvin noted as making big strides is 20-year-old Canadian defenseman Tomas Lavoie, who joins the Roadrunners after three seasons in the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League.

“You can see that he had a really serious summer,” Potvin said of Lavoie. “I mean, he put on a lot of muscle. He was challenged to increase his speed on the ice and his awareness, and it’s shone through.”

Captain’s return

As exciting as the young talent pool can be, veteran leadership and contribution are how the Roadrunners will find consistent success.

30-year-old winger Austin Poganski returns for his third season as captain and, as the team’s leader, serves as a bridge between the younger players and veterans, working to get all adjusted to the Roadrunners’ culture and expectations while also furthering his own career.

“That’s the exciting part about this (job) for me,” Poganski said after practice on Wednesday. “As an older guy, as a leader, it’s more my job and my responsibility to help these young guys see what it takes to get to the next levels and help them along the way. “

“You take a lot of responsibility. You take pride in being a leader and the job of getting everybody on the same page. It can be tricky because in the AHL we have guys that are 34 years old and we have guys that are 19 years old. Some guys have families, some guys have partners, some guys don’t speak the best English. There are so many different situations in the locker room. You try to take responsibility to make sure everyone feels comfortable.”

Poganski had a career year for the Roadrunners last season, scoring a professional career-high 23 goals and 33 assists.

Player-turned-coach

Former Roadrunner forward Andrew Agozzino announced his retirement back in July and quickly turned the corner in his career to come aboard with the Tucson coaching staff as an assistant.

Agozzino had a brief two-game stint with the Mammoth in his final season before playing in 56 games with the Roadrunners last year. He recorded 19 goals and 20 assists.

Now an assistant, Potvin spoke of his transition and value on the coaching staff ahead of the team’s season opener on Saturday.

“He seems to be quite the natural,” Potvin said of Agozzino. “He’s had very good poise and control of what he wants to say, and his delivery has been very good. The thing we strive to do as coaches is be as clear as possible. If we can be clear, the guys can be fast, and so far he has exemplified that, and we’re lucky to have him.

“You talk about bridging the gap for players, and he’s one of those guys that can communicate, and we can rely on to bridge the gap for us. He relays a lot of our messages and a lot of his own to the guys.”

Stacked schedule

Tucson is set for 72 games this season, opening with a two-game set against the Colorado Eagles on Saturday and Sunday at Tucson Convention Center Arena. The following weekend, the Roadrunners head to San Jose for a Saturday and Sunday set against the San Jose Barracuda.

Seven of the 10 Pacific Division teams made the playoffs last season, with four going beyond the first round. The Eagles, Tucson’s opening weekend opponent, reached the Western Conference Final.

“The Pacific Division is pretty loaded,” Poganski said. “They’ve always had some really good teams…. Anyone in the Pacific is good, and we’ve had some really good battles against all of them.”

Tucson drops the puck on the 2026-27 season at Tucson Arena at 7 p.m. Saturday.