Utah Mammoth’s 2025-26 Report Cards: Kevin Connauton

December saw limited action for Connauton again. He only appeared in two of the 10 games the Roadrunners played that month and was a minus-two. To begin 2026, Connauton sat in the press box for the first seven games of January before finally drawing back into the lineup for a game against the San Diego Gulls. He finished as a minus-three in the month.

In February, Connauton once again had limited action. He appeared in two of the nine games his team played that month. The defenseman finally registered his second point of the season against the Calgary Wranglers. Connauton also received his lone NHL call-up of the season late in February with some of the Mammoth players overseas due to the Olympics. He was in Utah for a couple of days before being returned to the Roadrunners.

As the Roadrunners headed into the final couple of weeks of the season, vying for a playoff spot, Connauton didn’t do enough to find a frequent role in the lineup. He played three of the 12 games in March, producing another assist against the San Jose Barracuda.

In the final month of the season, Connauton played the most games he had in a while, making four appearances in the final nine games. The defenseman played in the final three games of the season, including in the season finale against the Henderson Silver Knights. 

During the season finale, captain Austin Poganski intentionally got kicked out of the opening faceoff so Connauton could take it, a move that is usually reserved for special occasions like a final game. Hints that the game could be Connauton’s last continued throughout the night, ending with the defenseman being named first star of the game and his family joining him on the ice postgame before he headed into the locker room. He produced his fifth and final point of the season in that game.

Connauton was not one of the Roadrunners players selected to stick around as a black ace during the Mammoth’s playoff run, ending his season.

The Future

It is more than likely we’ve seen Connauton play his final pro hockey game as he is now a UFA. The actions during the final game of the season are really telling that we’ve seen his last pro appearance in North America.

While the defenseman hasn’t officially announced his retirement, he has started an officiating career, participating in the British Columbia Hockey League’s officiating combine in Prague this summer. He will also be attending the NHL officiating combine in August.

What we do know for certain is that Connauton’s time in the Mammoth organization is over. Over the past two seasons, he’s served his purpose, which was to provide a veteran presence to a young Roadrunners team. In his 86 AHL games, he played on the blueline with Maveric Lamoureux, Artem Duda, and Simashev, all of whom are expected to be NHLers one day. There’s no doubt that he helped them all out on and off the ice during his two campaigns.

Off the ice especially, he was a big part of the Roadrunners. There’s probably a lot we don’t know, but hosting two straight team Thanksgivings shows how big of a leader he was. He served as an assistant captain in both seasons, and you could tell he was well respected within the organization and in the community.

Final Grade

It became obvious this season that this year would likely be Connauton’s final season of pro hockey in North America. His production declined, and the defenseman found himself as a healthy scratch for a majority of the season.

While Connauton helped the Roadrunners at points in time, playing as a forward when the team faced multiple injuries and call-ups and also racking up three fights, he was never enough of an effective player to stick on the blueline permanently. 

Overall, Connauton is getting a C-minus for this season. Ultimately, it was time for the defenseman to depart the organization and perhaps even retire. He wasn’t the rock-solid blueliner he had been in the past and found himself being passed up by younger players. It’s something that happens to every player at the tail end of their career.

With that being said, the grade and the lack of effectiveness should not diminish the career Connauton had. He played 831 pro games, including 360 NHL games across his career. In total, the defenseman played 88 games with the Roadrunners across three seasons, including his 450th AHL game this past season. That’s an impressive resume for Connauton, and if this is truly it for the defenseman, he truly left a lasting legacy on the Roadrunners franchise and players who passed through Tucson the past two seasons.