2025-26 Season: Two-Way Tracker & More
Leading into Training Camp, this article will be updated with the latest signings of recent Roadrunners and other familiar AHL players who have signed NHL/AHL two-way contracts and, if assigned to the AHL, are expected to suit up for Tucson. In addition, several players from the 2024-25 Roadrunners roster have received qualifying offers, which are also noted below.
July 1
Scott Perunovich: signed a one-year, two-way contract with the Utah Mammoth. The deal carries an NHL salary of $775,000 for next season.
Perunovich, 26, split the 2024–25 season between the New York Islanders and St. Louis Blues, tallying nine points (2g, 7a) and 10 penalty minutes (PIM) in 35 NHL games. Across three NHL seasons, he has appeared in 108 career games with St. Louis and New York, recording 32 points (2g, 30a) and 30 PIM. He also has four assists in seven career Stanley Cup Playoff games, all with the Blues.
The Hibbing, Minnesota native has also compiled 42 points (5g, 37a) and 20 PIM in 39 career AHL games with the Springfield Thunderbirds. He last appeared in the AHL during the 2022–23 season, notching 20 points (2g, 18a) and a plus-three rating in 22 games.
Before turning pro, the 5-foot-10, 175-pound left-shot defenseman starred at the University of Minnesota Duluth from 2017 to 2020. In 115 collegiate games, he totaled 105 points (20g, 85a) and 132 PIM while helping the Bulldogs win back-to-back NCAA national championships in 2018 and 2019. As a junior in 2019–20, Perunovich tallied 40 points (6g, 34a) in 34 games and was awarded the Hobey Baker Award, presented annually to the top player in NCAA men’s hockey.
Perunovich was selected by St. Louis in the second round (45th overall) of the 2018 NHL Draft.
Kailer Yamamoto: signed a one-year, two-way contract with the Utah Mammoth. The deal carries an NHL salary of $775,000 for next season.
Yamamoto, 26, led the Tucson Roadrunners in scoring last season with 56 points (20g, 36a) in 54 games. He also paced the team in plus/minus (+17), assists, multi-point games (15), and multi-assist performances (5). The Spokane, Washington native was tied for the team lead in power-play points with 16 (7g, 9a) and tied for second in multi-goal games (3). He also added a goal in three postseason games during the 2025 Calder Cup Playoffs.
The 5-foot-9, 178-pound forward also appeared in 12 NHL games last season with Utah, tallying two goals and one assist. Across eight NHL seasons with Utah, the Seattle Kraken, and the Edmonton Oilers, Yamamoto has recorded 137 points (60g, 77a) and a plus-19 rating in 315 career games.
The 2024–25 campaign marked his first AHL stint since 2019–20 with the Bakersfield Condors. In 104 career AHL games, Yamamoto has produced 90 points (38g, 52a).
Utah originally signed Yamamoto to a professional tryout (PTO) on Sept. 11, 2024. He earned a one-year, two-way contract on Oct. 6 after a strong training camp.
Prior to joining Utah, he played the 2023–24 NHL season with Seattle, posting 16 points (8g, 8a) in 59 games. Yamamoto spent the first six seasons of his NHL career with Edmonton after being selected 22nd overall by the Oilers in the 2017 NHL Draft.
June 30
Montana Onyebuchi: signed a two-year, two-way contract with the Utah Mammoth. The deal carries an NHL salary of $775,000 for each of the next two seasons.
Onyebuchi, 25, appeared in a career-high 64 games with the Tucson Roadrunners during the 2024–25 season, recording 10 points (3g, 7a). He matched his previous bests in goals, assists, points, and game-winning goals (1), while setting new career highs in shots (88). His plus-6 rating ranked second among Roadrunners defensemen and tied for fourth among all skaters.
The 6-foot-3, 220-pound blueliner also led all Tucson defensemen – and ranked third on the team overall – with 112 penalty minutes. Onyebuchi made his Calder Cup Playoff debut this past spring, registering his first career postseason point with an assist in Game 1 against the Abbotsford Canucks.
The Dugald, Manitoba native has played four professional seasons, including the last two with Tucson. In 194 career AHL games with the Roadrunners and San Jose Barracuda (2021-23), he has totaled 36 points (9g, 27a) and 467 penalty minutes.
June 11
Ben McCartney: signed a two-year, two-way contract with the Utah Mammoth. The deal carries an NHL salary of $775,000 for each of the next two seasons.
McCartney, 23, recorded 33 points (16 goals, 17 assists) in a career-high 63 games with the Roadrunners during the 2024–25 season. He also set a career high with 86 penalty minutes and matched his previous best for assists in a season. The 6-foot, 199-pound forward led Tucson with three shorthanded goals and nine special-teams goals, and ranked third on the team with six power-play goals.
The Portage la Prairie, Manitoba, native led the Roadrunners in playoff goals (2) and tied for the team lead in points (3) during the 2025 Calder Cup Playoffs. He recorded two goals and an assist in Tucson’s 4-1 Game 2 win over the Abbotsford Canucks on April 24, marking his first career postseason goal and first multi-goal, multi-point playoff performance. McCartney was one of only three skaters across the AHL to register a three-point outing in the opening round, joining teammate Travis Barron and Rochester Americans defenseman Kale Clague.
McCartney recently completed his fifth professional season—all with Tucson—and has served as an alternate captain for the past two campaigns. Since making his pro debut in 2020–21, he has tallied 110 points (48 goals, 62 assists) and 280 penalty minutes in 215 AHL games.
April 29
Jaxson Stauber: signed a two-year, two-way contract with Utah. Stauber, 26, originally joined Utah as a free agent last July on a one-year, two-way deal ahead of the 2024-25 season. The Wayzata, Minnesota native spent his first two professional seasons in the Chicago Blackhawks organization, playing for both Chicago and their AHL affiliate, the Rockford IceHogs.
Last season, Stauber split time between Utah and Tucson. In 21 starts with the Roadrunners, the 6-foot-3, 175-pound netminder posted a 12-7-2 record, along with a 3.14 goals-against average (GAA) and a .897 save percentage (SV%). He also shined in the 2025 Calder Cup Playoffs, starting two games for Tucson in their first-round series against the Abbotsford Canucks. He recorded a playoff career-high 38 saves in Game 2 for his first postseason win, which was also the most saves by a Roadrunners goalie in a playoff game in franchise history.
At the NHL level, Stauber appeared in six games for Utah during the 2024-25 season, posting a 2-1-1 record with a 3.26 GAA and a .892 SV%. His Utah debut was a historic one—he stopped all 29 shots he faced in a 6-0 road win over the Vegas Golden Knights on Nov. 30, earning the first shutout in both his NHL career and Utah’s franchise history.
In 12 career NHL appearances with Utah and Chicago, Stauber holds a 7-2-1 record with a 3.01 GAA, .903 SV%, and one shutout. In the AHL, Stauber has compiled a 36-23-5 record, 3.05 GAA, .899 SV%, and two shutouts in 69 career games with Tucson and Rockford and has made 34 saves or more in all three of his career playoff starts.
April 24
Michal Kunc: signed a one-year, two-way contract with Utah. The 24-year-old native of Brno, Czechia, tallied career highs across the board with 35 points (13g, 22a) and 12 penalty minutes in 49 games for HC Olomouc of the Czech Extraliga in 2024-25. He led his team in both assists and points, while his +22 rating ranked fourth among all skaters in the league.
Kunc recorded seven multi-point performances, including a career-best four-point night (2g, 2a) against HC Vítkovice on Oct. 29. Over six Extraliga seasons with HC Olomouc and HC Kometa Brno, Kunc has registered 89 points (34g, 55a) and 66 penalty minutes in 222 career games. He’s also added three points (2g, 1a) in 11 playoff appearances, all with HC Olomouc.
WHAT TO KNOW?
Two-Way Contract: A two-way contract is a contract that stipulates that an athlete’s salary is dependent upon the league in which the athlete is assigned to play (NHL or AHL).
