Roadrunners Set 31-Man Opening Night Roster With 11 Rookies
Tucson opens its AHL season Saturday against Colorado with 11 rookies and four veteran newcomers.
The Tucson Roadrunners have named a 31-man opening night roster, with 19 forwards, nine defencemen and three goaltenders, ahead of Saturday's home opener against the Colorado Eagles at Tucson Arena. Puck drop is 7 p.m. MST.
The Utah Mammoth affiliate carries 11 rookies. Up front they include Tij Iginla (sixth overall, 2024) and Caleb Desnoyers (fourth overall, 2025), along with Yegor Borikov, Vadim Moroz and Gabe Smith. On defence, the rookies are Gregor Biber, Terrell Goldsmith, Brandon Holt (undrafted), Tomas Lavoie and Cal Thomas. Michael Hrabal, a 2023 second-round pick, is the rookie in goal.
Sixteen players return from last season, not counting rookies who appeared in a handful of games for Tucson. That group includes leading goal scorer Cameron Hebig and points leader Austin Poganski. Defencemen Artem Duda, Montana Onyebuchi and Robbie Russo are back, as is goaltender Jaxson Stauber.
Four veteran newcomers round out the group: forwards Joshua Roy and Brandon Tanev, defenceman Zac Jones and goaltender Jesper Vikman. Jones led the league in assists and all AHL defencemen in points last season, earning First Team AHL All-Star honours with the Rochester Americans. Roy was an AHL All-Star in 2024-25 with the Laval Rocket.
Fans can follow the Roadrunners on AHLTV on FloHockey, and tickets for Saturday's home opener are available through Ticketmaster.
