Utah Mammoth prospect Ludvig Lafton is heading into a new stage of his development, and he’s doing it with a clear plan: keep building, keep learning, and let college hockey push him.
Lafton spent part of his summer at Utah’s development camp, where he got a taste of what life looks like at the next level. The experience left an impression on him, especially the chance to work with the staff and absorb details he can carry into his day-to-day routine.
“You get to feel like how it is to be an NHL player,” Lafton said at development camp. “The staff here is just amazing, and you get so many good drills you can take back, and good feedback that you can take back with you to your daily life and to develop further.”
After camp, Lafton kept training at the University of Maine, where he’ll begin his college hockey career this fall. The 190 th pick in the 2024 Draft already logged his first season in North America last year with the Dubuque Fighting Saints in the USHL, and now he’s preparing for a game that asks for more speed and more strength.
“I’m just trying to play my best hockey,” Lafton explained. “I’m going to college this year so it’s going to be a bit of a step. I just want to take my time, transition into college, and just play my game.
“It’s always more demanding physically and it’s faster,” Lafton also said about college hockey. “The way Maine plays, it’s the right place for me to develop.
It’s the (ways) I need to develop, it’s what I need to play there. It’s physical, faster, it’s just all the right stuff for me to develop as a player.”
Lafton’s comfort with Maine wasn’t built only on hockey fit. When he visited Orono in January, the school made an immediate impression on him.
“I got a really good vibe from the program to the coaches, to the guys,” Lafton shared. “I visited there in January, and it was just love at first sight and that was the right place for me to go.”
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