It’s official.
The Utah Mammoth have signed Russian prospect Dmitry Simashev to a three-year entry-level contract. He’ll play in the Mammoth organization next season, though it remains to be determined whether that will be in the NHL, the AHL or a bit of both.
At 6-foot-5, Simashev lives up to the Mammoth namesake. Utah needed to get bigger and this is one way of doing it.
Simashev knows fellow Mammoth prospect Daniil But well. The two 20-year-olds have played together in the Yaroslavl Lokomotiv system since they were 15. They were drafted to the same NHL team, much to Simashev’s surprise.
On May 21, they won the Gagarin Cup — the most prestigious trophy in European hockey.
General manager Bill Armstrong values players with championship pedigrees. By my count, 17 guys who played for Utah last season won championships in other leagues before coming to the NHL. Five of their players are Stanley Cup champions and 11 have won gold medals at various international tournaments.
Simashev and But fit that mold perfectly.
But’s contract is yet to be announced, but one source told the Deseret News that the team is hoping to get it done soon.
Get to know Dmitry Simashev
You could have made a lot of money by betting that Dmitry Simashev would be the first Russian selected in the 2023 NHL Draft. That’s because Matvei Michkov, now of the Philadelphia Flyers, was available.
But Armstrong and his staff saw something special in the defenseman, so they took him with the sixth-overall pick. Fast forward a couple years and Simashev is a promising young talent.
Think of Simashev as a Mikhail Sergachev presence, minus elite offensive upside. He’s not likely to quarterback an NHL power play, but he’ll certainly keep the puck out of his own net.
He’s excellent positionally, which is half the battle of playing defense. What sets him apart, though, is his calmness. Even when the puck comes to him in high-pressure situations, he keeps his composure and makes high-percentage plays. It might take him a few reps before he’s comfortable playing that way in the NHL, but once he adjusts it should be like riding a bike.
