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Daniil But

Mammoth Sign Daniil But To Entry-Level Contract

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Defenseman Dmitri Simashev isn’t the only top Mammoth prospect to get his entry-level deal today. His teammate with Russia’s Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, winger Daniil But, also put pen to paper on his three-year entry-level contract, the club announced.

His deal includes a yearly base salary of $855K and a $95K signing bonus for a $950K cap hit, per PuckPedia. He’s eligible for up to $750K in Schedule “A” performance bonuses in 2025-26 and up to $1MM in 2026-27 and 2027-28. Unlike Simashev, it doesn’t appear that But’s contract contains a European Assignment Clause, meaning he could be stashed with AHL Tucson without being loaned back to the Kontinental Hockey League.

But, selected six spots after Simashev at 12th overall in the 2023 draft, lands his first NHL deal after landing a Gagarin Cup championship with Lokomotiv alongside Simashev earlier this month. The heavyweight 6’6″, 216-lb left-winger set career-highs in the regular season with 19 assists, 28 points, and a +13 rating in 54 games, ranking seventh on Yaroslavl in scoring.

His playoff performance was less impressive. He tallied just one assist in 13 games and was demoted to the press box as Lokomotiv’s postseason run extended. That small of a sample size won’t be much of a concern for Utah, though. His frame and his puck-handling skills mean he could be ready to step into the lineup as soon as next season. His more well-rounded skillset means he’s deployable up and down the lineup, although he’ll likely be most effective as a middle-six piece long-term.

But is the No. 4 prospect in the Mammoth’s system behind forward Tij Iginla, Simashev, and defenseman Maveric Lamoureux, Scott Wheeler of The Athletic wrote earlier this year. He comes over after posting a 21-30–51 scoring line in 124 KHL games in the past three seasons.

Utah Hockey Club Notes: Cooley, But, Simashev, Maccelli, Ingram

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After managing a 38-31-13 record in their first season in franchise history, the Utah Hockey Club will be an exciting team to follow this upcoming offseason. They have abundant financial flexibility, and some of those dollars will undoubtedly go to a player they’ll look to build around for the long haul.

Brogan Houston of Deseret News shared a note from Utah General Manager Bill Armstrong earlier, indicating the team will look to begin extension negotiations with center Logan Cooley this summer. Cooley becomes eligible for an extension on July 1st, as he enters the last season of his three-year entry-level contract signed in 2023.

There’s no questioning the desire for an extension from Utah’s perspective. Cooley has been flat-out electric since jumping from collegiate to professional, scoring 45 goals and 109 points through his first 157 contests, with a 19-point improvement year-on-year. All four of Utah’s top-scoring forwards are signed to contracts at or below $7.15MM per year, so they may be ready to make Cooley their highest-paid player as well.

Other updates out of Utah:

  • Just over two weeks ago, Armstrong suggested that Utah’s two 2023 first-round selections, Daniil But and Dmitri Simashev, might debut for the team next season. In a follow-up, Cole Bagley of KSL Sports received confirmation from Armstrong today that the team would begin contract negotiations with the pair once their KHL season had concluded. Those negotiations could start relatively soon, given that their current team, Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, will play Avangard Omsk in Game 7 of Round Two of the Gagarin Cup playoffs on Wednesday.
  • After notching 78 assists in his last 146 games, much was expected from Matias Maccelli this season. Unfortunately, the 2024-25 season became one to forget, as Maccelli finished with eight goals and 18 points in 55 contests, becoming a frequent healthy scratch. The diminished production sparked trade rumors regarding Maccelli around the deadline, and that doesn’t appear likely to fade this offseason. Concerning Maccelli’s future with the organization, Belle Fraser of The Salt Lake Tribune quoted Armstrong saying, “We’ve got some evaluation to do. Your team becomes better every year. There are certain things that happen — sometimes your players have to keep up, sometimes roles change.“
  • Fraser also received a quote from Armstrong about netminder Connor Ingram’s status, who entered the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program on March 9th. Armstrong said, “A lot of it is unknown. When players go into the program, we don’t have any contact with him so it’s hard for us to speculate. The good news for us as we sit here in this room is we know he is in a good place at the program. We wish him the best.” Ingram’s starting status for Utah’s 2025-26 season is uncertain, but he is signed through next season with a cap hit of $1.95MM.

Armstrong: Simashev, But Could Debut For Utah Next Season

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The Utah Hockey Club could only be a summer away from seeing their top two prospects debut. In a report from Belle Fraser of The Salt Lake Tribune, team General Manager Bill Armstrong believes there’s a good chance defenseman Dmitri Simashev and forward Daniil But will join the roster next season.

Both players are rostered on the KHL’s Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, helping sweep their opening round matchup against the Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod in this year’s Gagarin Cup playoffs. Unfortunately, the former isn’t coming off a promising season and could benefit from another developmental year overseas.

Simashev was considered a lengthy reach at the time of his selection. He was ranked as the 19th best European skater by the NHL Central Scouting Bureau before the draft. However, the Arizona Coyotes selected Simashev with the sixth overall pick. He’s been rostered with Lokomotiv since, scoring five goals and 16 points in 119 regular season contests.

It’ll be interesting to see how Utah utilizes him if he were to make the jump to North America. The team already has six defenseman signed to NHL contracts for the 2025-26 season, and it doesn’t make sense to bring him over just to practice with the NHL squad.

Meanwhile, But has shown more promise between the two. Selected 12th overall in the same draft, But is coming off a season where he scored nine goals and 28 points in 56 games, which is good for seventh on the team in scoring.

Luckily, no matter how well their game translates to the NHL level in the immediate future, both have professional size and are willing to play physically. Still, Utah may have to thin out the roster this summer to create space for the pair.

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