On paper, the Utah Mammoth will ice the most competitive roster this franchise has had in years. In seasons past, before transitioning to Utah, the Arizona Coyotes were lucky if they had enough NHL-caliber skaters to fill out a lineup card. Now, going into their second season in Salt Lake City, the Mammoth have an abundance of talent and will have a bunch of skaters competing for roster spots in training camp.
Recently, the NHL put out a post on X (formerly Twitter) projecting what the Mammoth’s opening night roster will look like.
Their projected lineup is quite similar to the one I put together earlier in the summer, following all the Mammoth’s offseason business. However, there are some slight differences between them, and that is what I want to debate next. Let’s start by looking at the one difference on the Mammoth’s blue line between mine and the NHL’s lineup projection, their sixth defenseman.
Why Ian Cole Is Replaceable
It is safe to say, Mikhail Sergachev, John Marino, Olli Maatta, Sean Durzi and Nate Schmidt will all be pencilled into the Mammoth’s opening night roster. That leaves just one spot left on the blue line. Last season, Ian Cole filled this role on the bottom pair after they had their full complement of players back after battling injuries for most of the season on the back end.
With Cole leading all defensemen in the NHL in blocked shots last season, there is certainly a good case to be made for him to fill this role again this season. However, there is also an argument to be made that those blocked shots don’t outweigh the negatives in his game.
Last season, Cole took the second-most minor penalties among defensemen in the NHL and had the 16th-most giveaways among defensemen to play 500 minutes. Over the previous three seasons, Cole has taken the sixth-most penalties and the fourth-most minor penalties among blueliners. He was a significant contributor to Utah spending the second-most time killing penalties per game last season.
Simashev Has the Skillset to Compete For Cole’s Spot
Although it remains unclear what Dmitri Simashev can bring to the table, as this will be his first season playing in North America, the highly touted Russian defenseman drafted sixth overall by the Coyotes in 2023 appears to possess a similar skill set to Cole. Earlier this summer, following Simashev’s signing of his entry-level contract, Lee Stempniak, director of player development for the Mammoth, said, “He’s just so good defensively…Between his size, his skating ability and his defensive IQ, he kills so many plays through the neutral zone. He surfs well, he’s quick to close defensively in the D-zone, and there’s an aggressiveness to his game to end plays quickly by taking away time and space.”
Related: Meet the Newest Mammoths: Dmitri Simashev and Daniil But
The concern with Simashev and his transition to the NHL is his offensive skills and puck handling. These skills are what he has committed to improving this offseason. During the Mammoth’s prospect development camp earlier this summer, we saw signs of improvement and more confidence carrying the puck, as evidenced by his beautiful goal in the scrimmage on the final day of the development camp.
Following development camp, Stempniak said, “I think he [Simashev] has a higher ceiling than we’ve seen, and we’re gonna push him to get there,” and named him the most valuable player at the development camp.
Trusted Vet or Young Talent?
With this skill set, Simashev should have an easy enough time transitioning to the North American game. While we will not know how NHL-ready he is until we see him in action in the preseason, going into training camp, there is little reason to think that he will struggle to adjust.
On the flip side, Cole is one of the best veteran presences to have on the blue line, considering he played in the Stanley Cup Playoffs in nine straight seasons before joining Utah last season. However, with Cole turning 37 years old before the 2025-26 season finishes, it could not hurt if he started the season in the press box and limited his minutes after spending a career-high on the ice last season.
Assuming Simashev has a solid preseason, the Mammoth starting the season with him as the sixth defenseman will allow them time to evaluate his game against NHL talent properly, and it will give him some time to adjust to the speed of the NHL game and, at the very least, get a gauge of what he needs to work on.
The way I see it, the Mammoth are in a win-win situation with this internal battle. If Simashev plays well enough to earn the spot out of camp, it turns Cole into a valuable trade piece and the best seventh defenseman in the NHL. Then, if Simashev is not ready, the Mammoth have a reliable veteran who will provide stability on the bottom pair and potentially will allow Simashev to be the first man up in the event of injury, still allowing him to get his feet wet in the NHL, if he is close to cracking the roster.
