When you think of a hockey player, the person that comes to mind probably has bigger muscles and fewer teeth than most people, and you almost surely don’t think of an intellectual.

While Utah Mammoth rookie defenseman Dmitri Simashev’s size fits the stereotype, his hobbies off the ice might surprise you.

“My hobbies, for me, all my life, I just play chess, watch hockey and read books. This is what I do,” he said.

Simashev’s favorite book of all time is Anna Karenina by renowned Russian author Leo Tolstoy. He’s also a big fan of Night in Lisbon by Erich Maria Remarque.

“It’s a book about love, but who don’t like love, you know?” he chuckled, speaking of the latter.

Simashev typically reads in Russian (as Tolstoy’s books were intended to be read), though he also finds value in reading in English as he tries to master the language. When he finds an English word he doesn’t understand, he finds the Russian translation and tries to remember it.

Life with the Sergachevs

Simashev is living with fellow Russian teammate Mikhail Sergachev and his family this season. It’s common for up-and-coming young stars to live with veterans when they first make it to the NHL, and it’s especially helpful for those who come from such different cultures to live with people they can connect with.

That was the case for Pittsburgh Penguins superstar Evgeni Malkin when he first arrived in North America. He lived with veteran Sergei Gonchar for the first three years. Now a three-time Stanley Cup champion with plenty of individual awards, Malkin credits Gonchar’s role as an integral part of his career development.

When he won the Hart Trophy as the NHL’s MVP in 2012, he dedicated it to Gonchar for that reason.

By the sounds of it, there’s never a dull moment in the Sergachev household when Simashev is there.

“We just try to do something crazy in (the) evening,” he said. “We just try to play guitar, we just try to play with his son, try to clean his chicken house, all this stuff.”

Mammoth fans caught a glimpse of the fun when Sergachev’s wife, Liza, posted a video to her Instagram story of the group singing karaoke in Russian. Simashev said his favorite karaoke song is “If you’re with me” (translated from Russian) by Dominick Jocker.

He said the chickens haven’t quite warmed up to him yet — and he’s not their biggest fan either because “they’re so loud.”

That being said, he does love the fresh eggs they provide. Sergachev remarked at his pre-training camp media availability that he, his wife and their son eat 6-10 eggs a day, while Simashev eats 20 (in a tone of exaggeration).

Mikhail Sergachev says his chickens are getting lazy. He has 16 of them, but they’re only laying about a dozen eggs a day.

He says his family eats about 6-10 eggs every day and Simashev eats 20.

Most importantly, he says Nick Bjugstad isn’t here to disrespect them anymore.

— Brogan Houston (@houston_brogan) September 17, 2025

Simashev said Liza does the bulk of the cooking and Mikhail does a bit too, but he makes his own eggs and toast for breakfast.

He also enjoys playing with Theo, the Sergachevs’ two-and-a-half-year-old son.

“It’s fun,” Simashev said. “I think I’m a good uncle for his son. Every day, I just play with him (so) Sergy can just chill out for a little bit. I just can play with him, so it’s fun.

“He tries to play (hockey) in (the) house, like, stick and puck. He beats me every time.”

Transitioning to the NHL

Simashev’s final game in the KHL ended with him hoisting the Gagarin Cup, the league’s championship trophy. While he’s probably still a ways away from being able to do the same in the NHL, his first six games have gone about as well as he could have hoped.

The Mammoth have eased him into his role. He has yet to crack 18 minutes of playing time in a game, but that’s not necessarily due to a lack of trust from the coaching staff — it’s because it can hurt a player’s development to throw him into a role for which he’s not yet prepared.

In his six games (and 83:13 of total playing time), Simashev has only been on the ice for two goals against. He has yet to tally a point, but that shouldn’t be the focus of a young defenseman anyway. That will come as his role and his confidence increase.

Most importantly, he never looks out of place. He has both the size and the brain to play defense at the highest level. This could be the beginning of a long, prosperous career for him.

“I love everything about his game,” Mammoth head coach André Tourigny said. “I love the way he skates the puck (and) the way he gets out of trouble in some situations.”

Simashev said there’s a big difference between playing in the KHL and playing in the NHL, but it’s a challenge that he’s handling well so far.

“Here, the boys, they just try to chip the puck, the game just goes straight. In the KHL, they have bigger rinks, so it’s different,” he said.

He has loved living in Salt Lake City, which is great for his well-being. It has a milder climate than his hometown of Kostroma, Russia, but it’s not so different that he feels out of place.

“It’s a family city, it’s really good weather, it’s beautiful,” he said. “When you wake up, you see these mountains. It’s really good. In the future, for sure, I will go to the downtown, visit some good restaurants and my family will come soon. I want to show them the city.”

Dmitri Simashev competes in the 2025 Utah Mammoth development camp scrimmage at the Utah Olympic Oval in Kearns on Thursday, July 3, 2025. | Laura Seitz, Deseret News