Utah Mammoth forward Daniil But is off to a strong start in his first North American professional hockey season. But moved from Russia to the U.S. to take the next step in his career. He competed hard in training camp, and was one of the final roster cuts before the season opener. But reported to Utah\u2019s American Hockey League team, the Tucson Roadrunners, and continued his hard work that was evident from day one of camp.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s hard when you come over and you\u2019re coming from Russia to play over here,\u201d General Manager Bill Armstrong explained. \u201cIt takes a little bit of time to adjust to the speed and to (the lack of) space that you have and But has done a great job. As a big man, you worry when you come over here just adjusting to the pace of the game and he\u2019s really done that, adjusted really well.\u201d<\/p>\n
But recorded his first AHL point, an assist, in his second game and his first goal in his third game. Through his first 20 games in the AHL, But recorded eight goals and nine assists for 17 points. Just shy of a point per game player, But was reaching the next level with his game.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe had the puck the entire time in the American League, and he was really a difference maker,\u201d Armstrong smiled on But\u2019s play with Tucson. \u201cHe was generating a lot of offense. I thought that his game in the American League would translate to the game in the NHL with him just taking the puck to the net, going to the net, being good off the forecheck. Those are things that he did well at the American League level that gave him a chance to come up and prove it at the NHL level.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Dec. 2, the Mammoth recalled But and he made his NHL debut one night later in Anaheim against the Ducks. He stayed with the Mammoth from early December through the Olympic break. His progress from training camp to December was evident.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe improvement from But from training camp to when he got called up for us was major,\u201d head coach Andr\u00e9 Tourigny explained. \u201cBeing comfortable in the structure. He\u2019s a guy who wants to be structured and for him to understand exactly where he has to go during training camp, it was a little bit of a challenge. But the biggest improvement he did was going to the net. He\u2019s really good at finding space to get his shot, but to go to the net, to be a net presence, I think he grew a lot. He was really good. Defensively, he\u2019s really good.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHis time in the American League has helped him and his play in the NHL, he keeps getting better,\u201d Armstrong said. \u201cOne thing that you love about him, he\u2019s a worker, he\u2019s a guy that will focus and get down to business and improve. We\u2019ve been really excited about his progress so far.\u201d<\/p>\n
After playing one game with the Roadrunners once the NHL season went on pause, But is back up with Utah and participating in the team\u2019s practices. It\u2019s been a busy season for the forward; however, But continues to grow his game in multiple different ways.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel more comfortable with the puck,\u201d But reflected. \u201cI made good decisions sometimes, better than it was in the beginning of the year. My physical game is better.\u201d<\/p>\n
But is known for his hard work and determination, an area Tourigny has called \u201celite.\u201d With that drive, But is focused on continuing the progress he\u2019s made. His coach discussed his next steps and how his strong foundation will help that.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor him, it\u2019s to get more reps in the structure,\u201d Tourigny explained. \u201cI think that (he\u2019s) had a really good run with us. You can see, he thinks the game at a high level. He has a really great IQ. He will grow in his body, he will get stronger, he will get bigger. He needs to do that. He needs to get a little bit more confident with the puck.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe always talk about those guys, when they\u2019re ready the game slows down,\u201d Tourigny continued. \u201cAt some point the game (will) slow down a little bit and (he\u2019ll) make one more play or have a little bit more poise. That will come. It\u2019s just not there yet, but that will come. You can see it\u2019s there.\u201d<\/p>\n
In addition to learning from the coaching staff and playing in these games, But observes his NHL teammates and has learned something from each player.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverybody,\u201d But said. \u201cI try to take something from every player, because in the NHL, every player is great at something. I try to take (those) things from everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Utah Mammoth forward Daniil But is off to a strong start in his first North American professional hockey…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":462383,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5,4,51,5290,232,5291,5289],"class_list":{"0":"post-462382","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-utah-hockey-club","8":"tag-hockey","9":"tag-nhl","10":"tag-utah","11":"tag-utah-hc","12":"tag-utah-hockey-club","13":"tag-utahhc","14":"tag-utahhockeyclub"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116093328634420873","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/462382","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=462382"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/462382\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/462383"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=462382"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=462382"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=462382"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}