Dmitry Simashev on NHL debut: Living the dream, wants to improve.
The dream, man, it’s the thing you whisper to your buddies on the playground, the highlight reel you watch on a loop until your phone dies. For 20-year-old defenseman Dmitry Simashev, that dream just got a serious dose of reality, pulling on the Utah jersey and stepping onto NHL ice for the first time.Let’s be real, four games and averaging 13:40 of ice time might not sound like a headline-grabbing stat line to the casual fan scrolling through their feed, but for anyone who eats, sleeps, and breathes hockey, this is the start of something special. It’s the prologue.In his own words, the kid is just living the dream, a sentiment that hits with the same pure, unadulterated joy as a rookie’s first goal celly. But don’t let the humility fool you—there’s a quiet fire there.The ‘I want to get better every day’ isn’t just athlete-speak; it’s the mantra of a guy who knows he’s been handed the keys to the kingdom and is already thinking about how to build a bigger garage. Chatting with the coaches daily? That’s the grind, the behind-the-scenes work that separates the guys who get a cup of coffee in the show from the ones who stick around for a decade.He calls it his job, and yeah, it is, but it’s the kind of job where your office has boards and your commute involves lacing up skates. It’s a vibe that reminds you of those young NBA talents who come in wide-eyed but with a work ethic that screams future All-Star.The path from a draft pick to a mainstay on the blue line is a marathon, not a sprint, filled with video sessions, grueling practices, and the constant pressure to evolve. For Utah, a team looking to build a new identity, unlocking a player like Simashev—a potential defensive anchor with the size and skating that makes scouts drool—is the long game.It’s about nurturing that raw talent, letting him learn from the inevitable mistakes, and watching as the player he is today slowly transforms into the player he’s destined to become. The journey has officially begun, and for hockey fans, there’s nothing more exciting than watching a dream take its first, real, breathtaking steps.
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