Artem Duda Makes NHL Debut With Mammoth

Artem Duda officially made his NHL debut with the Utah Mammoth on Thursday against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Duda was originally drafted 36th overall in the second round by the Arizona Coyotes in 2022. He split time between the KHL and the VHL after being drafted, and opted to head to North America the following season.

However, due to those 14 games in the KHL, Duda’s appeal to play in the NCAA with the University of Maine was denied three times despite taking classes at the university and practicing with the team. Funny enough, a couple of seasons later, players with pro experience started to be allowed into the NCAA, including Jack Beck, Connor McClennon, and Hudson Thornton.

With all options in the United States exhausted, Duda played the rest of the 2023-24 season with Toronto Metropolitan University. He then turned pro and played his first full season in the American Hockey League with the Tucson Roadrunners in 2024-25, producing 29 points in 70 games.

His sophomore season with the Roadrunners was a bit tougher. Duda injured his knee in the middle of the season, forcing him to undergo surgery and ending his year prematurely. The defenseman had 13 points in 27 games up to that point.

This season, after regaining all the strength in his leg, Duda has been excellent to start. He had a very solid preseason which kept him up in Utah until the very end of camp. He started the season with the Roadrunners, putting up three points in six games on the top pairing with Robbie Russo.

Duda was given his first NHL call-up by the Mammoth on Oct. 20. A couple of days later, he signed a two-year extension with the team.

The defenseman is the fourth player to make his NHL debut with the Mammoth alongside Maveric Lamoureux, Daniil But, and Dmitri Simashev, whom Duda will be paired with against the Penguins. He is the 82nd overall player, the ninth Russian, and the fourth player drafted by general manager Bill Armstrong to play an NHL game who was drafted in 2022.