Arizona Coyotes draft pick Daniil But Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

Watch: Coyotes top pick correctly predicts they would also draft his teammate

By Michael Gallagher | Last updated 6/29/23

The Arizona Coyotes threw everyone for a loop when they took Russian defenseman Dmitri Simashev with the No. 6 pick in the 2023 NHL Draft.

When the team was on the clock again with the No. 12 overall pick, the Coyotes threw another curveball that most didn’t see coming, except Simashev, who predicted during the Sportsnet broadcast that Arizona would take his Kontinental Hockey League teammate Daniil But.

“It could be a Russian guy; I don’t know” Simashev said.

Hosts Ailish Forar and Colby Armstrong pressed Simashev to specify which Russian player he thought the pick could be and the 18-year-old defenseman named But, who he has played with for a number of years in Russia.

Dmitri Simashev predicts his friend getting selected to the Coyotes at 2023 #NHLDraft

Fresh off getting selected 6th overall by the Arizona Coyotes, Simashev joins @armdog and @ailishforfar.

Hydrated by @BioSteelSports pic.twitter.com/u9chPDeCF8
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) June 29, 2023

“Being in the NHL is my dream,” Simashev said, via GoPHNX.com. “[Getting drafted with my teammate] only makes it better.”

The two first round picks for the Arizona Coyotes we’re teammates in Russia.

Dmitri Simashev was on FaceTime with Daniil But’s friends as he spoke to the media. pic.twitter.com/B0YlWdREEK
— PHNX Coyotes (@PHNX_Coyotes) June 29, 2023

Simashev and But have spent a good chunk of their careers playing together. They started on the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl U16 team in 2020-21 before moving to the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl U17 team the following year.

They both spent 20-plus games with Loko Yaroslavl in the Russian junior leagues before reuniting again with Lokomotiv Yaroslavl in the KHL, Russia’s top professional hockey league.

Both Simashev and But were considered reaches by a majority of draft experts, but the Coyotes were clearly banking on both players reaching their incredibly high ceilings.

More must-reads: