For many fans, Vancouver Canucks defenceman Nikita Tryamkin was nothing more than annoying at the beginning of the season. Management said he wasn’t in NHL shape and he was far from cracking the lineup, but there was nothing they could do about it. Tryamkin has a European assignment clause that allows him to return to Russia if he isn’t a part of the NHL roster — and he was going to do just that when he was asked to join the AHL Utica Comets.
But things have changed.
After missing the first 10 games of the year, Tryamkin joined the lineup and quickly established himself as an important piece on the Canucks blue line.