TORONTO, ON – The TMU Bold are gaining a big boost in their hopes of lifting the University Cup on home ice.
Sources tell 49 Sports that Russian defenceman and Arizona Coyotes prospect Artyom Duda will join the Bold for the second half of the OUA season and the U SPORTS Men’s Hockey Championship.
Duda, a second-round pick of the Coyotes in 2022, joins TMU after previously committing to the University of Maine in the NCAA. However, after the NCAA declined his appeal to play, given his professional experience in Russia, he’s turning to the Canadian university circuit.
While he joins U SPORTS, the smooth skating two-way defenceman and former Youth Olympic gold medalist is still very much within Arizona’s plans moving forward — and TMU presents the best option for him to move over to the North American game.
Sources tell 49 Sports that the connection to the school from the Coyotes comes through the Bradford Rattlers junior hockey program, former TMU assistant coach turned Coyotes development coach Nathaniel Brooks.
The 19-year-old Duda will be one of the youngest players in U SPORTS, a league which often draws players after they finish their junior careers, mostly from Canadian junior A and the CHL.
While he has not played in 2023-24, he scored three assists in 14 KHL games with CSKA Moskva in 2022-23, while also scoring five goals and eight assists in 14 MHL games.
Duda is set to start skating with TMU in the final days of 2023, and is expected to play in the Bold’s first game of the second half against the Brock Badgers on Jan. 4, 2024.
He is not alone in being a young Russian on TMU, as he joins Youth Olympic teammate Daniil Grigroev, who has six goals and five assists in 16 OUA games as a rookie.
U SPORTS has produced several NHL players through the eras, with the modern era highlighted by Stanley Cup champion Logan Thompson and, Joel Ward and Derek Ryan; yet it’s seldom seen a prospect like Duda.
The TMU Bold have an automatic berth to the U SPORTS Men’s Hockey Championship in March 2024, hosted at the former Maple Leaf Gardens — and Duda will undoubtedly play a critical role.
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