Several years would pass, though, before Armia made his NHL debut.
It came on December 23, 2014 against the Red Wings in Detroit, and it was his lone appearance in a Sabres uniform.
"I remember I got called up later in the day from Rochester (AHL). I flew to Detroit and I got there around 2:00 a.m., and then I had to play the next day," reminisced Armia. "You're always happy when you get a call like that. It was really fun. I was a little nervous playing my first NHL game. I was actually sent down right after, so I had to get back to work."
Armia and the Sabres didn't come away victorious in the Motor City that night, falling 6-3 at Joe Louis Arena. His future teammate Tomas Tatar scored a pair of power play goals for the Red Wings.
But he'll always cherish the experience of going head-to-head with a former superstar.
"I think I played pretty much the whole game against Pavel Datsyuk. That was probably the coolest memory from the game," said Armia, who dished out four hits while logging 14:47 of ice time in the loss. "I always liked to see him play."