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Toronto Maple Leafs: Don’t Sleep on Yegor Korshkov

By Alex Hobson |
Russia's Yegor Korshkov (L) celebrates the 5-3 goal in front of Finland's Mikko Rantanen during the 2016 IIHF World Junior Ice Hockey Championship match between Russia and Finland in Helsinki, Finland, on December 28, 2015. / AFP / Lehtikuva / Heikki Saukkomaa / Finland OUT (Photo credit should read HEIKKI SAUKKOMAA/AFP/Getty Images)
Russia's Yegor Korshkov (L) celebrates the 5-3 goal in front of Finland's Mikko Rantanen during the 2016 IIHF World Junior Ice Hockey Championship match between Russia and Finland in Helsinki, Finland, on December 28, 2015. / AFP / Lehtikuva / Heikki Saukkomaa / Finland OUT (Photo credit should read HEIKKI SAUKKOMAA/AFP/Getty Images)

A year ago, the Toronto Maple Leafs had the best prospect pool in the NHL and there wasn’t any debate.

This year, the Toronto Maple Leafs have fallen back, but only because their former top prospects are now top NHL players. Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, and William Nylander were all considered prospects this time last year, and now they’re all part of the Leafs’ core.

However, the Maple Leafs still have some very exciting youth to keep tabs on. 2017 first rounder Timothy Liljegren has entered play. Kasperi Kapanen remains an intriguing forward. Defensemen Travis Dermott and Andrew Nielsen are both continuing their development in the pros.

There’s more, too. One player that always seems to fly under the radar is 2016 second round pick Yegor Korshkov.

Nobody knew who this guy was when the Leafs took him. With names such as Alex DeBrincat and Adam Mascherin still on the board, everyone including myself was thrown off. Who was this guy and why was he taken so early?

Toronto Maple Leafs director of scouting Mark Hunter loves to confuse the fans each year by taking a no-name prospect from rural Europe. In that same year, they took Nikolai Chebykin, and just this past draft they selected Vladislav Kara.

Korshkov was an overager at the time the Leafs drafted him, but he was primarily known for leading the second-place Russians in scoring at the 2016 World Juniors. He also had a pretty successful rookie season in the KHL, finishing with 12 points through 41 games.

This Season

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This season, Korshkov got off to a very successful start with Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, scoring at almost a point-per-game pace. However, he suffered a gruesome knee injury early on in the season and was held out of play for a few months. He ended up finishing the season with 19 points in 36 games, still very impressive totals for a 21 year old.

The Novosibirsk native has lots of effective tools to his game. He plays the game of a classic power forward. Good shot, but scores most of his goals driving to the net and banking in rebounds. He’s got great size at 6’4 and 187lbs, and he loves to throw the body.

His father, Alexei Korshkov, was also a professional hockey player and he was an absolute freak of nature on the ice, standing at 6’5 and 247lbs. While Korshkov may not be quite as big as his dad was, it shows that Yegor carries the strength his dad played with.

As it stands now, the Leafs have Patrick Marleau, James van Riemsdyk, Leo Komarov, and Matt Martin down the left side. It’s unlikely that all of these guys will still be here five years down the road, and the Leafs’ prospect depth at left wing is thin.

Next: Toronto Maple Leafs Top Prospects

While he may not be a flashy player like Kapanen or someone like Jeremy Bracco, it’s entirely possible that Korshkov will cement himself as a middle six left winger in the future.

With info from hockeydb.com

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