Toronto Maple Leafs Draft Profile: A Name Worth Learning to Pronounce
When it came time for the Leafs to make their third round pick, the fanbase was full of suggestions. Almost none of which were the player they selected.
Names like Aidan Dudas and Blade Jenkins were common among those suggestions. Instead, however, they heard Semyon Der-Arguchintsev’s name be called at the draft.
Who is This Guy?
Many people were understandably unfamiliar with the centreman. He was by no means a high profile name. Der-Arguchintsev was typically ranked around the 150 mark by most scouting services.
After coming over from Russia four years ago, the 17 year old has spent the last two seasons with the Peterborough Petes of the OHL, a team he said helped him develop his defensive game. So far in his junior career, his production has jumped from a 29 point rookie campaign to most recently, a 51 point season.
Peterborough struggled last year and failed to qualify for the playoffs, finishing third last in the league. This, however, was not the fault of the Leafs’ newest draft pick. In fact, he and linemates Nikita Korostolev, and Pavel Gogolev finished the season as three of the top four scorers on the team.
After this year’s draft, many Leafs fans seemed to be against the decision to select somewhat smaller players. Der-Arguchintsev was among those picks at just 5’10 and 159 pounds. Being a centre, this concerned many people, but don’t be too worried about that. I mentioned earlier that Der-Arguchintsev was just 17 years old, but there’s more to that. Being born on September 15th, 2000, he was the youngest player in this year’s draft, so he’s likely to grow.
He was even asked about his size and age and acknowledged he needs to put on some weight and improve his strength over the off-season.
On the Ice
Semyon Der-Arguchintsev is best described as a playmaking centre. With 39 assists and 12 goals last season, it isn’t hard to tell, but those assists really do mean something. Scouting his game or simply watching a highlight reel of his performance last season will reveal that he has the ability to pull of some impressive, almost Mitch Marner-like, passing.
Speaking of Mitch Marner, in a post draft interview, Der-Arguchintsev stated he enjoyed watching him play and related himself to the style of play Marner brings to the table. Both right handed shots, they play strong passing games and aren’t hindered by their size.
The Toronto Connection
It’s always nice to see a hometown kid be drafted by his childhood team, and the Leafs are full of them. Just look at Connor Brown, Zach Hyman, Mitch Marner, and 2018 second rounder, Sean Durzi. Being from Russia, Der-Arguchintsev won’t get that chance, but he is still of Leafs fandom.
Playing in nearby Peterborough, he said he made the trip to take in Leafs games on many occasions. He even got tickets from Leafs defenseman and friend, Nikita Zaitsev.
The two Russians have known each other for years, as Der-Arguchintsev’s older brother was a former teammate of Zaitsev’s at a young age.
While on the subject, the new third rounder mentioned the nice things Zaitsev had to say about playing in Toronto. The club earned high praise from #22 stating he loved the city and that the locker room was filled was nice guys who made up a very close Leafs team.
Overall, Semyon Der-Arguchintsev may have seemed like a reach to many, but he was a solid pick. At just 17 years old, he also has plenty of time to grow and develop. He’ll be an interesting prospect to follow and certainly a fun one to watch.
Stats and player information courtesy of EliteProspects and HockeyDB.