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Toronto Maple Leafs Prospect Update: Russian Leagues End

ByKyle Cushman|
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)
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SOCHI, RUSSIA – AUGUST 7, 2017: Canada’s Justin Azevedo (L) and Yegor Korshkov of the Russian Olympic team struggle for the puck in their Sochi Hockey Open 2017 match at Sochi’s Bolshoi Palace of Sports. Artyom Korotayev/TASS (Photo by Artyom KorotayevTASS via Getty Images)
SOCHI, RUSSIA – AUGUST 7, 2017: Canada’s Justin Azevedo (L) and Yegor Korshkov of the Russian Olympic team struggle for the puck in their Sochi Hockey Open 2017 match at Sochi’s Bolshoi Palace of Sports. Artyom Korotayev/TASS (Photo by Artyom KorotayevTASS via Getty Images)

Over the past handful of years, the Toronto Maple Leafs have put an extra emphasis on finding prospects in the Russian leagues.

From free agents signings such as Nikita Zaitsev and Igor Ozhiganov, to the draft, the Toronto Maple Leafs have put a significant amount of resources into scouting over in Russia.

Since Brendan Shanahan joined the Leafs in 2014, Toronto has selected five players out of Russian leagues in the NHL Entry Draft, signing an additional six as free agents.

  • Leo Komarov (Draft pick, brought back in 2014)
  • Petri Kontiola (Free agent, signed 2014)
  • Nikita Soshnikov (Free agent, signed 2015)
  • Martins Dzierkals (Draft pick, 2015)
  • Nikita Zaitsev (Free agent, signed 2016)
  • Yegor Korshkov (Draft pick, 2016)
  • Nikolai Chebykin (Draft pick, 2016)
  • Miro Aaltonen (Free agent, 2017)
  • Vladislav Kara (Draft pick, 2017)
  • Igor Ozhiganov (Free agent, 2018)
  • Semyon Kizimov (Draft pick, 2018)

This season, the Leafs owned the rights to eight players playing in the KHL, VHL (Russian equivalent of the AHL), and MHL (Russian equivalent of the CHL). With the Russian leagues recently coming to a close, and quite a few Leafs prospects playing in the three tiers of Russian hockey, let’s take a look at how each did in their case to be signed by the Toronto Maple Leafs.

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