Toronto Maple Leafs 2020/21 Countdown to Camp: Mikhail Abramov
Countdown to Camp is a series looking at each player under contract to the Toronto Maple Leafs, as well as the team’s unsigned prospects, in lead up to the start of the 2020/21 season.
Another Toronto Maple Leafs season has come and gone and for Leafs fans, the countdown to the start of the 2020/21 campaign is on. We may still have Stanley Cup playoff action on TV, but with an abbreviated offseason coming up the new season is much closer than it feels.
The NHL has a tentative start date for the opening of 2020/21 training camps set for November 17, giving us a little less than three months before the Toronto Maple Leafs will be back on ice.
In that time much will happen, from the entry draft where we expect to see 10 new names added to the organization, to free agency and the decisions to be made there, and of course the inevitable trades that will occur in the offseason.
The Countdown to Camp series returns for 2020 today, getting a bit of a jump on things before we enter the chaos that is the offseason.
We begin things the same way we did last year with prospect Mikhail Abramov, who earned an entry-level contract less than a year after being drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft.
Profile (via EliteProspects)
Age: 19 (3/26/01)
Position: C
Height: 5-foot-11
Weight: 161 lbs
2019-20 Season in Review
Abramov entered the Toronto Maple Leafs organization last summer when he was selected in the fourth round, 115th overall.
Coming off of a good first year in the QMJHL with 54 points in 62 games, Abramov was looking to take another step and become one of the most dangerous attackers in the league. He was going to have to do so largely by himself, as Victoriaville did not have much in terms of offensive talent outside of Abramov and fellow 2019 draft pick Egor Serdyuk.
Any expectations of Abramov heading into the season were blown out of the water. Even with a dip in productivity from his linemate Serdyuk, Abramov emerged as a premier talent in the QMJHL and took a major step forward in his goal scoring.
Abramov nearly doubled his goal output from 2018-19, jumping from 16 goals in his maiden QMJHL season to 35. That was good enough to put him in a tie for tenth league-wide in goals. His assist totals slightly improved as well, putting his overall production up 22 points from 54 in 2018-19 to 76 this past year in just one more game.
Mikhail Abramov is having an outstanding sophomore campaign with Victoriaville.
— Josh Tessler 🇺🇦 (@JoshTessler_) January 23, 2020
45 games played
28 goals
24 assists
15.6 S%
52.9 NHLe
Let's look at some highlights. #LeafsForever pic.twitter.com/K8KtrXxx8C
A key for Abramov this year was his consistency. Despite a lack of talent around him in the lineup, which we will take a closer look at later, Abramov was able to find the scoresheet with regularity. His longest pointless streak was just five games, coming very early in the season from October 4 through October 14.
Looking at his stats broken down by month, you can really start to see how consistent Abramov was for Victoriaville. He started strong in September and October but really found another gear once he got into the swing of the season. He was lights out November through January, in which he saw a 14 game point streak from January 19 through to February 23.
Unlike 2018-19, Abramov did not make any competitive appearances internationally for Russia. He was passed over for both the World Juniors and the Canada/Russia series, though he will almost certainly be a significant piece on both teams in 2020 if they do occur.
Abramov’s season highlight came as the QMJHL season came to a close, as on March 10, he officially signed his entry-level contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs, capping off what was a spectacular Draft+1 campaign from the 19-year-old Russian.
Statistically Speaking
As I alluded to earlier, Mikhail Abramov was head and shoulders above the rest of his Victoriaville teammates this season.
Abramov led his team in goals by 16 and points by an incredible 35, he was truly the driving force behind any offence Victoriaville created. In fact, he scored a point on 37.59 per cent of Victoriaville’s even-strength goals last year, a mark good for fifth league-wide.
The only players to better that mark were Alexis Lafreniere (45.75%), Alexander Khovanov (40.68%), Yegor Sokolov (40.11%), and Xavier Simoneau (38.26%). (Data from pick224.com)
When you look at the raw point totals for those in the top five, though, Abramov sits well behind. His 76 points pale in comparison to each of them, as all four rank in the QMJHL’s top five with Abramov down in 15th.
This comes down to Abramov’s lack of quality teammates. Each of Lafreniere, Khovanov, and Sokolov had linemates that scored more points than Abramov’s 76. Though Simoneau’s effort was much more solo than either of those three, Drummondville’s second-highest scorer was still 20 points clear of Victoriaville’s second-highest scoring forward. Mikhail Abramov was given absolutely zero help this season and was still able to thrive.
Staying on the offensive side of things, Abramov’s production largely came from even strength with 65.79% of his points coming at 5v5, a positive sign going forwards. While powerplay scoring is obviously an important aspect for top players, scoring on the man advantage translates less to the professional game.
A history of strong play at 5v5 makes a player much more likely to succeed at the next level, and this is exactly what Abramov showed this season. Give him a talented winger(s), and you can guarantee a big uptick in his point totals, plus much more eye-popping powerplay metrics as well.
Switching to the other side of the rink, Abramov is no defensive wizard but is more than breakeven. He ranked fifth among Victoriaville forwards in even-strength goals for at 54.31%, and that’s while going up against other team’s top lines night in, night out.
Finally, Abramov saw his faceoff percentage jump from 49.1% in 2018-19 to 51.8% this year, a small but notable increase in success at the faceoff dot. It remains to be seen whether he will play professionally as a centre or a left-winger, but consistent progress on the dot will be key if he is to stay at centre ice at the next level.
2020/21 Season Outlook
There was some thought that Mikhail Abramov could look to return to Europe this season given the implications of COVID on the North American leagues, but he was confirmed to be returning to Victoriaville on August 17th.
Voici la liste des 34 joueurs invités au camp d'entraînement 2020 des Tigres qui débutera le 30 août !
— Tigres de Victoriaville (@TigresVicto) August 17, 2020
À noter que Mikhail Abramov et Alexander Peresunko rejoindront l'équipe ultérieurement.
Détails: https://t.co/Tn1cNzWI6A#GoTigresGo pic.twitter.com/0jNif9g2yi
The QMJHL season is slated to start on October 1, with training camps set to open on August 30.
The Victoriaville Tigres are by no means a powerhouse, but few departures and another year of development from young players should give Abramov more support this season.
Jerome Gravel is the primary departure, the second-highest scoring player on the team and Victoriaville’s number one defenceman is headed to the University of Ottawa after playing out his QMJHL eligibility. Anthony Poulin, a middle-six centre, is also heading to the GeeGees for 2020-21, but the Tigres should be able to replace him in the lineup with relative ease.
The key for Victoriaville is in-house development. Brooklyn Kalmikov was a great midseason acquisition and should feature on Abramov’s left flank for the full 2020/21 calendar. The key really lies with Egor Serdyuk and whether he can find his draft year form once again.
Serdyuk actually outperformed Abramov in 2018-19 in some respects but saw his play stagnate this past year while Abramov took off. If Serdyuk can take that next step, that would give Mikhail Abramov two legitimate point-per-game wingers to play with for the full season.
As for Abramov himself, look for his point totals to really take off this year. Last season his big development was his goal-scoring ability, nearly doubling his goal output from the year previous and regularly terrorizing QMJHL goaltenders with his dangerous shot. Though the goal-scoring took off, the assists remained about the same with a slight increase of three up to 41.
Next. How the Leafs Should Re-Build Their Blue-Line. dark
With Kalmikov on his left wing for the full season and a potentially resurgent Serdyuk on the right, Abramov should have dangerous players to pass to and could be in store for a big boost to his playmaking metrics. If he is able to maintain his goal-scoring prowess while also setting up his linemates far more regularly, we could see a big final season in the QMJHL for Abramov and see him cement himself as one of the Toronto Maple Leafs top prospects.