Toronto Maple Leafs 2020/21 Countdown to Camp: Mikhail Abramov
By Kyle Cushman
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.
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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.