Toronto Maple Leafs 2021 World Junior Championship Preview

Russia’s Rodion Amirov celebrates a goal during the Ice Hockey Karjala Tournament  (Photo by VESA MOILANEN/Lehtikuva/AFP via Getty Images)

Team Russia and the Toronto Maple Leafs

Team Russia head coach Igor Larionov has already made his selection camp roster. Among it, three Toronto Maple Leafs. The team is set to start training on Nov 29th in Moscow before coming to Canada and into the Edmonton Bubble on December 13th.

The Leafs Prospects among the Russian Roster include forwards Mikhail Abramov (2019 4th round), Rodion Amirov (2020 1st round), and goaltender Artur Akhtyamov (2020 4th round).  None of these players are returning players from last year’s tournament, but it’s likely that all of them will be locks for the Russians.

In addition to the Toronto Maple Leafs on the roster, the Russians will also be highlighted by prospects Vasiliy Podkolzin (Vancouver), Yegor Chinnakov (Columbus), and Yaroslav Askarov (Nashville).

This year, Rodion Amirov has been shining at all levels of Russia. For the majority of the year, he’s been playing with Ufa of the KHL where he has 7 points in 22 games, but more notably earlier this month Amirov represented Russia at the Karjala Cup tournament where he held a goal-per-game statline with 3 goals in 3 games. (All stats hockeydb.com).

Mikhail Abramov has been lighting it up in the QMJHL with the Victoriaville Tigers. In 9 games, the 6’0′ 185″ winger has tallied 4 goals and 14 points while serving as the team captain.

Goaltender Artur Ahktyamov has been playing at all levels in Russia this year with steady numbers across the board. In the KHL with Kazan, playing against men, Ahktyamov has put up a .903 SV% with a record of 0-1-1. In Russian junior leagues playing amongst his peers, Ahktyamov has put up save percentages north of .926 and GAA’s below 1.67. Ahktyamov also traveled to the Karjala tournament earlier this month where he served as a backup to Nashville’s Yaroslav Askarov.