Toronto Maple Leafs 2021 World Junior Championship Preview
Will the Toronto Maple Leafs have any prospects in this year’s World Junior Tournament?
On December 25th, Christmas Day, 2020, the IIHF World Junior Championship will start at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta. Today we look at which Toronto Maple Leafs Prospects have potential shots of competing.
We are set to see a stacked World Juniors tournament with an abundance of talent this year. With the potential of a Jack Hughes return in addition to a potential Alexis Lafreniere return, this tournament will be one to remember.
The highlight of last year’s tournament for the Toronto Maple Leafs was Rasmus Sandin. With team Sweden, Sandin led the tournament in points by a defenseman, was named the tournament’s top defenseman, and assisted Sweden in capturing a bronze medal.
The Leafs look to be represented to that magnitude this year with a bunch of Prospects. Currently, in the Leafs system, there are 16 players who are eligible to compete in the prestigious tournament.
Notable names include Nicholas Robertson, Rodion Amirov, Mikhail Abramov, Roni Hirvonen, and Artur Akhtyamov.
The Leafs will be heavily represented on Team Russia as well as Team Finland. Russia looks to capture gold after a silver medal finish last year, and Team Finland looks to capture a medal of any level after losing in the bronze medal game to Team Sweden last year.
We start off today with a look at Team Russia.
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.
Team Russia U20 #WorldJuniors camp roster has been announced. pic.twitter.com/efIAg4jSQ3
— Russian Prospects (@RUSProspects) November 20, 2020
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.
The Fantastic Finns and the Toronto Maple Leafs
In the 2020 NHL Entry Draft, the Toronto Maple Leafs held 12 selections, 4 of which were Finns. With a number of those 4 selected this year in addition to selections made in 2019, the Leafs will be represented heavily in the Finnish blue and white.
The Leafs that have chances of making the final roster include defensemen Kalle Koponen (2019 7th round), Topi Niemela (2020 3rd round), Mikko Kokkonen (2019 3rd round), and forward Roni Hirvonen (2020 2nd round),
The only returning member of the team from that list is Mikko Kokkonen who had 2 goals in 7 games last year. Other top players highlighting Team Finland in the Edmonton Bubble will be Anton Lundell (Florida), Aatu Räty (2021 Draft), and Joel Blomqvist (Pittsburgh).
Pretty much all of the Leafs on the Finns Roster fit the typical Finnish hockey model. They skate at a high level, protect the puck well, and play a full 200-foot game. All of these assets make them a pretty hard team to play against.
The Finnish Leaf prospect’s individual stats this year haven’t been something to bat an eye at either. Hirvonen, Niemela, and Kokkonen have all been spending the majority of the year in the Liiga (the top league in Finland).
In 20 games with Ässät, Hirvonen has put up 5 goals and 9 points. In 9 games, with Kärpät, Niemela has put up 3 assists. While playing with Jukurit and serving as an Assistant Captain, Mikko Kokkonen has put up 3 assists in 18 games while playing top-line minutes ( stats eliteprospects.com).
Kalle Loponen has spent the majority of this year with Kärpät’s U20 team, where he has put up 16 points in 22 games. The Finns won’t have as many big fish competing as some other teams like Russia, Canada, and the US will, but as Toronto Maple Leafs Fans it will sure be interesting to watch the plenty of talent on the come up in the Leafs’ system.
The Lone Wolf
The Toronto Maple Leafs will be heavily represented on the Russian and the Finnish front, but there’s also a lone wolf on team USA who could be a vital part of their team. That’s right, you probably, guessed it – it’s the 2019-20 CHL Sportsman of the year, 2019-20 OHL Most Sportsmanlike Player, and the 2019-20 OHL Leader in Goals, 19-year-old Nick Robertson.
By this time, we all know who he is though. He’s a player who with what he lacks in size, he will make up for in hockey smarts and offensive ability. He’s hard on the forecheck, agile with and without the puck, and always hungry for an opportunity to score.
Last year Robertson played on an underperforming US team where he scored 2 goals and 5 points in 5 games. This year with the hopeful re-additions of Jack Hughes, Cole Caufield, Trevor Zegras, and Spencer Knight, the team will have a better finish than 6th.
However, the question of if Robertson will join the US is the main question. NHL Clubs are still waiting to find out the resuming date for next season. Most clubs want their top young prospects to be able to go through a full training camp to be ready for the NHL season.
If training camp begins during the World Juniors, then a lot of NHL clubs will pull players similar to Robertson so they can compete at the NHL level fully prepared. If it’s announced that training camps will begin following the conclusion of the World Juniors, then there’s the possibility that the top tier NHL prospects who are still eligible for World Juniors will be Loaned out to represent their countries.
Next. The Leafs Top Ten Prospects (November 2020 Update). dark
Alexis Lafreniere, Jack Hughes, Bowen Byram, and Nicholas Robertson are just a couple of the big names who would still be eligible to compete in the World Juniors.